NCLA Case Finder
Case Opened: January 19, 2023
Focus Area:
Scope of Authority / Nondelegation
The structure of the Constitution allows only Congress to legislate, only the Executive to enforce laws, and only the Judiciary to decide cases. But the Administrative State evades the Constitution’s avenues of governance when executive agencies issue regulations without statutory authorization from Congress.
Agency: Public Company Accounting Oversight Board
Jurisdiction: N.D. Tex. | D.C.
Role: Counsel
Case Opened: December 15, 2022
Focus Area:
Judicial Deference
Deference doctrines require judges to defer to an administrative agency’s fact finding, or its interpretation of statutes and regulations. Thus, judges surrender their independent judgment and, where the government is a party, must exhibit systematic bias in the government’s favor, which denies due process of law to the other litigant.
Agency: Department of Commerce
Jurisdiction: SCOTUS | D.C. Cir.
Role: Amicus
Case Status: Closed
Focus Area:
Scope of Authority / Nondelegation
The structure of the Constitution allows only Congress to legislate, only the Executive to enforce laws, and only the Judiciary to decide cases. But the Administrative State evades the Constitution’s avenues of governance when executive agencies issue regulations without statutory authorization from Congress.
Agency: Securities and Exchange Commission
Jurisdiction: 9th Cir.
Role: Amicus
Case Status: Closed
Focus Area:
Administrative Speech Controls
The Administrative State tries to squelch speech, especially through licensing, speech bans, and speech mandates. Licensing requires one to get the government’s permission prior to speaking. Nothing was more clearly forbidden by the First Amendment than prior restraints on speech, but such controls are now commonplace.
Agency: Federal Trade Commission
Jurisdiction: N.D. Cal.
Role: Counsel
Case Opened: November 14, 2022
Focus Area:
Unreasonable Searches
The Fourth Amendment forbids warrantless searches and seizures of information, yet the Administrative State violates this right to privacy through administrative subpoenas and warrants, automated information collection devices, civil investigative demands, and “voluntary” requests for information.
Agency: Massachusetts Department of Public Health
Jurisdiction: D. Mass.
Role: Counsel
Case Status: Closed
Focus Area:
Administrative Speech Controls
The Administrative State tries to squelch speech, especially through licensing, speech bans, and speech mandates. Licensing requires one to get the government’s permission prior to speaking. Nothing was more clearly forbidden by the First Amendment than prior restraints on speech, but such controls are now commonplace.
Agency: CA Med Board | California Governor
Jurisdiction: E.D. Cal.
Role: Counsel
Case Status: Closed
Focus Area:
Scope of Authority / Nondelegation
The structure of the Constitution allows only Congress to legislate, only the Executive to enforce laws, and only the Judiciary to decide cases. But the Administrative State evades the Constitution’s avenues of governance when executive agencies issue regulations without statutory authorization from Congress.
Agency: Consumer Product Safety Commission
Jurisdiction: 5th Cir.
Role: Amicus
Case Opened: September 30, 2022
Focus Area:
Guidance Abuse
Agency guidance is easier to promulgate than formal rules and regulations, so agencies prefer to issue it. Such “guidance” supplies relatively informal indications of how an agency interprets rules and statutes. Although guidance is not permitted to bind Americans (unlike laws made by elected legislators), agencies treat guidance as binding and courts often fail to stop them.
Agency: United States
Jurisdiction: 5th Cir.
Role: Amicus
Case Opened: September 13, 2022
Focus Area:
Scope of Authority / Nondelegation
The structure of the Constitution allows only Congress to legislate, only the Executive to enforce laws, and only the Judiciary to decide cases. But the Administrative State evades the Constitution’s avenues of governance when executive agencies issue regulations without statutory authorization from Congress.
Agency: United States
Jurisdiction: Fed. Cir.
Role: Amicus
Case Status: Closed
Focus Area:
Scope of Authority / Nondelegation
The structure of the Constitution allows only Congress to legislate, only the Executive to enforce laws, and only the Judiciary to decide cases. But the Administrative State evades the Constitution’s avenues of governance when executive agencies issue regulations without statutory authorization from Congress.
Agency: Federal Trade Commission
Jurisdiction: N.D. Il.
Role: Amicus
Case Opened: August 2, 2022
Focus Area:
Scope of Authority / Nondelegation
The structure of the Constitution allows only Congress to legislate, only the Executive to enforce laws, and only the Judiciary to decide cases. But the Administrative State evades the Constitution’s avenues of governance when executive agencies issue regulations without statutory authorization from Congress.
Administrative Speech Controls
The Administrative State tries to squelch speech, especially through licensing, speech bans, and speech mandates. Licensing requires one to get the government’s permission prior to speaking. Nothing was more clearly forbidden by the First Amendment than prior restraints on speech, but such controls are now commonplace.
Agency: Centers for Disease Control | Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency | Department of Health and Human Services | Federal Bureau of Investigation | National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases | National Institutes for Health | President of the United States
Jurisdiction: SCOTUS | 5th Cir. | W.D. LA
Role: Counsel
Case Status: Closed
Focus Area:
Agency: Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
Jurisdiction: SCOTUS | 6th Cir.
Role: Amicus