At 5:00 today, the Justice Department opposed our petition for emergency relief in the Sixth Circuit. At 10:30 tonight, we filed our reply to their opposition. The Sixth Circuit granted leave to file our reply brief.
Bump Stocks: Emergency Petition for Writ of Mandamus Filed in Sixth Circuit
The ATF reclassification of bump stocks as machineguns will take effect on Tuesday, March 26. The federal district court in which we challenged this classification change has yet to rule on our motion for an injunction. Therefore, we were forced to file this emergency petition in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
CREW v. FEC
Today our firm filed an amicus brief opposing a strained reading of the Federal Election Campaign Act disclosure requirement which CREW has urged a federal court to be forced on the FEC. FEC rules have long required the disclosure by non-political committees of donors giving to support specific Independent Expenditures (IEs). Reversing that established rule, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ordered the FEC to change its rules in unspecified ways apparently to force nonprofits to disclosure the names of every donor to a nonprofit even made in response to a solicitation that simply mentions doing IEs.
Department of Commerce v. New York
Today we filed an amicus brief in support of the Department of Commerce’s decision to add a citizenship question for the 2020 Census. A federal court in New York issued an injunction against the administration from adding the citizenship question, but the Supreme Court granted certiorari before a judgment of the Second Circuit. Our brief explained that the purpose of the decennial census is for apportionment of representation of our nation’s citizens in the House of Representatives and that the district court’s decision was based on a globalist worldview.
Comments filed supporting petition for rulemaking to FEC
Today we filed comments with the Federal Election Commission in response to a petition for rulemaking filed by the Institute for Free Speech on the FEC’s definition of “contribution.” Our comments supported the IFS petition and also urged the FEC to amend the definition of “expenditure” in the same rulemaking.
The comments were filed on behalf of the Free Speech Coalition, Free Speech Defense and Education Fund, 60 Plus Association, Conservative Legal Defense and Education Fund, DownsizeDC.org, Forthright Strategy, Gun Owners of America, The National Right to Work Committee, Public Advocate of the United States, The Senior Citizens League, and the United States Constitutional Rights Legal Defense Fund.
Our Firm’s Amicus Briefs for GOA Ranked Among Highest in Policy Shifting Cases
Empirical SCOTUSBlog ranked the amicus briefs we filed for Gun Owners of America (“GOA”) tied for 13th in the country in “Policy Shifting Cases” during the period 2000-16. This analysis focused on cases where the High Court struck down statutes as unconstitutional or overturned its own precedents. In this listing, GOA was rated above long-time powerhouse interest groups like the AFL-CIO and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. The analysis is entitled “Amicus Policy Success in Impactful Supreme Court Decisions.”
Zodhiates v. United States
Today we filed an amicus brief in support of a petition for certiorari challenging the government’s ability to track citizens through Cell Site Location Information (CSLI) obtained without a warrant. In this case, the trial court allowed the government to introduce 28 months of CSLI obtained by a prosecutor using a mere Grand Jury Subpoena. We argue that the Carpenter v. United States decision, issued in 2018, affirms the protection of CSLI under the Fourth Amendment, and the third-party doctrine does not apply. Our brief explains why the “good faith” exception applies only to police, and not prosecutors. This brief, filed in the U.S. Supreme Court, is our third amicus brief in support of Philip Zodhiates.
Citizens United v. Department of Labor (Case No. 1:19-cv-00310)
Today, on behalf of Citizens United, we filed a Complaint under the Freedom of Information Act against the Department of Labor, seeking email communications sent to or received by email addresses which have been publicly reported to be associated with Obama’s Labor Secretary Tom Perez. The case was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
Article: NPR Reports on GOA Bump Stock Litigation
National Public Radio ran a story about the Trump Administration’s regulation to ban bump stocks, and the legal challenge we filed for Gun Owners of America, in which Rob Olson of our firm was interviewed.
Jeremy Kettler v. United States
Today, we filed a Petition for Certiorari on behalf of Jeremy Kettler, who was convicted of possessing an unregistered firearm suppressor. Our petition asks the Supreme Court to review the Tenth Circuit’s decision, and to determine whether the National Firearms Act continues to be an appropriate exercise of Congress’s taxing power due to the many changes that have been made to the NFA over the last eight decades. Additionally, if the NFA is still justifiable under the taxing power, we have asked the Court to determine whether firearm accessories such as suppressors are protected by the Second Amendment and whether the NFA is impermissible as a tax on the exercise of a constitutional right.
Bump Stocks: Gun Owners of America files Motion for Preliminary Injunction Against Bumpstock Regulations
Today, our firm filed a motion for a preliminary injunction, seeking to stop the Bumpstock regulations from going into effect on March 26, as planned.
(Plaintiffs’) Motion for Preliminary Injunction (December 26, 2018)
(Plaintiffs’) Memorandum in Support of Motion for a Preliminary Injunction (December 26, 2018)
(Plaintiffs’) Party Declarations (December 26, 2018)
(Plaintiffs’) Richard Vasquez Declaration (December 26, 2018)
Bump Stocks: Gun Owners of America files Challenge to ATF Bumpstock Regulations
Today, ATF published in the Federal Register its final regulations imposing a total ban on private ownership of bumpstocks, overruling numerous prior ATF decisions. Later that same day, our firm filed a chellenge to this regulation on behalf of Gun Owners of America, Guy Owners Foundation, Virginia Citizen Defense League, and three individuals — Matt Watkins, Tim Harmsen and Rachel Malone. The challange was filed in the federal district court for the Western District of Michigan.
The American Legion v. American Humanist Association (Bladensburg Cross Merits)
Today we filed our second brief in support of the Bladensburg Cross in Maryland. We earlier filed a brief at the petition stage on July 27, 2018. Our brief attacks existing Supreme Court Establishment Clause jurisprudence, and calls upon the Court not to end the judicial assault on Christianity.
American Thinker: Why Did Michael Cohen Plead Guilty to Campaign Finance Crimes That Aren’t Campaign Finance Crimes?
Jeremiah Morgan wrote this interesting take on why Michael Cohen would plead guilty to a non-crime. First, he explains why there is no campaign finance law violation here, and then discusses how this case provides a precedent to support the ever-increasing criminalization of politics in America.
World Net Daily: Hawaii: Gun-Carry Ban Legitimate Because It’s Century Old
World Net Daily carried a story discussing the amicus brief we filed in Young v. Hawaii on November 19, 2018.
DHS v. Regents of the University of California & Nielsen v. Vidal (DACA)
Today, we filed our third brief in support of President Trump’s rescission of President Obama’s unconstitutional DACA program. We urge the Supreme Court to review the three pending injunctions against the rescission issued by Democrat judges. We asked the High Court to determine the legality of “universal injunctions” by district judges, as well as the constitutionality of the original DACA program.
Article: State’s treatment of Christian baker likened to fascism
Bob Unruh wrote an article in World Net Daily about our amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to protect the religious liberties of businesses.
Klein v. Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries
Today we filed an amicus brief supporting the owners of a small bakery in Oregon (Sweetcakes by Melissa) who refused to bake a wedding cake for a same-sex wedding because of their religious convictions. For this, they were fined $135,000 and ordered to cease and desist following their religious convictions. This case is similar to Colorado, Masterpiece Cakeshop, a case in which we filed two briefs, but which was not decided on the central issue — the extent to which public accommodation can restrict the Free Exercise of Religion.
Young v. Hawaii
Today we filed an amicus brief opposing a request for rehearing by the State of Hawaii of a Ninth Circuit decision which overturned Hawaii’s virtual ban on citizens bearing weapons. We opposed Hawaii’s argument that its laws against carrying firearms were long-standing, explaining that those laws existed when Hawaii was a monarchy where the reigning king or queen was sovereign — not as in the United States where the people are sovereign.
First Presbyterian Church U.S.A. of Tulsa v. Doe
Today we filed a brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to grant certiorari to correct a ruling by the Oklahoma Supreme Court which gave state courts jurisdiction over a matter of church policy — public baptism.
Commissioner v. Planned Parenthood of Indiana
Today we filed an amicus brief in support of an Indiana law which prevents eugenic abortion. Our brief challenges the “right” to eugenic abortion claimed by Planned Parenthood, an issue which we believe the U.S. Supreme Court should address.
New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. City of New York
Today we filed an amicus brief in support of a challenge to New York City’s near prohibition on transporting firearms. The New York City law only allows transportation of firearms from their permitted location to and from gun ranges within the city limits.
Americans for Prosperity Foundation v. Becerra
Today we filed another amicus brief in support of Americans for Prosperity’s challenge to the California Attorney General’s demand for its confidential donor information as a condition of raising money in the state. This brief urged the Ninth Circuit to grant rehearing en banc to reverse an earlier panel decision. The brief was filed for Citizens United, Citizens United Foundation, Free Speech Coalition, and Free Speech Defense and Education Fund.
United States v. Zodhiates
Today we filed an amicus brief in the Second Circuit in support of a petition for rehearing en banc, asking the Court to reconsider its decision which misapplied the Supreme Court’s decision in Carpenter v. United States, 138 S.Ct. 2006 (June 22, 2018). The trial court allowed the government to introduce evidence of “Cell Site Location Information” (“CSLI”) obtained without a warrant, which the Carpenter decision affirmed was protected by the Fourth Amendment. (This is our second amicus brief that we filed in this case, the first being filed on July 26, 2017)
Link to brief in support of rehearing
Link to motion for leave
Article: Washington Examiner — “Brett Kavanaugh will be very good for property rights”
This article by Dick Patten of the American Business Defense Council in the Washington Examiner about the appointment of Judge Kavanaugh references our article in Case Western School of Law Journal of Law, Technology & the Internet. There, we discussed Judge Kavanaugh’s important dissent to the denial of a petition for rehearing en banc in a case that became United States v. Jones in the U.S. Supreme Court. We analyzed Judge Kavanaugh’s dissent in our amicus brief in Jones, and Justice Scalia’s decision embraced the originalist property-based foundation for the Fourth Amendment.