New Civil Liberties Alliance

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The New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA) is a 501(c)(3) right-wing litigation group founded in 2017.[1] NCLA describes itself as "a nonpartisan, nonprofit civil rights group founded by prominent legal scholar Philip Hamburger to protect constitutional freedoms from violations by the Administrative State."[2]

The organization claims it "files original lawsuits and amicus curiae briefs asking judges in state and federal courts to overturn unlawful and unconstitutional actions by federal agencies that violate people’s civil liberties [including] (1) Administrative controls on free speech; (2) Agencies operating outside the scope of their statutory authority or using improperly divested legislative power (Nondelegation); (3) Judicial deference to administrative agencies (Chevron and its ilk); (4) Unlawful administrative searches; (5) Due process violations, especially in administrative adjudications; (6) Guidance abuse; (7) Spending conditions that purport to bind conduct."[2]

NCLA is an associate member of the State Policy Network.

News and Controversies

Lawsuit Supporting Bump-Stocks

In September 2022, after the nationwide ban on gun accessories that allowed the rapid firing of assault rifles, NCLA challenged the ban in a recent suit. Richard Samp of NCLA, arguing "for (the) plaintiff, Michael Cargill, told the full 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans that the prohibition relied on a flawed decision to classify a bump stock as a machine gun under federal law. A bump stock, he said, is not a machine gun because a shooter must continuously pull back on the trigger and push forward on the barrel to fire rapidly."[3]

NCLA Represented Landlord Seeking to Evict Tenants Amidst Coronavirus Pandemic

In September 2020, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) "issued a moratorium on evictions through the end of 2020, citing a potential increase in the spread of the coronavirus if people lose their places of residence."[4]

Shortly after this decision, NCLA represented a Virginia landlord, "arguing that the CDC did not have the legal authority to prevent Brown from evicting clients who can’t pay rent and replacing them with those who can afford market-rate rents."[4]

Filed Amicus Briefs in Support of Koch-Backed Organizations

NCLA has filed amicus briefs supporting Koch-funded organizations such as Americans for Prosperity, Cato Institute, and the Institute for Justice.[4]

Labor Cases

NCLA filed an amicus brief supporting tech multinational Oracle against the Department of Labor and has represented FDRLST Media, LLC, which owns The Federalist, in a labor case.[4]

Opposition to Chevron U.S.A. Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council Decision

NCLA attacked the Supreme Court's Chevron decision in a 2019 legal challenge to a ban on bump stocks.

In a related press release, the organization said, "We look forward to the Court setting a major precedent limiting Chevron‘s unconstitutional reach."[4]

The organization also publishes a newsletter called "ChevronWatch", described as a compilation of "cases happening across the judicial system as one of the many resources we offer to inform the public about the abuses of the Administrative State."[5]

Funding

New Civil Liberties Alliance is not required to disclose its funders but major foundation supporters can be found through their IRS filings. Here are some known contributors:

Core Financials

2022[6]

  • Total Revenue: $4,823,593
  • Total Expenses: $4,781,787
  • Net Assets: $4,685,064

2021[6]

  • Total Revenue: $3,912,261
  • Total Expenses: $4,773,587
  • Net Assets: $4,660,955

2020[7]

  • Total Revenue: $3,633,040
  • Total Expenses: $3,837,112
  • Net Assets: $5,510,144

2019[8]

  • Total Revenue: $4,052,996
  • Total Expenses: $2,692,972
  • Net Assets: $5,779,252

2018[9]

  • Total Revenue: $2,949,940
  • Total Expenses: $1,503,235
  • Net Assets: $4,354,087

2017[10]

  • Total Revenue: $1,653,383
  • Total Expenses: $0
  • Net Assets: $1,653,383

Personnel

Staff

As of July 2023:[11]

  • Zhonette Brown, Senior Litigation Counsel
  • Mark Chenoweth, Executive Director and General Counsel
  • Greg Dolin, Senior Litigation Counsel
  • Philip Hamburger, President
  • Clegg Ivey, Director of Engagement
  • Sheng Li, Litigation Counsel
  • Margaret A. Little, Senior Litigation Counsel
  • Joseph Martyak, Director of Operations
  • Micayla (Metzing) Stoecker, Paralegal
  • Ruslan Moldovanov, Communications Associate
  • Casey Norman, Litigation Counsel
  • Judy Pino, Communications and Marketing Director
  • Casey Norman, Litigation Counsel
  • Kara Rollins, Litigation Counsel
  • Russ Ryan, Senior Litigation Counsel
  • Richard Samp, Senior Litigation Counsel
  • Trevor Schakohl, Communications Specialist
  • Kaitlyn Schiraldi, Staff Attorney
  • Helen Taylor, Digital Media Associate
  • John J. Vecchione, Senior Litigation Counsel

Former Staff

  • Jenin Younes, Litigation Counsel
  • Brian Rosner, Senior Litigation Counsel
  • Will Gale, Content Writer
  • Harriet Hageman, Senior Litigation Counsel
  • Brianna Bauer, Paralegal
  • Michael P. DeGrandis, Senior Litigation Counsel
  • Adi Dynar, Litigation Counsel
  • Caleb Kruckenberg, Litigation Counsel
  • Paul Burghart, Executive Assistant
  • Gabriel Lepinski, Development Associate
  • Jared McClain, Litigation Counsel
  • Lauren McDonald, Director of Development
  • Sean Murphy, Paralegal
  • Mason Riggs, Digital Media Associate

Board of Advisors

As of July 2023:[12]

  • Chairman, Hon. Janice Rogers Brown, retired judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and former Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court
  • Randy Barnett, Professor of Law at Georgetown Law School
  • Peter Berkowitz, Tad and Dianne Taube Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University
  • Jennifer Braceras, Former Commissioner, U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, Director, Independent Women's Law Center
  • Hon. Susan G. Braden, retired judge of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims
  • Mike Carvin, Partner at Jones Day
  • Robin Conrad, Law Office of Robin S. Conrad
  • Chuck Cooper, Partner at Cooper & Kirk
  • Don Elliott, Senior Of Counsel at Covington and Visiting Professor at Yale Law School
  • Dan Gallagher, Former Commissioner, U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission
  • Adam Gustafson, Senior Counsel, Boeing
  • Greg Jacob, Partner at O'Melveny & Myers
  • Erika Jones, Partner at Mayer Brown
  • Joshua Kleinfeld, Professor at Northwestern University’s Pritzker School of Law
  • Christopher Landau, Former Ambassador to Mexico
  • Gary Lawson, Professor at Boston University School of Law
  • Julia Mahoney, Professor at the University of Virginia School of Law
  • Jonathan Mitchell, Mitchell Law PLLC
  • Elizabeth Papez, Partner at Gibson Dunn
  • Roger Pilon, B. Kenneth Simon Chair in Constitutional Studies, Cato Institute
  • Joseph Postell, Associate Professor of Politics, Hillsdale College
  • Glenn Reynolds, Professor of Law at the University of Tennessee College of Law
  • Brian Richman, Associate at Gibson Dunn
  • David Schoenbrod, Professor of Law at the New York Law School
  • Dan Troy, former General Counsel, GlaxoSmithKline
  • Eugene Volokh, Professor of Law at UCLA Law School
  • Peter Wallison, Arthur F. Burns Fellow, Financial Policy Studies, American Enterprise Institute
  • Rebecca Wood, Partner at Sidley

Former Board Members

  • Hon. James Buckley, former United States Senator and retired judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
  • Kristina Arriaga, Former Vice Chairwoman of U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom
  • Will Consovoy, Partner at Consovoy McCarthy
  • Allyson Ho, Partner at Gibson Dunn

Contact Information

New Civil Liberties Alliance
1225 19th Street Northwest, Suite 450
Washington, DC 20036

EIN: 81-3474290
Web: https://nclalegal.org/
Web contact form: https://nclalegal.org/contact/
Phone: (202) 869-5210
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NewCivilLibertiesAlliance/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/NCLAlegal
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ncla-legal/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIGjLVsGXlDApLkDTAC_YVw

Articles and Resources

Related SourceWatch

IRS Form 990 Filings

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

References

  1. ↑ Guidestar, New Civil Liberties Alliance, organizational website, accessed January 6, 2021.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 New Civil Liberties Alliance, About, organizational website, accessed January 6, 2021.
  3. ↑ Brendan Pierson, Gun activist asks appeals court to block bump stock ban, Reuters, September 13th, 2023
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Alex Kotch, "Koch-Funded Legal Group Pushes to Allow Mass Evictions During Pandemic", Exposed by CMD, October 13, 2020, accessed January 6, 2021.
  5. ↑ New Civil Liberties Alliance, ChevronWatch, organizational website, accessed January 6, 2021.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 New Civil Liberties Alliance, 2022 IRS Form 990 Filing, organizational tax filing, November 13, 2022. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "ncla21" defined multiple times with different content
  7. ↑ New Civil Liberties Alliance, 2020 IRS Form 990 Filing, organizational tax filing, November 11, 2021.
  8. ↑ New Civil Liberties Alliance, 2019 IRS Form 990 Filing, organizational tax filing, November 6, 2020.
  9. ↑ New Civil Liberties Alliance, 2018 IRS Form 990 Filing, organizational tax filing, October 21, 2019.
  10. ↑ New Civil Liberties Alliance, 2017 IRS Form 990 Filing, organizational tax filing, January 3, 2019.
  11. ↑ New Civil Liberties Alliance, Team, organizational website, accessed July 10, 2023.
  12. ↑ New Civil Liberties Alliance, Board of Advisors, organizational website, accessed July 10, 2023.
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