Press Releases
Federal Agencies Cannot Turn Blind Eye to Anti-Guidance Petitions
Washington, D.C. — Since July of 2018, the New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA) has filed 18 anti-guidance petitions to federal agencies who too often regulate through “guidance” rather than following the process that the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) mandates for...
read moreNCLA Files Petition with CFTC to Amend Controversial ‘Gag’ Rule
Washington, D.C. —The New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA) today filed a petition asking the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to amend its controversial “Gag” Rule. The CFTC requires settling parties to agree that they will never make any public...
read moreThe U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Should Call Out Constitutional Problems with Auer Deference
Washington, D.C. —The New Civil Liberties Alliance, a nonprofit civil-rights organization and public-interest law firm, filed an amicus brief supporting the appellant in the case of Goldwater Institute v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services before the U.S....
read moreNCLA Challenges ED’s Title IX Guidance for Campus Disciplinary Proceedings
Washington, D.C. — The New Civil Liberties Alliance today filed a Memorandum of Law opposing the Department of Education’s Motion to Dismiss the Complaint NCLA filed last fall on behalf of Dr. Mukund Vengalattore. NCLA’s client was an assistant physics professor at...
read moreNCLA Asks Court to Overturn SEC’s Lifetime Gag on Free Speech
Washington, D.C. — The Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) “Gag” Rule is a regulation almost unique to the SEC. Since the Rule was created without notice and comment in 1972, it has managed to impact the freedom of speech of hundreds of Americans. Barry D....
read moreSCOTUS Stumbles Again, Fails to Repudiate Grossly Unconstitutional Auer Deference
Court Must Stop Relying on Stare Decisis Crutch to Prop Up Problematic PrecedentWashington, D.C. — Today’s Supreme Court decision in Kisor v. Wilkie grants temporary victory to combat veteran James Kisor but nevertheless keeps Auer deference intact. Although the facts...
read moreTTB’s Proposed Labeling Modernization Encroaches on Free Speech Rights of Alcohol-Beverage Producers & Consumers
Washington, D.C. — The New Civil Liberties Alliance submitted a public comment today in response to the Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau’s proposed Labeling Modernization Rule. In TTB’s attempt to reform the overly burdensome Certificate of Label Approval (COLA) system...
read moreSupreme Court’s Gundy Decision Leaves Door Ajar as to Limits on Congress’ Ability to Delegate Lawmaking to the Executive Branch
Dissenters in Gundy v. United States Agree with NCLA’s Amicus Brief, Cite to NCLA ScholarsWashington, D.C. — Today, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its decision in Gundy v. United States in which it upheld the federal government’s authority under the Sex Offender...
read moreNCLA Demands that Bureau of Prisons Follow the Law in Recalculating Prison Sentences for Thousands in Custody
Washington, D.C. — Robert Shipp has served his time and then some, but the U.S. Justice Department’s Bureau of Prisons (BOP) refuses to apply a statutory recalculation for “good time” credit to his sentence until July 19, 2019. The BOP has already recalculated Mr....
read moreNCLA Asks Tenth Circuit to Determine Who Has the Constitutional Right to Change the Law in Bump Stock Case
Washington, D.C. — Whom does the Constitution allow to change the law when tragedy strikes? Today the New Civil Liberties Alliance filed a brief on behalf of NCLA client Clark Aposhian, asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit to determine that it is...
read moreNCLA Asks Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to Put an End to Unconstitutional SEC Hearings
Washington, D.C. — The New Civil Liberties Alliance today filed a brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit asking to reverse the district court’s decision to dismiss the case of NCLA’s client, Michelle Cochran, for lack of subject-matter...
read moreNCLA Wins Repeal of Judicial Deference Doctrine by Sixth Circuit
Washington, D.C. — Today, the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit reversed its prior decision and ordered resentencing in United States v. Jeffery Havis. In no uncertain terms, the Sixth Circuit concluded that a sentencing enhancement, contained in U.S....
read moreNCLA Asks Full Ninth Circuit to Decide that Police Theft During Execution of a Search Warrant Violates the Constitution in Jessop v. City of Fresno
Washington, D.C. — The New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA) today filed an amicus brief in support of rehearing en banc in Jessop v. City of Fresno. It asks the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to decide whether it violates the Fourth Amendment’s protection...
read moreNCLA Sues to Overturn SEC’s Unconstitutional ‘Gag Order’ that Never Expires in SEC v Romeril
Washington, D.C. — The New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA) today filed a Motion for Relief from Judgment and memorandum of law with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on behalf of Barry D. Romeril. Mr. Romeril served as the Chief Financial...
read moreNCLA Applauds Sixth Circuit’s Grant of Rehearing en Banc in U.S. v. Havis
Washington, D.C. — The New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA) is celebrating a victory in the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, which today granted a petition for rehearing en banc in United States v. Jeffery Havis. NCLA filed an amicus brief in...
read moreNCLA Proud to Announce Its Board of Advisors Chairman, Judge Janice Rogers Brown, Will Receive a Prestigious Bradley Prize
Washington, D.C. — The New Civil Liberties Alliance proudly congratulates the Chairman of our Board of Advisors, the Honorable Janice Rogers Brown, who has been selected as one of three recipients of the distinguished 2019 Bradley Prizes. Judge Brown is a retired...
read moreNCLA Chides U.S. Ninth Circuit Court for Gutting a 60-Year-Old Bedrock Civil Rights Precedent
Washington, D.C. — The en banc Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals declined to rehear Americans for Prosperity Foundation v. Becerra late last week, dismissing one of the most important legacies of the Civil Rights Movement in the process. In October 2018, the New Civil...
read moreNCLA Challenge to the Bump Stock Ban Continues in Two Federal Courts
Washington, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent refusal to delay the federal ban on bump stocks does not impact the cases being brought by the New Civil Liberties Alliance. NCLA will continue to challenge the Bump Stock Type Devices Final Rule on behalf of two...
read moreTexas Federal Judge Expresses ‘Deep Concern’ with Potentially Unconstitutional ALJ Proceedings for NCLA Client
Washington, D.C. — Today, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas recognized the inherent injustice in the administrative enforcement process the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued against Michelle Cochran, a client of the New Civil...
read moreNCLA Files Lawsuit in Texas Against the ATF’s Bump Stock Final Rule
Washington, D.C. — The New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA) filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, Austin Division, against the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). The case seeks to overturn the federal ban...
read moreNCLA Wins Temporary Stay of Bump Stock Ban from U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
Washington, D.C. — Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit issued a temporary stay of the bump stock ban announced late last year by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). The stay only applies to NCLA’s client, W. Clark...
read moreNCLA Appeals Ban on Bump Stocks to the U.S. Court of Appeals in Denver
Washington, D.C. — The New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA) is asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit to halt enforcement of the federal ban on bump stocks before it becomes effective March 26th because there is no statutory authority for the ban. NCLA...
read moreD.C. Court’s Refusal to Enjoin Bump Stock Final Rule Underscores the Problem with Chevron Deference NCLA believes courts must apply the rule of lenity instead
Washington, D.C. — On Monday U.S. District Judge Dabney L. Friedrich rejected preliminary injunction requests in a pair of consolidated lawsuits, Guedes v. ATF and Correa v. Barr, seeking to block the Bump Stock-type Devices Final Rule. Several other cases await...
read moreSec. Toulouse-Oliver Delays Merits of Case With a Motion to Stay in NCLA’s Petition for Writ of Mandamus
Washington, D.C. — Secretary of State Toulouse Oliver filed a Motion to Stay the Proceedings in the Supreme Court today while, in her words, “the legislature considers legislation with a direct bearing on the claims at issue” in this case. NCLA filed a Petition for a...
read moreTime for SCOTUS to Stop Deferring to Federal Agencies
Washington, D.C. — The New Civil Liberties Alliance today filed an amicus curiae brief before the U.S. Supreme Court in the Kisor v. Wilkie case. Although the facts of the case involve a dispute over veterans’ benefits, the question before the Court is whether two of...
read moreNCLA Submits Comment in Objection to Proposed ED Rule
Washington, D.C. — The New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA) today submitted a Comment to the Department of Education’s proposed rule, Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Sex in the Education Programs or Activities Receiving Federal Financial Assistance. NCLA argues that...
read moreNCLA Marks One-Year Anniversary of DOJ’s ‘Brand Memo’ with Avalanche of Anti-Guidance Petitions
Washington, D.C. — The New Civil Liberties Alliance today filed half a dozen Petitions for Rulemaking taking issue with the abusive, shortcut manner in which federal departments and agencies issue regulatory guidance. The Petitions ask each named department or agency...
read moreNCLA: The Bump Stock Buck Must Stop with Congress, Not the President
Washington, D.C. — Firearms instructor W. Clark Aposhian of Utah is a law-abiding citizen, but under the "Bump-Stock-Type Devices" Final Rule, on March 26th, he will become a felon subject to a 10-year prison sentence unless he destroys or surrenders his Slide Fire...
read moreNCLA Stands With Cato And IJ In Federal Lawsuit Against the SEC
Washington, D.C. — The New Civil Liberties Alliance supports and commends the legal action taken by the Cato Institute and the Institute for Justice against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s unconstitutional ‘gag rule.’ In the federal lawsuit, IJ...
read moreNew Mexico’s Secretary of State Tries to Veto Governor’s Veto
Washington, D.C. — The New Civil Liberties Alliance today filed a Petition for a Writ of Mandamus with the Supreme Court of New Mexico. The Petition asks the Justices to vacate New Mexico's 2017 "Campaign Finance Rule" (CFR) because it violates the separation of...
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