November 2024

Your support means everything to us, and this November, we’re especially thankful for the trust you place in NCLA to defend our fundamental liberties. As we reflect on what we’re grateful for, we’re reminded that our mission to protect freedom is only possible because of you.

This month, NCLA made bold moves in multiple cases. We convinced the district court to vacate ATF’s unlawful bump stock ban after a Supreme Court win, pressed the Second Circuit to strike down HHS’s coercive Medicare drug price negotiation program, and in a groundbreaking censorship case, we secured further discovery to defend free speech. Plus, we submitted an amicus brief to the Fifth Circuit, urging it to overturn the Comptroller of the Currency’s violation of the right to a jury trial.

As we approach Giving Tuesday on December 3rd, we hope you will consider supporting NCLA’s mission. Your contributions empower our team to keep fighting for your liberties. Thank you for being part of the New Civil Liberties Alliance. Keep scrolling to learn more about these cases and everything else happening at NCLA!

The Latest

“All of you who seek a revival of constitutional freedoms, bravo,” Hamburger said.

NCLA Founder Philip Hamburger Pops Cork to Celebrate Chevron’s Demise

At The Federalist Society’s 2024 National Lawyers Convention, Philip Hamburger stole the show by popping a champagne cork to celebrate the Supreme Court’s decision to end Chevron deference—a true toast to constitutional governance. On his panel, he and other experts dissected the term’s major rulings, including the expansion of the statute of limitations to challenge agency actions and the recognition of jury trial rights in SEC cases, signaling a seismic shift in regulatory governance. On another panel, Zhonette Brown explored separation of powers issues, such as the Court’s decisions on the CFPB’s funding structure, administrative penalties, and the nondelegation doctrine, and their implications for future litigation strategies. Watch Professor Hamburger’s panel here and Zhonette’s here.

Cases to Watch

Only Congress can write criminal laws, and if ATF or any other federal agency wants to criminalize the ownership of something, it must ask Congress to pass a law.

After Supreme Court Win, NCLA Convinces District Court to Vacate ATF’s Unlawful Bump-Stock Ban

The U.S. District for the Western District of Texas amended its final judgment for New Civil Liberties Alliance client Michael Cargill to vacate the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ unilateral Final Rule banning bump stocks. NCLA had persuaded the U.S. Supreme Court to rule in June 2024 that the ban was unlawful, safeguarding the rights of Mr. Cargill and hundreds of thousands of other Americans to be free from laws written by executive branch bureaucrats instead of Congress. With the District Court’s new decision, Mr. Cargill’s battle to overturn the bump-stock rule ends victoriously, and he will soon have his lawful property back in his hands. Though it should not have taken a 5 ½-year legal fight to vindicate Mr. Cargill’s civil liberties, NCLA is pleased to have convinced the District Court to vacate the bump-stock rule. Read more >>>

We welcome the opportunity to show that the government was and continues to be responsible for censorship of our clients.

NCLA Wins Further Discovery in Historic Suit Against Government’s Censorship Industrial Complex

The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana granted the New Civil Liberties Alliance’s request for further jurisdictional discovery in the landmark Missouri v. Biden lawsuit against government-induced social media censorship. In June, the Supreme Court vacated the preliminary injunction in the case (called Murthy v. Missouri at that stage) that barred officials from the White House, CDC, FBI, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and the Surgeon General’s office from coercing and significantly encouraging social media platforms to censor constitutionally protected speech. NCLA’s clients, two of whom are top epidemiologists, have been blacklisted, shadow-banned, de-boosted, throttled, and suspended on social media as part of a censorship campaign orchestrated by the White House and others in a “whole of government” effort. Read more >>>

The desire of agencies to always know a regulated party’s location is not driven by legitimate regulatory needs. We need this suit to remind the agency that our constitutions, state and federal, don’t allow that.

NCLA Challenges WA Dept. of Fish and Wildlife’s Illegal 24-Hour Surveillance of Crabbing Boats

NCLA has filed a lawsuit against the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Electronic Monitoring Program using GPS technology to constantly track the location and movements of every state-licensed boat that fishes for Coastal Dungeness Crab, whether they are crabbing or not. The Department sustains the program by forcing fishermen to pay for electronic monitoring systems that they must install on their boats or else face criminal sanctions. Representing local crab fishing boat Captains Sara Franey, Brent Young and Mark Young, NCLA asks the Washington Superior Court to stop this unconstitutional surveillance regime, which does not improve upon cheaper, less intrusive existing methods for monitoring crab stocks. Read more >>>

CPSC abdicated its power and authority to make consumer product safety determinations to other government agencies that Congress never gave that power to and have no experience in making such decisions.

NCLA Sues CPSC, Trumka, HHS, CDC, NIH for Illegal, Unfounded Attacks on Weighted Infant Sleep Products

NCLA has filed a Complaint to stop the Consumer Product Safety Commission, Commissioner Richard Trumka, Jr., and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) from continuing unproven, unlawful attacks on weighted infant sleep products, including our client Dreamland Baby Co.’s products. The CPSC, Trumka, HHS and its Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and National Institutes of Health have exceeded their legal authority, which strictly controls when and how CPSC—and CPSC alone—may determine these products’ safety. NCLA urges the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to end these efforts that have pushed Dreamland’s business and reputation to the brink of extinction. Read more >>>

Excessive demands are too often made to intimidate agency targets and thereby coerce them into unfair settlements or force them to spend a small fortune defending themselves.

NCLA Asks First Circuit to Overturn Decision Enabling Excessive SEC-Demanded Sanctions

NCLA filed our opening brief urging the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit to reverse a lower court’s denial of costs and attorney’s fees that Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Lemelson incurred in successfully defending himself against outrageously excessive sanctions demands by the Securities and Exchange Commission. A Massachusetts federal jury in 2021 rejected nearly all of the SEC’s baseless charges against Fr. Lemelson, a Greek Orthodox Priest and activist investor, including its false and incendiary allegations that he engaged in a scheme to defraud the market and even his own fund investors. Read more >>>

Click here for more cases to watch

Friends of the Court

Legislation is not supposed to be a game in which Congress gets a sporting opportunity to finagle Americans out of their constitutional rights.

NCLA Asks Second Circuit to Rule Against HHS’s Coercive Medicare Drug Price ‘Negotiation’ Program

NCLA filed an amicus curiae brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals v. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS). NCLA urges the Second Circuit to rule it is unlawful for HHS to hold a company’s business hostage until it surrenders its constitutional property rights. The law at issue violates the “unconstitutional conditions” doctrine, which prevents the indirect trampling of constitutional rights. Read more >>>

OCC’s in-house adjudication of its allegations against defendants also violates the Article III constitutional guarantee of an independent judiciary.

NCLA Amicus Brief Asks Fifth Circuit to Overturn Currency Comptroller’s Violation of Jury Trial Rights

NCLA filed an amicus curiae brief urging the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to hear Ortega & Rogers v. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). NCLA asks the Fifth Circuit to overturn an OCC decision punishing former Texas bank officers Saul Ortega and David Rogers, Jr. without a jury trial, which violates the Seventh Amendment. Read more >>>

The Supreme Court should settle whether Congress can give private organizations governmental power to enforce the law against private citizens.

NCLA Asks Supreme Court to Rein in Horseracing Authority’s Unconstitutional Executive Power

NCLA filed an amicus curiae brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to hear Walmsley, et al. v. Federal Trade Commission, et al. and eliminate the private Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority’s unfettered regulatory enforcement power over the horseracing industry. Congress passed the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act allowing the Authority to write and enforce nationwide rules that govern doping, medication control, and track safety in horseracing, directing the organization to subcontract with the private U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) to enforce anti-doping and mediation rules. This unconstitutional arrangement must be overturned. Read more >>>

Click here for more amicus briefs to watch.

In the News

🎥 Just the News, No Noise, Just the News

🎥 “Unenforceable rule”: Lawsuit filed against USDA over their now-in-effect electronic ear tag rule, RFD TV

📰 Supreme Court ignites wave of lawsuits against federal regulations, The Washington Post

📰 Federal Judge Vacates Bump Stock Rule, Recognizes ‘Right to Possess’, Breitbart

📰 Harris voters say US will descend into darkness under ‘dictator’ Trump, Washington Examiner

📰 Chevron decision set stage for Trump 2025 agenda, Washington Examiner

📰 Robert F Kennedy poised to take his place by president’s side, The Australian

📰 Judge Clears Path for Fresh Evidence in Explosive Social Media Censorship Lawsuit Against Biden Administration, Reclaim The Net

📰 An Insider’s Look at the Implications of ATF’s Bump Stock Ban Being Vacated, The Outdoor Wire

📰 Judges Raise a Glass to High Court Rulings Curbing Agency Power, Bloomberg Law