October 2023
Beware, for in the dark corners of the Administrative State lurk ghouls, goblins, witches, and monsters. But fret not, for the New Civil Liberties Alliance is the fearless defender of all Americans, ready to vanquish these spooky foes and restore justice! NCLA is celebrating a series of remarkable wins this October, and the excitement doesn’t stop there. We are thrilled that our groundbreaking lawsuit challenging NOAA’s unconstitutional at-sea monitor mandate for herring fishing boats has secured a hearing at the U.S. Supreme Court! The Fifth Circuit has also expanded its injunction to include CISA on the list of government agencies and officials now barred from censoring Americans online. Unfortunately, the Supreme Court has temporarily stayed that injunction, but the case of Missouri v. Biden is headed to the High Court where it will be known as Murthy v. Missouri. Want to know more? Keep reading below to learn how we’re fighting for your rights at NCLA Now!
The Latest
With offices in the heart of DC, NCLA offers a 10-week summer program that runs from May through August
???? WATCH: NCLA’s Summer Clerkship Program
NCLA offers a gateway to hands-on legal experience. Our summer clerkship program provides invaluable insight into the challenges posed by the Administrative State and allows students to actively contribute to a burgeoning civil liberties movement aimed at halting its encroachment. NCLA law clerks play a pivotal role in supporting our litigators by conducting research, drafting legal documents, and actively participating in the development of litigation strategies. Moreover, clerks have the unique opportunity to network with influential figures in the legal sphere, including judges and esteemed legal scholars. Discover the firsthand accounts of our summer ’23 clerks in our latest video, as they share their transformative experiences at NCLA. Watch video>>
NOAA implemented a Final Rule in 2020 to force fishing companies like Relentless Inc. to pay for human at-sea monitors aboard their vessels
U.S. Supreme Court Agrees to Hear NCLA Relentless Case Challenging Chevron Deference
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear NCLA’s Relentless Inc., et al. v. Dept. of Commerce, et al. lawsuit challenging the Chevron precedent and an unconstitutional federal rule requiring fishing companies to pay for at-sea government monitoring of their herring catch. The case will be argued before the U.S. Supreme Court during the January 2024 argument session in tandem with the case of Loper Bright Enterprises, et al. v. Gina Raimondo, which challenges the same at-sea monitor rule. NCLA thanks the Court for granting a writ of certiorari in Relentless, which presents an important opportunity to sweep away the fatally flawed Chevron doctrine and vindicate fishermen’s fundamental rights. Read more>>
The Biden Administration’s censorship regime has suppressed perspectives contradicting government-approved views on hotly disputed topics
U.S. Supreme Court to Hear Landmark NCLA Case Against Government Social Media Censorship
For the second time in eight days, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari in one of NCLA’s cases this month, agreeing to hear arguments over the Fifth Circuit’s grant of a preliminary injunction in Missouri v. Biden. NCLA brought this case on behalf of Drs. Jayanta Bhattacharya, Martin Kulldorff, and Aaron Kheriaty, and Ms. Jill Hines, alongside the Attorneys General of Louisiana and Missouri. The injunction would bar officials from the White House, CDC, FBI, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and Surgeon General’s office from coercing or significantly encouraging social media platforms to censor constitutionally protected speech. NCLA welcomes this opportunity to defend the First Amendment rights of our clients in the U.S. Supreme Court. Read more>>
Cases to Watch
Mark Changizi is one of many NCLA clients who has been silenced on social media
NCLA Petitions en Banc Sixth Circuit to Halt Government-Directed Social Media Censorship
NCLA has filed a petition in Changizi, et al. v. HHS, et al. asking an en banc U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, or the three-judge panel, to rehear the case and halt the government’s unconstitutional assault on free speech. Biden Administration officials, including some within the Department of Health and Human Services, have violated the First Amendment by directing social media companies to censor viewpoints that conflict with the government’s Covid-19 messaging. Read more>>
The Hon. Pauline Newman is fighting her illegal suspension from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
NCLA Asks D.C. District Court to Halt Illegal Suspension of Hon. Pauline Newman
NCLA has filed a brief in Newman v. Moore, et al., urging the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to deny Defendants’ motion to dismiss the Hon. Pauline Newman’s complaint and to grant a preliminary injunction halting her ongoing suspension. Last month, the Judicial Council of the Federal Circuit unlawfully suspended the veteran circuit judge from hearing new cases for at least a year, after ordering her indefinite suspension several months earlier without due process. Read more>>
The Fifth Circuit’s new action adds CISA to the list of officials barred from bullying social media platforms to censor Americans
In NCLA Victory, Fifth Circuit Expands Injunction Against Government Social Media Censorship
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit granted Plaintiffs’ petition for a panel rehearing and added the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to its preliminary injunction in Missouri v. Biden, barring the White House, U.S. Surgeon General’s office, CDC, FBI and now CISA officials from pressuring social media platforms to censor constitutionally protected speech. NCLA is pleased all these officials will be enjoined from infringing on the First Amendment rights of our clients, Drs. Jayanta Bhattacharya, Martin Kulldorff and Aaron Kheriaty, and Ms. Jill Hines—and other brave Americans. Read more>>
AB 2098 violated Medical Board of California-certified physicians’ First Amendment rights to free speech and their Fourteenth Amendment rights to due process of law
Gov. Newsom Repeals California Law Censoring Doctors’ Covid-19 Medical Advice
Victory! California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill to repeal Assembly Bill (AB) 2098, a law that was subjecting physicians to discipline for sharing information that departs from the “contemporary scientific consensus” on Covid-19 with their patients. NCLA celebrates this result with its brave clients, who stood up to this outrageous attack on the First Amendment in Høeg, et al. v. Newsom, et al.: Drs. Tracy Høeg, Ram Duriseti, Aaron Kheriaty, Pete Mazolewski and Azadeh Khatibi. Read more>>
In addition to the $39 billion cancellation, the new plan would cancel even more debt at taxpayer expense for at least another 2.8 million borrowers in the future
NCLA Asks Appeals Court to Block Unlawful Biden Scheme Trying to Cancel Student Loan Debt
The Biden Administration’s Department of Education has begun illegally wiping out $39 billion of student loan debt owed by more than 800,000 people under the Income-Driven Repayment program by crediting non-payments during periods of forbearance as monthly payments via a “One-Time Account Adjustment.” NCLA has filed an opening brief for the Mackinac Center for Public Policy and the Cato Institute, calling on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit to stop this scheme that disregards federal law, the Constitution, and the United States Supreme Court. Read more>>
When Congress gives unbounded discretion to an agency like EPA, it violates the Constitution
NCLA Lawsuit Challenges AIM Act for Unlawfully Delegating Power over Refrigeration Companies to EPA
The Environmental Protection Agency picks and chooses which companies may produce and sell hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs)—refrigeration compounds used in air conditioners and refrigerators—by wielding power Congress unconstitutionally handed the agency. NCLA has co-filed a complaint in RMS of Georgia d/b/a Choice Refrigerants v. EPA, asking the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia to stop EPA’s use of such unbounded legislative authority. Congress passed the American Innovation and Manufacturing (AIM) Act of 2020 to phase down HFC production, empowering EPA to distribute a limited and ever-shrinking number of allowances for companies to manufacture or import these critical products. The AIM Act gives EPA essentially no guidance as to who should receive the allowances, violating Constitutional restrictions on Congress’s abdicating legislative authority to agencies. NCLA has teamed up with the Southeastern Legal Foundation on this case. Read more>>
Click here for more cases to watch.
Friends of the Court
In 2010, the Dodd-Frank Act unconstitutionally transferred judicial power to SEC by empowering the agency’s ALJs to adjudicate SEC enforcement cases against Americans like George Jarkesy
Amicus Brief Decries SEC’s Administrative Denial of Jury Trial Rights, ALJ Removal Protections
The Securities and Exchange Commission prosecuted investment professional and syndicated talk-radio host George R. Jarkesy, Jr. in a years-long administrative proceeding rife with constitutional defects. He raised these problems in federal court ahead of time but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit told him (in a pre-Axon/Cochran context) that federal courts lacked jurisdiction over his case. So, he was forced to endure the flawed administrative proceeding for years on end, which SEC adjudicated by an Administrative Law Judge who had no constitutional authority to exercise judicial power and who was improperly insulated from removal. Worse yet, the proceeding denied his Seventh Amendment right to a jury trial. NCLA has filed an amicus curiae brief in SEC v. Jarkesy, urging the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold the Fifth Circuit’s ruling overturning this unconstitutional regime. Read more>>
Click here for more amicus briefs to watch.
In the News
???? Biden Student Loan Debt Forgiveness Plan for 804,000 Borrowers Faces New Legal Challenge, USA Today
???? Supreme Court Sets up Doubleheader to Scrutinize Federal Government Authority, Courthouse News Service
???? FINRA Authority Fight Carries Weight But May Be a ‘Hard Ask’, Bloomberg Law
???? California Quietly Repeals Restrictions on Doctors’ COVID-19 Advice, Reason
???? Supreme Court to Hear Another Broad Challenge to Agency Power, The New York Times
???? The Student Loan Cancellation Battle, Sheng Li on The Steve Hook and Bryan McClain Show
???? Update on Aposhian v. Garland with Rich Samp & Clark Aposhian, Gun Radio Utah
???? Appeals Court Should Toss NY Law Dictating Social Media Sites’ Speech Policies, Kaitlyn Schiraldi on American Viewpoints with Mike Ferguson
Click here for more media mentions.
Administrative Toon
Permission granted to reprint with attribution
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