New Civil Liberties Alliance

06/12/2026

Thank you to everyone who joined us for NCLA's Sixth Annual Georgie's Awards!

As America celebrates its 250th anniversary, this year's King George III Prize competition expanded to include bureaucrats from across our nation's history. After weeks of spirited voting, the final showdown came down to two towering figures of government power:

🏆 Winner: James M. Landis — the architect of the modern Administrative State, who championed a "Fourth Branch" of government in which unelected agencies could make rules, enforce them, and adjudicate disputes with minimal constitutional checks.

🏅 Runner-up: John O. Brennan — the former CIA Director whose tenure remains deeply controversial, including disputes surrounding congressional oversight and the government's handling of intelligence matters.

Of course, no Georgie's Awards would be complete without an appearance by King George III himself, who made the rounds throughout the evening and seemed right at home.

The night wasn't just about calling out the worst abuses of government power—it was also about honoring those who stand up for constitutional liberties today. Congratulations to our 2026 George Washington Award recipients:

🇺🇸 Best Amicus Brief: Noel Francisco and his colleagues at Jones Day

🇺🇸 Best Local Counsel: Steve Matthews and Sarah Hodges of Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd

🇺🇸 Client Bravery: Emily Ley, founder of Simplified

🇺🇸 Pro Bono Work: Jeffrey L. Fisher and Stanford Law School's Supreme Court Litigation Clinic

Thank you to everyone who attended and helped make this year's event such a memorable evening. Here's to another year of defending constitutional freedoms and reminding ourselves why concentrated, unaccountable power should never be taken lightly.

06/11/2026

We just proved once again why we're a leading force for jury trial rights, this time in our lawsuit challenging punitive sanctions against our client Eric S. Smith.

FINRA imposed the sanctions and SEC upheld them—all administratively without any Article III jury trial.

What's happening:

This New Civil Liberties Alliance lawsuit challenges punitive sanctions against NCLA client Eric S. Smith.

06/11/2026

MARK YOUR CALENDARS: NCLA attorney Peggy Little and 44th U.S. Solicitor General Gregory Garre will headline a June 15 Federalist Society online event with the latest updates on our Powell v. SEC Supreme Court petition against SEC's First Amendment-violating Gag Rule.

SEC and CFTC have rescinded their Gag Rules SEC just as this case threatens to expose their blatant unconstitutionality. Tune in and hear why the Supreme Court must still take this case to safeguard free speech and free press.

Details and register:

The SEC’s “Gag Rule” long conditioned settlement of enforcement actions on the defendant's agreeing...

06/11/2026

NCLA gives our annual King George III Prize to the bureaucrat who's been the worst civil liberties violator in America each year. For our country's 250th anniversary, we just handed out the prize for the worst of all time!

It's James Landis, architect of the modern Administrative State.

This happened last night at a great event we hold every year that also honors legal heroes with George Washington Awards.

The New Civil Liberties Alliance’s King George III Prize goes to Landis, architect of the modern Administrative State.

06/10/2026

For more than three years, Judge Pauline Newman has been prevented from hearing cases on the federal bench.

In this in-depth conversation with NCLA President Mark Chenoweth, Judge Newman discusses her pending case before the U.S. Supreme Court and why she believes it raises fundamental questions about judicial independence and due process—not just for her, but for the federal judiciary as a whole.

Watch the full 53-minute interview on YouTube:

For more than three years, Judge Pauline Newman has been prevented ...

06/09/2026

BREAKING: We just filed our reply brief insisting the Supreme Court should hear Powell v. SEC and rule that SEC’s 50-year Gag Rule, which the agency just rescinded, is unconstitutional.

NCLA and co-counsel former U.S. Solicitor General Greg Garre and his colleagues at Latham & Watkins demonstrate that SEC's arguments in response in Powell v. SEC fail.and a Supreme Court ruling remains necessary to put this issue to bed. First Amendment rights are at stake.

The New Civil Liberties Alliances proves a Supreme Court ruling is necessary to put this issue to bed once and for all.

06/09/2026

Can Congress hand its lawmaking power to unelected bureaucrats?

In a new article at The Federalist, NCLA's Margot Cleveland explains why Choice Refrigerants v. EPA could give the Supreme Court an opportunity to revive the Constitution's separation of powers and curb agency overreach.

Read more:

A new petition before the Supreme Court gives it the opportunity to land a decisive blow against the EPA's unconstitutional overreach.

06/09/2026

SUPREME COURT NEWS: We just filed a brief fighting for Americans' right to challenge the constitutionality of laws passed by Congress in court, not government agencies' tribunals staffed by adjudicators who lack constitutional law expertise.

“Constitutional challenges to federal statutes belong in federal courts, not in administrative tribunals where ALJs lack constitutional law expertise.”

06/05/2026

Another federal agency has run away from its unlawful gag rule violating First Amendment rights. We've been in hot pursuit for years.

Find out why the Supreme Court should hear our Powell v. SEC case and stop these policies for good.

https://nclalegal.org/press_release/ncla-pressure-leads-cftc-to-rescind-its-unlawful-gag-rule-against-settling-enforcement-targets/

06/05/2026

One federal judge was found to have engaged in sexual misconduct in her courthouse chambers and received a reprimand.

Conversely, Federal Judge Pauline Newman has been sidelined for more than 3 years by her colleagues, with no findings of misconduct and passing 3 mental fitness exams by 3 different doctors.

Chief Judge Kimberly Moore and the Judicial Council of the Federal Circuit have effectively removed Judge Newman from office, even stopping her from hiring law clerks and leaving her off the distribution list for proposed opinions. All of these steps were taken without any formal investigation into her fitness for office.

Why the difference?

🎙️ Mark Chenoweth and John Vecchione discuss the judiciary's disciplinary process in the latest episode of Unwritten Law.

Why did one federal judge receive only a reprimand after being caug...