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Americans for Prosperity and Americans for Prosperity Foundation frequently write amicus curiae briefs to support other litigants and present important issues to courts. Please contact us at amicus@afphq.org if you would like amicus support for your case.

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    Case Name Year Question Presented Court Issue Area Attorneys
    Brief Image Human Rights Defense Center v. United States Park Police 2024

    Does a federal court enjoy inherent authority to order the return or destruction of records released under the Freedom of Information Act, even when such disclosure is allegedly inadvertent, or can it alternatively prohibit further use or dissemination of such records by their recipient.

    D.C. Circuit
  • Ryan Mulvey
  • Brief Image Allstates Refractory Contractors v. Su et al. 2024 Whether Congress’s delegation of authority to write “reasonably necessary or appropriate” workplace-safety standards violates Article I of the U.S. Constitution. U.S. Supreme Court Regulatory Reform
  • Michael Pepson
  • Brief Image Murthy v. Missouri 2024 (1) Whether respondents have Article III standing; (2) whether the government’s challenged conduct transformed private social media companies’ content-moderation decisions into state action and violated respondents’ First Amendment rights; and (3) whether the terms and breadth of the preliminary injunction are proper. U.S. Supreme Court Free Expression
  • Cynthia Crawford
  • Casey Mattox
  • Brief Image Eidson v. South Carolina Department of Education 2024 Whether South Carolina’s Education Scholarship Trust Fund, an Educational Savings Account program, violates the state's constitution. South Carolina Supreme Court Foundational Education
  • Brief Image Choice Refrigerants v. EPA 2024
     Whether EPA unconstitutionally exercised legislative power when it established the standards for determining which entities would or would not be allocated the allowances required to participate in an ongoing national market.
    D.C. Circuit Regulatory Reform
  • Michael Pepson
  • Brief Image National Rifle Association of America v. Vullo 2024 Whether the First Amendment allows a government regulator to threaten regulated entities with adverse regulatory actions if they do business with a controversial speaker, as a consequence of (a) the government’s own hostility to the speaker’s viewpoint or (b) a perceived “general backlash” against the speaker’s advocacy. U.S. Supreme Court Free Expression
  • Cynthia Crawford
  • Casey Mattox
  • Brief Image Masterpiece Cake Shop v. Scardina 2023 Whether the State compelling a cake designer to knowingly design, make, and provide a cake to celebrate a transgender transition, even when the creator behind the work vehemently disagrees with the underlying premise and purpose for which he knows that the cake is being made, violates his First Amendment rights. Colorado Supreme Court Free Expression
  • Brief Image NetChoice, LLC v. Moody & Paxton 2023 Whether the First Amendment prohibits viewpoint-, content-, or speaker-based laws restricting select websites from engaging in editorial choices about whether, and how, to publish and disseminate speech — or otherwise burdening those editorial choices through onerous operational and disclosure requirements. U.S. Supreme Court Free Expression
  • Cynthia Crawford
  • Casey Mattox
  • Brief Image Consumers’ Research v. FCC 2023 (1) Whether 47 U.S.C. § 254 violates the nondelegation doctrine by imposing no limit on the FCC’s power to raise revenue for the Universal Service Fund. (2) Whether the FCC violated the private nondelegation doctrine by transferring its revenue raising power to a private company run by industry interest groups. U.S. Supreme Court Regulatory Reform
  • Michael Pepson
  • Brief Image Corner Post, Inc., v. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System 2023 Does a plaintiff’s APA claim “first accrue[]” under 28 U.S.C. §2401(a) when an agency issues a rule—regardless of whether that rule injures the plaintiff on that date—or when the rule first causes a plaintiff to “suffer[] legal wrong” or be “adversely affected or aggrieved”? U.S. Supreme Court Regulatory Reform
  • Michael Pepson
  • Brief Image James Harper v. Daniel Werfel, et al. 2023 Whether the IRS violated the Fifth Amendment’s Due Process Clause by seizing Mr. Harper’s private financial information from the third-party virtual currency exchange(s) without first providing him with notice and an opportunity to challenge the seizure of his property. First Circuit Criminal Justice
  • Ryan Mulvey
  • Lee Steven
  • Brief Image Felkner v. Nazarian et al. 2023 (1) Whether the judge-made "clearly established law" qualified immunity standard, which lacks textual, historical, and logical support, and which does not advance its purported policy objectives, should be abolished or limited; and (2) whether respondents are entitled to qualified immunity on Felkner's First Amendment claims when they had ample time to reflect and seek legal counsel prior to engaging in a sustained course of conduct that abridged Petitioner's clearly established First Amendment right to freedom of speech? U.S. Supreme Court Free Expression
  • Cynthia Crawford
  • Casey Mattox
  • Brief Image SEC v. Jarkesy 2023 1. Whether statutory provisions that empower the SEC to initiate and adjudicate administrative enforcement proceedings seeking civil penalties violate the Seventh Amendment. 2. Whether statutory provisions that authorize the SEC to choose to enforce the securities laws through an agency adjudication instead of filing a district court action violate the nondelegation doctrine. 3. Whether Congress violated Article II by granting for-cause removal protection to administrative law judges in agencies whose heads enjoy for-cause removal protection. U.S. Supreme Court Regulatory Reform
  • Michael Pepson
  • Brief Image Allstates Refractory Contractors v. Su et al. 2023
    Whether Congress's delegation of authority to a federal agency to make legislative policy choices of vast economic and political importance violates the Constitution.
    Sixth Circuit Regulatory Reform
  • Michael Pepson
  • Brief Image Speech First, Inc. v. Sands 2023 Whether university bias-response teams — official entities that solicit, track, and investigate reports of bias; ask to meet with perpetrators; and threaten to refer students for formal discipline — objectively chill students’ speech in violation of the First Amendment. U.S. Supreme Court Free Expression
  • Cynthia Crawford
  • Casey Mattox
  • Brief Image Newell-Davis v. Phillips 2023 1. Whether the state may deny equal protection of the laws and exclude people from a trade for the sole purpose of easing its regulatory burden, or whether restrictions on the right to enter a common and lawful occupation require more scrutiny. 2. Whether the Supreme Court should overrule the Slaughter-House Cases and hold that the right to enter a common and lawful occupation is a privilege or immunity protected by the Fourteenth Amendment. U.S. Supreme Court Regulatory Reform
  • Michael Pepson
  • Cynthia Crawford
  • Brief Image CFPB v. Community Financial Services Association of America 2023 Whether the court of appeals erred in holding that the statute providing funding to the CFPB, 12 U.S.C. 5497, violates the Appropriations Clause, U.S. Const. Art. I,§ 9, Cl. 7, and in vacating a regulation promulgated at a time when the CFPB was receiving such funding. U.S. Supreme Court Regulatory Reform
  • Michael Pepson
  • Brief Image Illumina v. FTC 2023 Whether the FTC’s administrative prosecution violated the U.S. Constitution, including Article I, Article II, Article III, and the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment, and whether the FTC’s Order is therefore void ab initio. Fifth Circuit Regulatory Reform
  • Michael Pepson
  • Brief Image Medical Imaging & Technology Alliance v. Library of Congress 2023 Whether a regulation promulgated by the Library of Congress under Section 1201 of the DMCA, using notice-and-comment rulemaking procedures, is reviewable in federal court as a final “agency” action under the APA’s judicial review provision. D.C. Circuit Regulatory Reform
  • Michael Pepson
  • Ryan Mulvey
  • Brief Image Pulsifer v. United States 2023 Whether the "and" in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(f)(1) means "and," so that a defendant satisfies the provision so long as he does not have (A) more than 4 criminal history points, (B) a 3-point offense, and (C) a 2-point offense (as the Ninth Circuit holds), or whether the "and" means "or," so that a defendant satisfies the provision so long as he does not have (A) more than 4 criminal history points, (B) a 3- point offense, or (C) a 2-point violent offense (as the Seventh and Eighth Circuits hold). U.S. Supreme Court Criminal Justice Reform
  • Michael Pepson
  • Brief Image Henderson v. School District of Springfield R-12 2023 (1) Whether the district court erred in finding frivolous Plantiff's claims the Springfield School District violated their First Amendment right to free speech. (2) Whether the district court erred in awarding attorney fees to the Defendants. Eighth Circuit Free Expression
  • Cynthia Crawford
  • Brief Image Mobilize the Message, LLC v. Bonta 2023 Whether California AB5 unconstitutionally regulates speech by classifying doorknockers and signature gatherers as employees. U.S. Supreme Court Free Expression
  • Cynthia Crawford
  • Casey Mattox
  • Darpana Sheth
  • Abigail E. Smith
  • Brief Image Tyler v. Hennepin County 2023 (1) Whether taking and selling a home to satisfy a debt to the government, and keeping the surplus value as a windfall, violates the Fifth Amendment's takings clause; and (2) whether the forfeiture of property worth far more than needed to satisfy a debt, plus interest, penalties, and costs, is a fine within the meaning of the Eighth Amendment. U.S. Supreme Court Regulatory Reform
  • Michael Pepson
  • Cindy Crawford
  • Brief Image Calcutt v. FDIC 2023 (1) Whether SEC v. Chenery Corp. and its progeny required the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit to remand the case to the agency after determining that the agency had applied the wrong legal standards; and (2) whether Collins v. Yellen requires separation-of-powers challengers to offer concrete proof of prejudice as a prerequisite to courts resolving separation-of-powers challenges to removal restrictions on the merits. U.S. Supreme Court Regulatory Reform
  • Michael Pepson
  • Cindy Crawford
  • Brief Image Fellowship of Christian Athletes v. San Jose Unified School District Board of Education 2023 Whether Pioneer FCA's First Amendment rights were violated when the San Jose school board singled out the on-campus student group for exclusion and heightened scrutiny based on its choice of leadership and religious beliefs. Ninth Circuit Free Expression
  • Cynthia Crawford
  • Casey Mattox
  • Brief Image Biden v. Nebraska & U.S. Department of Education v. Myra Brown 2023 Does the U.S. Constitution and our system of separated powers prohibit the Executive branch from unilaterally making major policy decisions of vast economic and political importance without Congress’s permission. U.S. Supreme Court Regulatory Reform
  • Michael Pepson
  • Casey Mattox
  • Cindy Crawford
  • Brief Image Rainwaters v. Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency 2023 Whether a statute that authorizes Tennessee wildlife officials to enter private land and surveil private parties without a warrant violates Article I, Section 7 of the Tennessee Constitution. Court of Appeals of Tennessee Western Division at Jackson Criminal Justice
  • Brief Image Gonzalez v. Google LLC 2023 Whether Section 230(c)(1) of the Communications Decency Act immunizes interactive computer services when they make targeted recommendations of information provided by another information content provider, or only limits the liability of interactive computer services when they engage in traditional editorial functions (such as deciding whether to display or withdraw) with regard to such information. U.S. Supreme Court Technology & Innovation
  • Brief Image Lucid Group v. Johnston et al. 2023 Whether economic protectionism is a legitimate state interest that is constitutionally sufficient to sustain economic regulation. U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas Regulatory Reform
  • Brief Image Villarreal v. City of Laredo 2022 Whether qualified immunity applies to law enforcement who imprisoned a journalist for asking a question? Fifth Circuit Free Expression
  • Cynthia Crawford
  • Brief Image Myra Brown v. U.S. Department of Education 2022 Does the U.S. Constitution and our system of separated powers prohibit the Executive branch from unilaterally making major policy decisions of vast economic and political importance without Congress’s permission. Fifth Circuit Regulatory Reform
  • Michael Pepson
  • Brief Image Biden v. Nebraska 2022 Does the U.S. Constitution and our system of separated powers prohibit the Executive branch from unilaterally making major policy decisions of vast economic and political importance without Congress’s permission. U.S. Supreme Court Regulatory Reform
  • Michael Pepson
  • Casey Mattox
  • Cindy Crawford
  • Brief Image Allstates Refractory Contractors v. Walsh et al. 2022 Whether Congress’s delegation of authority to a federal agency to make legislative policy choices of vast economic and political importance violates the Constitution. Sixth Circuit Regulatory Reform
  • Michael Pepson
  • Brief Image Nebraska v. Biden 2022 Does the U.S. Constitution and our system of separated powers prohibit the Executive branch from unilaterally making major policy decisions of vast economic and political importance without Congress’s permission. Eighth Circuit Regulatory Reform
  • Michael Pepson
  • Brief Image West Virginia v. Switzer 2022 Whether the Hope Scholarship Act---which created an education savings account (ESA) program that allows parents and families to utilize the state portion of their children's education funding to pay for a variety of educational expenses, including private school tuition, tutoring, transportation, etc.---is unconstitutional. West Virginia Supreme Court Foundational Education
  • Brief Image File v. Brost 2022 Whether membership in a mandatory state bar is subject to heightened scrutiny under the First Amendment. U.S. Supreme Court Free Expression
  • Lee Steven
  • Cindy Crawford
  • Brief Image Tiwari v. Friedlander 2022 Whether the Fourteenth Amendment requires meaningful review of restrictions on the right to engage in a common occupation, such as certificate of need laws. U.S. Supreme Court Health Care
  • Cynthia Crawford
  • Eric Bolinder
  • Brief Image Calcutt v. FDIC 2022 Whether the FDIC’s order is invalid because the FDIC’s structure violates the Constitution. Sixth Circuit Regulatory Reform
  • Michael Pepson
  • Cynthia Crawford
  • Brief Image SEC v. Cochran 2022 Whether a federal district court has jurisdiction to hear a suit in which the respondent in an ongoing Securities and Exchange Commission administrative proceeding seeks to enjoin that proceeding, based on an alleged constitutional defect in the statutory provisions that govern the removal of the administrative law judge who will conduct the proceeding. U.S. Supreme Court Regulatory Reform
  • Michael Pepson
  • Cynthia Crawford
  • Brief Image Fellowship of Christian Athletes v. San Jose Unified School District Board of Education 2022 Whether Pioneer FCA's First Amendment rights were violated when the San Jose school board singled out the on-campus student group for exclusion and heightened scrutiny based on its choice of leadership and religious beliefs. Ninth Circuit Free Expression
  • Cynthia Crawford
  • Casey Mattox
  • Brief Image United States v. Porat 2022 1. Whether submitting false information to publishers of rankings such as U.S. News constitutes wire fraud under 18 U.S.C. §1343. 2. Whether the wire fraud statute requires proof that the defendant sought to “obtain money or property.” 3. Whether the wire fraud statute requires convergence—meaning that the defendant’s deceit is directed at the person whose money or property he seeks to obtain.” Third Circuit Criminal Justice Reform
  • Michael Pepson
  • Brief Image McClinton v. United States 2022 Whether the Fifth and Sixth Amendments prohibit a federal court from basing a criminal defendant’s sentence on conduct for which a jury has acquitted the defendant. U.S. Supreme Court Criminal Justice Reform
  • Michael Pepson
  • Brief Image 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis 2022 Whether applying a public-accommodation law to compel an artist to speak or stay silent, contrary to the artist’s sincerely held religious beliefs, violates the First Amendment. U.S. Supreme Court Free Expression
  • Cynthia Crawford
  • Casey Mattox
  • Brief Image Axon v. FTC 2022 Whether Congress impliedly stripped federal district courts of jurisdiction over constitutional challenges to the Federal Trade Commission’s structure, procedures, and existence by granting the courts of appeals jurisdiction to “affirm, enforce, modify, or set aside” the Commission’s cease-and-desist orders. U.S. Supreme Court Regulatory Reform
  • Michael Pepson
  • Cynthia Crawford
  • Brief Image American Society of Journalists and Authors v. Bonta 2022 (1) Is a law content-based when it imposes financial and regulatory burdens based on the function or purpose of speech? (2) Does a law that has the effect of depriving classes of speakers of their livelihood by subjecting them to more onerous taxes and regulations impose a First Amendment burden subject to judicial scrutiny? U.S. Supreme Court Free Expression
  • Cynthia Crawford
  • Brief Image Sackett v. EPA 2022 Whether the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit set forth the proper test for determining whether wetlands are "waters of the United States" under the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. § 1362(7). U.S. Supreme Court Regulatory Reform
  • Michael Pepson
  • Cynthia Crawford
  • Brief Image Epic Games v. Apple 2022 California’s Unfair Competition Law (“UCL”) must be applied in a manner consistent with the consumer welfare standard as required by previous decisions of the Ninth Circuit and California Supreme Court. Ninth Circuit Technology & Innovation
  • Jeffrey Ogar
  • Michael Pepson
  • Brief Image Young Americans for Liberty at University of Alabama in Huntsville v. St. John IV 2022 Whether the University of Alabama in Huntsville’s policies that require students to share their views in a small “speech zone” and to obtain a permit to speak on campus three business days in advance violate  the Alabama Constitution’s free speech clause and Alabama’s Campus Free Speech Act. Alabama Supreme Court Free Expression
  • Cynthia Crawford
  • Casey Mattox
  • Brief Image Kennedy v. Bremerton School District 2022 (1) Whether a public-school employee who says a brief, quiet prayer by himself while at school and visible to students is engaged in government speech that lacks any First Amendment protection; and (2) whether, assuming that such religious expression is private and protected by the free speech and free exercise clauses, the establishment clause nevertheless compels public schools to prohibit it. U.S. Supreme Court Free Expression
  • Cynthia Crawford
  • Casey Mattox
  • Brief Image Atlanta Opera v. Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylists Union 2022 (1)  Should the Board adhere to the independent-contractor standard in SuperShuttle DFW, Inc., 367 NLRB No. 75 (2019); (2) If not, what standard should replace it?  Should the Board return to the standard in FedEx Home Delivery, 361 NLRB 610, 611 (2014), either in its entirety or with modifications? National Labor Relations Board Private Sector Labor & Employment
  • Lee Steven
  • Brief Image Buffington v. McDonough 2022 (1) Whether the Chevron doctrine permits courts to defer to VA’s construction of a statute designed to benefit veterans, without first considering the pro-veteran canon of construction; (2) Whether Chevron should be overruled. U.S. Supreme Court Regulatory Reform
  • Michael Pepson
  • Cynthia Crawford
  • Brief Image McDonald v. Firth 2022 Does the First Amendment prohibit a state from compelling attorneys to join and fund a state bar association that engages in extensive political and ideological activities? Read more. U.S. Supreme Court Free Expression
  • Cynthia Crawford
  • Lee Steven
  • Brief Image Gaspar-Felipe v. United States 2022 (1) Whether the Fifth Amendment’s Due Process Clause prohibits a federal court from basing a criminal defendant’s sentence on a charge of which a jury acquitted him, as the Michigan Supreme Court has held, or whether, instead, acquitted-conduct sentencing complies with the Fifth Amendment, as 12 federal courts of appeal and the Iowa Supreme Court have held; (2) Whether the Sixth Amendment’s right to jury trial prohibits a federal court from basing a criminal defendant’s sentence on a charge of which a jury acquitted him. U.S. Supreme Court Criminal Justice Reform
  • Michael Pepson
  • Brief Image Borgelt v. City of Austin 2022 Whether the anti-SLAPP provisions of the Texas Citizens Participation Act can be used to dismiss a case challenging public sector union release time brought under the gift clause prohibitions of the Texas Constitution. Texas Court of Appeals Free Expression
  • Cynthia Crawford
  • Brief Image SEC v. Novinger et al. 2021 Whether the SEC's policy of requiring gag clauses in settlement orders violates the First Amendment and whether the clauses are void as against public policy. Fifth Circuit Free Expression
  • Michael Pepson
  • Brief Image West Virginia et al. v. EPA et al. 2021 Whether, in 42 U.S.C. § 7411(d), Congress unconstitutionally authorized the EPA to issue major legislative rules. U.S. Supreme Court Regulatory Reform
  • Michael Pepson
  • Brief Image Concepcion v. United States 2021 Whether, when deciding if it should “impose a reduced sentence” on an individual under Section 404(b) of the First Step Act of 2018, a district court must or may consider intervening legal and factual developments. U.S. Supreme Court Criminal Justice Reform
  • Michael Pepson
  • Brief Image Lent v. California Coastal Commission 2021 (1) Can a state administrative agency, consistent with the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, permanently deprive a person of millions of dollars in fines using a summary hearing process that dispenses with the heightened procedural safeguards traditionally afforded those who face a significant deprivation of property? (2) Is a $4.185 million fine, assessed to punish homeowners for failing immediately to remove ordinary residential accessories located within an undeveloped public beach-access easement, unconstitutional under the Excessive Fines Clause of the Eighth Amendment, as incorporated against the states by the Fourteenth Amendment? U.S. Supreme Court Regulatory Reform
  • Michael Pepson
  • Cynthia Crawford
  • Brief Image 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis 2021 Whether applying a public-accommodation law to compel an artist to speak or stay silent, contrary to the artist’s sincerely held religious beliefs, violates the First Amendment. U.S. Supreme Court Free Expression
  • Cynthia Crawford
  • Casey Mattox
  • Brief Image City of Austin, Texas v. Reagan National 2021 Whether the Austin city code’s distinction between on-premise signs, which may be digitized, and off-premise signs, which may not, is a facially unconstitutional content-based regulation under Reed v. Town of Gilbert. U.S. Supreme Court Free Expression
  • Cynthia Crawford
  • Casey Mattox
  • Brief Image American Hospital Association v. Becerra 2021 (1) Whether deference under Chevron U.S.A. v. Natural Resources Defense Council permits the Department of Health and Human Services to set reimbursement rates based on acquisition cost and vary such rates by hospital group if it has not collected adequate hospital acquisition cost survey data; and (2) whether petitioners’ suit challenging HHS’s adjustments is precluded by 42 U.S.C. § 1395l(t)(12). U.S. Supreme Court Regulatory Reform
  • Michael Pepson
  • Cynthia Crawford
  • Brief Image Carson v. Makin 2021 Whether a state violates the religion clauses or equal protection clause of the United States Constitution by prohibiting students participating in an otherwise generally available student-aid program from choosing to use their aid to attend schools that provide religious, or “sectarian,” instruction. Read more. U.S. Supreme Court Foundational Education
  • Cynthia Crawford
  • Casey Mattox
  • Brief Image Becerra v. Empire Health Foundation 2021 Whether the Secretary has permissibly included in a hospital's Medicare fraction all of the hospital's patient days of individuals who satisfy the requirements to be entitled to Medicare Part A benefits, regardless of whether Medicare paid the hospital for those particular days. U.S. Supreme Court Regulatory Reform
  • Michael Pepson
  • Cynthia Crawford
  • Brief Image Axon Enterprise, Inc. v. FTC 2021 1. Whether Congress impliedly stripped federal district courts of jurisdiction over constitutional challenges to the Federal Trade Commission’s structure, procedures, and existence[.] 2. Whether, on the merits, the structure of the Federal Trade Commission, including the dual-layer for-cause removal protections afforded its administrative law judges, is consistent with the Constitution. Read more. U.S. Supreme Court Regulatory Reform
  • Michael Pepson
  • Cynthia Crawford
  • Brief Image Osby v. United States 2021 Whether basing a criminal defendant’s sentence on charges of which the jury acquitted him violates the Fifth or Sixth Amendments. U.S. Supreme Court Criminal Justice Reform
  • Michael Pepson
  • Brief Image ACLU v. United States 2021 (1) Whether the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, like other Article III courts, has jurisdiction to consider a motion asserting that the First Amendment provides a qualified public right of access to the court’s significant opinions, and whether the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review has jurisdiction to consider an appeal from the denial of such a motion; and (2) whether the First Amendment provides a qualified right of public access to the FISC’s significant opinions. U.S. Supreme Court Technology & Innovation
  • Brief Image Kelley v. United States 2021 Whether a district court imposing a reduced sentence under Section 404(b) of the First Step Act is prohibited from correcting an erroneous Sentencing Guidelines calculation not related to the Fair Sentencing Act, as three circuits hold, or whether a resentencing court must correct a Guidelines error that has been made clear by intervening judicial interpretations, as four circuits hold. U.S. Supreme Court Criminal Justice Reform
  • Brief Image Calcutt v. FDIC 2021 Whether the FDIC’s order is invalid because the FDIC’s structure violates Article II of the Constitution and, if so, what is the appropriate remedy for this constitutional violation. Sixth Circuit Regulatory Reform
  • Michael Pepson
  • Cynthia Crawford
  • Brief Image Gatewood v. United States 2021 (1) Whether cause exists to excuse a habeas petitioner’s procedural default when near-unanimous circuit precedent foreclosed the petitioner’s claim; and (2) whether cause exists to excuse a habeas petitioner’s procedural default when the Supreme Court explicitly overrules one of its precedents. U.S. Supreme Court Criminal Justice Reform
  • Michael Pepson
  • Brief Image Daves v. Dallas County 2021 Whether pre-determined, scheduled bail schemes that do not provide individualized bail determinations violate the Fifth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. Fifth Circuit Criminal Justice Reform
  • Brief Image Curry v. United States 2021 Whether the drug conduct in the Armed Career Criminal Act’s “serious drug offense” definition in 18 U.S.C. § 924(e)(2)(A)(ii) requires knowledge of the illicit nature of the controlled substance. U.S. Supreme Court Criminal Justice Reform
  • Michael Pepson
  • Brief Image Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L. 2021 Whether Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, 393 U.S. 503 (1969), which holds that public school officials may regulate speech that would materially and substantially disrupt the work and discipline of the school, applies to student speech that occurs off campus. U.S. Supreme Court Free Expression
  • Cynthia Crawford
  • Casey Mattox
  • Brief Image Axon Enterprise, Inc. v. FTC 2021 Whether the Federal Trade Commission Act bars district court review of substantial constitutional claims during the pendency of an administrative proceeding. Ninth Circuit Regulatory Reform
  • Michael Pepson
  • Cynthia Crawford
  • Brief Image Ramirez v. Guadarrama 2021 Whether, in light of Taylor v. Riojas, the Fifth Circuit panel erred in granting qualified immunity to officers who tased a man they knew to be covered in gasoline causing him to catch fire and die. Fifth Circuit Criminal Justice Reform
  • Brief Image Carson v. Makin 2021 Whether a state violates the religion clauses or equal protection clause of the United States Constitution by prohibiting students participating in an otherwise generally available student-aid program from choosing to use their aid to attend schools that provide religious, or “sectarian,” instruction. Read more. U.S. Supreme Court Foundational Education
  • Cynthia Crawford
  • Casey Mattox
  • Brief Image Thompson v. Marietta Education Association 2021 (1) Whether the government violates the First Amendment when it designates a labor union to represent and speak for public-sector employees who object to its advocacy on their behalf; and (2) whether Minnesota State Board for Community Colleges v. Knight should be limited to it's holding or overruled. U.S. Supreme Court Public Sector Workforce
  • Cynthia Crawford
  • Lee Steven
  • Brief Image Terry v. United States 2021 Whether pre-August 3, 2010, crack offenders sentenced under 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(C) have a “covered offense” under Section 404 of the First Step Act. U.S. Supreme Court Criminal Justice Reform
  • Michael Pepson
  • Brief Image Andrews v. New Jersey 2021 Whether the self-incrimination clause of the Fifth Amendment protects an individual from being compelled to recall and truthfully disclose a memorized passcode, when communicating the passcode may lead to the discovery of incriminating evidence to be used against him in a criminal prosecution. Read more. U.S. Supreme Court Criminal Justice Reform
  • Brief Image Cedar Point Nursery v. Hassid 2021 Whether a California regulation that grants union organizers access to private agricultural property without compensating the landowner is a physical taking under the Fifth Amendment. Read more. U.S. Supreme Court Regulatory Reform
  • Cynthia Crawford
  • Michael Pepson
  • Brief Image Butler v. Watson 2021 Whether the reduction of Mississippi's congressional districts from five to four in 2002 invalidates Section 273(3) of the state Constitution, which permits constitutional amendment via ballot initiative. Mississippi Supreme Court Free Expression
  • Brief Image United States v. Arthrex, Inc. 2020 Whether administrative patent judges of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office are principal or inferior Officers; and, if they are principal officers, the court of appeals properly cured any appointments clause defect by severing the application of 5 U.S.C. § 7513(a) to those judges. U.S. Supreme Court Regulatory Reform
  • Michael Pepson
  • Cynthia Crawford
  • Brief Image New Hampshire v. Massachusetts 2020 Whether Massachusetts can tax New Hampshire citizens who work for Massachusetts companies but work remotely from New Hampshire. U.S. Supreme Court Fiscal
  • Brief Image Cochran v. SEC 2020 Whether judicially created barriers to timely and meaningful Article III review of agency actions are inconsistent with the separation of powers and the text, structure, and history of the U.S. Constitution. Fifth Circuit Separation of Powers
  • Michael Pepson
  • Brief Image Hoever v. Carraway 2020 Whether Section 1997e of the Prison Litigation Reform Act bars recovery of punitive damages for violations of prisoners' First Amendment rights. Eleventh Circuit Criminal Justice Reform
  • Brief Image FCC v. Prometheus Radio Project 2020 Whether the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit erred in vacating as arbitrary and capricious the Federal Communications Commission orders under review, which, among other things, relaxed the agency’s cross-ownership restrictions to accommodate changed market conditions. U.S. Supreme Court Technology & Innovation
  • Michael Pepson
  • Eric Bolinder
  • Brief Image United States v. Kousisis 2020 Whether breaches of contractual terms involving intangible interests are “money or property” within the meaning of the federal property fraud statutes sufficient to support criminal liability under a “basis of the bargain” theory. Third Circuit Criminal Justice Reform
  • Brief Image Courtney v. Danner 2020 Whether the Ninth Circuit mistakenly applied the Commerce Clause as a limitation on citizens’ rights to use the navigable waters of the United States rather than incorporating those rights against the states through the Privileges or Immunities Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Read more. U.S. Supreme Court Regulatory Reform
  • Cynthia Crawford
  • Brief Image Jimmy Richardson, II, v. Twenty Thousand Seven Hundred Seventy-One and 00/100 Dollars U.S. Currency 2020 Whether South Carolina’s civil asset forfeiture regime is facially unconstitutional. South Carolina Supreme Court Criminal Justice Reform
  • Brief Image 4 Good Government v. Davidson County Election Commission 2020 Whether the Nashville Taxpayer Protection Act will be placed on the ballot. Read more. Davidson County Chancery Court of Tennessee Separation of Powers
  • Brief Image Oklahoma v. Johnson & Johnson 2020 Whether the Oklahoma trial court’s expansion of the public nuisance doctrine and equitable abatement remedy to hold Johnson & Johnson liable for the opioid crisis violates the separation of powers. Oklahoma Supreme Court Separation of Powers
  • Brief Image Stein v. United States 2020 Whether the Due Process Clause excuses the government’s knowing use of false testimony in a criminal prosecution so long as the government divulged evidence during discovery indicating that the testimony was false. U.S. Supreme Court Criminal Justice Reform
  • Brief Image AMG Capital Management, LLC v. FTC 2020 Whether Section 13(b) of the Federal Trade Commission Act, by authorizing “injunction[s],” also authorizes the Federal Trade Commission to demand monetary relief such as restitution—and if so, the scope of the limits or requirements for such relief. Read more. U.S. Supreme Court Technology & Innovation
  • Cynthia Crawford
  • Michael Pepson
  • Brief Image Gibson v. SEC 2020 Whether judicially-created barriers to timely and meaningful Article III review of agency actions are inconsistent with the separation of powers and the text, structure, and history of the U.S. Constitution. U.S. Supreme Court Separation of Powers
  • Cynthia Crawford
  • Michael Pepson
  • Brief Image Uzuegbunam v. Preczewski 2020 Whether a government’s post-filing change of an unconstitutional policy moots nominal-damages claims that vindicate the government’s past, completed violation of a plaintiff’s constitutional right. Read more. U.S. Supreme Court Free Expression
  • Brief Image Collins v. Mnuchin 2020 Whether the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s structure violates the separation of powers; and whether the courts must set aside a final agency action that FHFA took when it was unconstitutionally structured and strike down the statutory provisions that make FHFA independent. U.S. Supreme Court Separation of Powers
  • Cynthia Crawford
  • Michael Pepson
  • Brief Image Mountaire Farms, Inc. v. United Food and Commercial Workers Local 27 2020 Whether the Contract Bar Doctrine is unconstitutional. National Labor Relations Board Private Sector Labor & Employment
  • Lee Steven
  • Brief Image NAACP v. DeVos 2020 Whether a rule implemented by the Dept. of Education to apportion CARES Act funds between public and private schools is illegal. District Court for D.C. Foundational Education
  • Brief Image Fochtman v. Hendren Plastics, Inc. 2020 Whether participants in a voluntary drug-court program were employees under the Arkansas Minimum Wage Act. Eighth Circuit Criminal Justice Reform
  • Michael Pepson
  • Brief Image Lawall v. Hobbs 2020 Whether the Second Chances Act is a valid ballot initiative. Arizona Superior Court Criminal Justice Reform
  • Brief Image CIC Services, LLC v. IRS 2020 Whether the Anti-Injunction Act’s bar on lawsuits for the purpose of restraining the assessment or collection of taxes also bars challenges to unlawful regulatory mandates issued by administrative agencies that are not taxes. Read more. U.S. Supreme Court Regulatory Reform
  • James Valvo
  • Michael Pepson
  • Brief Image Wikimedia v. NSA 2020 Whether NSA's mass surveillance of international internet communications is unconstitutional. Fourth Circuit Technology & Innovation
  • Eric Bolinder
  • Brief Image Van Buren v. U.S. 2020 Whether a person who is authorized to access information on a computer for certain purposes violates Section 1030(a)(2) of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act if he accesses the same information for an improper purpose. Read more. U.S. Supreme Court Technology & Innovation
  • James Valvo
  • Michael Pepson
  • Brief Image Indian River County v. Dept. of Transportation 2020 Whether the court of appeals properly deferred to the agency’s informal views under Skidmore, without finding the statute ambiguous or applying (much less exhausting) traditional interpretive tools. Read more. U.S. Supreme Court Separation of Powers
  • Cynthia Crawford
  • Michael Pepson
  • James Valvo
  • Brief Image Philadelphia Community Bail Fund v. Arraignment Court Magistrates of the First Judicial District 2020 Whether the Pennsylvania Supreme Court should provide standards for setting bail and to reform the existing bail system. Pennsylvania Supreme Court Criminal Justice Reform
  • Michael Pepson
  • Brief Image Fulton v. City of Philadelphia 2020 Whether Philadelphia may prohibit Catholic Social Services from participating in the city's foster child placement program because it refuses to violate its religious belief on same-sex couples. U.S. Supreme Court Free Expression
  • Cynthia Crawford
  • Casey Mattox
  • Brief Image American Society of Journalists and Authors v. Becerra 2020 Whether California Assembly Bill 5 violates the First Amendment by treating speakers differently based on their identity and communicative activities. Ninth Circuit Free Expression
  • Brief Image Taylor v. Riojas 2020 Whether the Court should recalibrate or reverse the doctrine of qualified immunity. U.S. Supreme Court Criminal Justice Reform
  • Casey Mattox
  • Brief Image Schires v. City of Peoria 2020 Whether the city's provision of financial support to firms violates the Arizona Constitution's Gift Clause. Read more. Arizona Supreme Court Cronyism
  • Eric Bolinder
  • Brief Image Borden v. U.S. 2020 Whether a criminal offense that can be committed with a mens rea of recklessness can qualify as a "violent felony" under the Armed Career Criminal Act, 18 U.S.C. 924(e). U.S. Supreme Court Criminal Justice Reform
  • Ryan Mulvey
  • Michael Pepson
  • Brief Image Wisconsin Legislature v. Palm 2020 Whether the Wisconsin COVID-19 shutdown orders are lawful. Read more. Wisconsin Supreme Court Separation of Powers
  • Eric Bolinder
  • Brief Image Rozenblit v. Lyles 2020 Whether the release-time provisions in the collective-bargaining agreement violate the New Jersey Constitution, statute, or public policy. New Jersey Supreme Court Public Sector Workforce
  • Brief Image U.S. v. Jackson 2020 Whether the First Step Act's charge-stacking prohibition applies and whether a sentence has been "imposed" if an appellate court vacates a district court's sentence and remands for resentencing. Sixth Circuit Criminal Justice Reform
  • Brief Image SEC v. Romeril 2020 Whether the SEC's policy of requiring gag clauses in settlement orders violates the First Amendment and whether the clauses are void as against public policy. Second Circuit Free Expression
  • Brief Image Jessop v. City of Fresno 2020 Whether the Court should recalibrate or reverse the doctrine of qualified immunity. U.S. Supreme Court Criminal Justice Reform
  • Casey Mattox
  • Brief Image Fleming v. USDA 2020 What is the proper relief due from an adjudication by an unconstitutionally appointed ALJ? D.C. Circuit Separation of Powers
  • Michael Pepson
  • James Valvo
  • Brief Image Uzuegbunam v. Preczewski 2020 Whether a government's post-filing change of an unconstitutional policy moots nominal-damages claims that vindicate the government's past, completed violation of a plaintiff's constitutional right. Read more. U.S. Supreme Court Free Expression
  • Cynthia Crawford
  • Casey Mattox
  • Brief Image CIC Services v. IRS 2020 Whether Due Process requires an exception from the Anti-Injunction Act for IRS regulations enforced with criminal sanction and without an alternative avenue for review. U.S. Supreme Court Regulatory Reform
  • James Vavlo
  • Michael Pepson
  • Brief Image Lucia v. SEC 2020 Whether a federal court has jurisdiction to hear claims of constitutional violations and ultra vires agency action while an administrative proceeding is ongoing. Ninth Circuit Separation of Powers
  • Brief Image Walker v. United States 2020 Whether a criminal offense that can be committed with a mens rea of recklessness can qualify as a "violent felony" under the Armed Career Criminal Act, 18 U.S.C. 924(e). U.S. Supreme Court Criminal Justice Reform
  • Ryan Mulvey
  • Michael Pepson
  • Brief Image Liu v. SEC 2019 Whether the SEC may seek and obtain disgorgement from a court as 'equitable relief' for a securities law violation even though this Court has determined that such disgorgement is a penalty. Read more. U.S. Supreme Court Separation of Powers
  • Cynthia Crawford
  • Michael Pepson
  • Brief Image Seila Law LLC v. CFPB 2019 Whether the CFPB's structure violates the separation of powers and whether Humprey's Executor should be narrowed. U.S. Supreme Court Separation of Powers
  • Brief Image Maine Community Health Options v. United States 2019 Whether Congress may defund the risk corridor program created by the Affordable Care Act. Read more. U.S. Supreme Court Health Care
  • Eric Bolinder
  • James Valvo
  • Brief Image Baldwin v. United States 2019 Whether the U.S. Supreme Court should overturn its prior decision in Brand X, which grants deference to agency interpretations of statutes. Read more. U.S. Supreme Court Separation of Powers
  • Brief Image Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue 2019 Does it violate the Religion Clauses or Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution to invalidate a generally available and religiously neutral student-aid program simply because the program affords students the choice of attending religious schools? U.S. Supreme Court Foundational Education
  • Cynthia Crawford
  • Brief Image HRDC v. Baxter County 2019 Whether inmates can obtain news and other information and make communications while incarcerated. Eighth Circuit Criminal Justice Reform
  • Brief Image Donna Harper v. West Virginia AFL-CIO 2019 Whether West Virginia's right to work law is unconstitutional. Read more. West Virginia Supreme Court Private Sector Labor & Employment
  • Brief Image Baxter v. Harris 2019 Qualified immunity for law enforcement. U.S. Supreme Court Criminal Justice Reform
  • Brief Image Jessop v. City of Fresno 2019 Qualified immunity for law enforcement. Read more. Ninth Circuit Criminal Justice Reform
  • Brief Image Iancu v. Brunetti 2019 Does the government get to decide what language is “scandalous”? U.S. Supreme Court Free Expression
  • Brief Image Prison Legal News vs Florida Dept. of Corrections 2018 First Amendment challenge to Florida Dept. of Corrections shutting down a magazine citing security reasons. Eleventh Circuit Free Expression
  • Brief Image Timbs v. Indiana 2018 Whether the Excessive Fines Clause of the Eighth Amendment is enforceable against the States. Read more. U.S. Supreme Court Criminal Justice Reform
  • Brief Image Frank v. Gaos 2018 Whether the Fifth Amendment's Due Process Clause, the First Amendment's Free Speech Clause, and Rule 23(e)(2) require courts to reject proposed cy pres class action settlements that deprive class members of their legal remedies and compel speech approved of by class counsel, defendants, and the court without meaningful consent by class members. U.S. Supreme Court Free Expression
  • Brief Image Almighty Supreme Born Allah v. Milling 2018 Qualified immunity for law enforcement. Read more. U.S. Supreme Court Criminal Justice Reform
  • Brief Image South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc. 2018 Can states force out-of-state businesses to collect and remit sales tax. Read more. U.S. Supreme Court Regulatory Reform
  • Brief Image Delaware Strong Families v. Denn 2016 Whether a state's interest in “increas[ing] . . . information concerning those who support the candidates,” Buckley v. Valeo, permits it to condition a charity's publication of a nonpartisan voter education guide, which lists all candidates equally and makes no endorsements, upon the immediate and public disclosures of the names and addresses of individuals making unrelated donations over the previous four years. U.S. Supreme Court Free Expression
  • Brief Image Community Financial Services Association of America v. FDIC 2014 Whether "Operation Chokepoint" conducted by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Department of Justice was unlawful. District Court for D.C. Regulatory Reform
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