May 2023

The government is still up to its mass censorship antics. We’ve filed a lawsuit against multiple federal defendants on behalf of six plaintiffs who were injured by Covid-19 vaccines, challenging the government’s coercion of social media companies to censor these victims’ speech online. One of NCLA’s latest case videos also casts light on Governor Gavin Newsom and the State of California’s egregious effort to punish doctors for providing their patients information on Covid-19 that doesn’t align with the “contemporary scientific consensus.” Keep reading below to find out how else we’re protecting the constitutional rights of Americans at NCLA Now!

The Latest

Video: NCLA’s new video criticizes California’s unconstitutional “misinformation” law for doctors

???? WATCH: A Physician with a Gag Order Is Not a Physician You Can Trust

Even the federal government declared the pandemic effectively over on May 11th, when the Biden Administration stopped trying to implement the Covid-19 vaccine mandates for federal employees and contractors, but California didn’t get the memo. NCLA’s latest video explains how California Assembly Bill 2098 still unlawfully subjects physicians to discipline for disseminating “misinformation” about Covid-19 to patients. The vague and controversial law renders the State the arbiter of truth and would endow those who seek to prevent the voicing of dissenting medical opinions with the legal authority to censor doctors. Watch video >>

Video: A new NCLA case video outlines ED’s unlawful plan to forgive billions of dollars in student loan debt

???? WATCH: Biden’s Student Loan Debt Cancellation Plan Undermines Congress

The Biden Administration’s illegal plan to unilaterally cancel student loan debt is getting pushback in the courts from NCLA. A video released outlines how the U.S. Department of Education’s unlawful plan to forgive 500 billion dollars in student loan debt not only makes end-run around Congress, but also circumvents the pre-existing Public Service Loan Forgiveness program by erasing non-profit organizations’ significant competitive advantage to recruit and retrain talented borrower employees. Watch video >>

Cases to Watch

Photo: The Covid-19 vaccine has caused severe side effects for many Americans

NCLA Challenges Government’s Censorship of Support Groups for Covid Vaccine Injury Victims

NCLA has filed a lawsuit challenging the federal government’s ongoing efforts to work in concert with social media companies and the Stanford Internet Observatory’s Virality Project to monitor and censor online support groups catering to those injured by Covid vaccines. This sprawling censorship enterprise has combined the efforts of numerous federal agencies and government actors—including within the White House—to coerce and induce social media platforms to censor, suppress, and label as “misinformation” speech expressed by those who have suffered vaccine-related injuries. Read more>>

Photo: The Mackinac Center for Public Policy in Midland, MI (Photo Credit: Mackinac Center for Public Policy)

Mackinac Center Asks Federal Court to Immediately Halt ED’s Unlawful Student Loan Payment Pause

NCLA has filed a Motion for Preliminary Injunction in Mackinac Center for Public Policy v. U.S. Department of Education, Miguel Cardona, and Richard Cordray. The Motion urges the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan to stop the Department of Education’s unlawful, ongoing pause on the obligation of student-loan debtors to make monthly payments on their outstanding debt and the accrual of monthly interest on that debt. The student-loan pause wipes out $5 billion of U.S. Treasury assets every month, and it has done so for the past 32 months at a cumulative cost to taxpayers of $160 billion and counting. This unauthorized, backdoor form of debt reduction disproportionately benefits high-income earners with larger loans, such as doctors and lawyers. Read more>>

Photo: The Biden-Harris Administration has halted its efforts to implement the Covid-19 vaccine mandate for federal employees

Clients Vindicated as Biden Ends Covid Vaccine Mandates that Federal Courts Already Enjoined

The Biden-Harris Administration has officially ended the disgraceful Covid-19 vaccine mandates it never should have implemented for federal employees and federal contractors. These unlawful mandates, which were ordered without a vote of Congress, compelled millions of Americans to take an experimental vaccine without their consent—and, for those with naturally acquired immunity, against the medical advice of experts. These mandates violated unwilling recipients’ constitutional rights to bodily integrity and to refuse unwanted medical care, as well as their statutory right to informed consent. Read more>>

Video: NCLA client Jim Harper is among thousands of victims of the IRS’s “John Doe” summons

NCLA Plans Appeal in Lawsuit Challenging IRS’s Unlawful Collection of Cryptocurrency Data

NCLA appeared before Judge Joseph N. Laplante of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire for a hearing in the lawsuit challenging the IRS’s unlawful fishing expedition, where the agency seized financial records from a cryptocurrency exchange through abuse of a “John Doe” summons without notifying account holders or allowing them to contest the summons. NCLA, which represents James Harper in Harper v. Rettig, argues that IRS violated Mr. Harper’s statutory, Fourth, and Fifth Amendment rights by seizing his documents without probable cause to believe he had under-reported his income or failed to pay tax and by denying him procedural due process to contest the seizure. Unfortunately, late Friday the court granted the government’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit, forcing NCLA to bring this case back to the First Circuit Court of Appeals. Read more>>

Photo: The U.S. Department of Transportation building in Washington, DC

Department of Transportation Outright Dismisses Enforcement Action Against NCLA Client

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) has dismissed its enforcement action against NCLA client Polyweave Packaging, Inc. in Polyweave Packaging v. U.S. Dept. of Transportation. In January, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit had issued a ruling to vacate the civil penalty against Polyweave and remanded the matter back to PHMSA.  Read more>>

Video: NCLA client Captain Allen Walburn, NCLA’s John Vecchione, and Gordon Arata Montgomery Barnett’s Greg Grimsal and Kate Clark answer questions from reporters on the major decision

Press Conference on Mexican Gulf Fishing Victory and What It Means for the Supreme Court

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has set aside a controversial Final Rule, which required 24-hour GPS tracking of recreational charter boat fishing vessels and reporting of confidential economic data. NCLA hosted a virtual press conference covering the recent major win for charter boat fishermen across the Gulf of Mexico, explaining how this decision could impact a similar case currently pending before the U.S. Supreme Court, Loper Bright Enterprises, et al. v. Gina Raimondo, et al. Captain Allen Walburn of A&B Charters, NCLA Senior Litigation Counsel John J. Vecchione, and Greg Grimsal and Kate Clark of Gordon Arata Montgomery Barnett took questions from reporters and provided analysis on the impact of this ruling. Watch now >>

Photo: Tesla CEO Elon Musk was charged by the NLRB for posting an “unlawful” tweet

Tesla Petitions for Rehearing in NLRB Tweet Case, Relies on NCLA Win Against NLRB

Tesla has filed a petition for rehearing en banc in the Fifth Circuit regarding its lawsuit against the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) after the Board decided that Tesla CEO Elon Musk posted an unlawful tweet. One core argument in the petition is that the panel decision conflicts with the Third Circuit’s decision in FDRLST Media v. NLRB. NCLA represented FDRLST Media in that lawsuit after then-publisher Ben Domenech posted a satirical tweet from his personal account. NLRB had ordered Mr. Domenech to delete that tweet, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit sided with NCLA and vacated the NLRB’s flawed decision on First Amendment grounds. Read more >>

Click here for more cases to watch.

Friends of the Court

Photo: The petition asks the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn NMFS’s herring fishing regulation

SCOTUS Grants Cert in Chevron Lawsuit

The U.S. Supreme Court has granted cert in Loper Bright Enterprises, et al. v. Raimondo, et al. and agreed to reconsider Chevron v. NRDC, which instructs courts to defer to federal agencies’ reasonable interpretations of ambiguous laws. NCLA filed an amicus brief in support of Loper Bright Enterprises’ petition for a writ of certiorari on behalf of similarly situated clients, Relentless Inc., Huntress Inc., and Seafreeze Fleet LLC, corporations operating in the herring fishery off the coast of New England. NCLA is currently preparing its own cert petition in the Relentless case. Read more>>

Photo: NY Governor Kathy Hochul played a role in promulgating the unlawful isolation and quarantine rule

Amicus Brief Criticizes NY’s Isolation and Quarantine Rule for Invading Legislature’s Domain

NCLA has filed an amicus brief in the Supreme Court of the State of New York in George Borrello, et al. v. Kathleen Hochul, et al. New York State Senator George Borrello and New York State Assemblymen Christopher Tague and Michael Lawler have sued state actors, including Governor Kathleen Hochul, for their role in promulgating 10 NYCRR § 2.13—a Rule which establishes isolation and quarantine procedures for those who are suspected of having a communicable disease. The Rule contradicts a carefully constructed statute governing such procedures. Read more>>

Click here for more amicus briefs to watch.

In the News

Video: NCLA Litigation Counsel Casey Norman joins NTD News to discuss NCLA’s case, Dressen v. Flaherty, which challenges the government’s censorship of support groups for Covid vaccine injury victims ???? US Federal Judge, 95, Faces Fresh Competency Claims as She Fights Probe, Reuters ???? Federal court asked to restart student loan payments put on hold for COVID-19, The Washington Times ???? Crypto holder contests IRS ‘fishing expedition’, Accounting Today ???? The Supreme Court Puts In-House Tribunals on the Chopping Block, Bloomberg Law ???? Supreme Court takes up potential landmark case from New Jersey fishermen, National Fisherman ???? Interview w/ Mark Chenoweth, O’Connor & Company

Click here for more media mentions.

Case Cartoon

Permission granted to reprint with attribution

When the government uses words like “disinformation,” “misinformation” or “malinformation,” you know there is a government bureaucrat somewhere scheming to silence critics of the regime. Leaders like Merrick Garland should thank their lucky stars that the Founding Fathers are not around to see them trample all over the First Amendment. It would NOT be pretty!

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