Recent News
On Monday, Americans for Prosperity Foundation and the Buckeye Institute, joined an amicus brief the New Civil Liberties Alliance filed in the U.S. Supreme Court in Department of Labor (“DOL”) v. Sun Valley Orchards, a constitutional challenge to an inhouse administrative tribunal in which the DOL wears multiple hats, acting as both the prosecutor and judge of its own cause to impose severe monetary penalties on private parties.
Only Congress can adequately represent the vast diversity of this country, and refining its institutions is the way to advance. Upgrades that expand freedom, opportunity, and responsibility for members will make Congress capable of achieving extraordinary things.
This term the Supreme Court decided two cases that removed judicial barriers to federal court review in Olivier v. City of Brandon, and First Choice Women’s Resource Center v. Davenport, throwing open the courthouse doors to plaintiffs with constitutional injuries. These cases continue a multi-year trend of course-correcting on judicial doctrines that barred defendants in agency or state-court actions from having their federal challenges resolved by a federal court.
The Trump Administration is trying to sell the latest tariff battle as a response to trade imbalances and foreign economic pressure, but the actual issue is largely domestic. Indeed, the most recent ruling in Burlap and Barrel, Inc. v. Trump demonstrates that the question at hand is whether the president can levy taxes on Americans by rebranding his perceived economic grievances as a statutory emergency.
Earlier this week, Media Matters, an organization that engages in speech protected by the First Amendment, announced a historic settlement with the Federal Trade Commission, permanently ending the agency’s investigation into Media Matters after it successfully blocked the FTC’s administrative demands in a pre-enforcement constitutional challenge. Whether one agrees with Media Matters’s message or not, this is an important victory for free speech and the rule of law that should benefit those facing agency investigations they believe to be unconstitutional.
The open road has long been a symbol of American freedom. A law to require 24/7 monitoring of drivers and the ability to stop their cars could soon change that.
“AFP sends a letter of support to Congress for major reforms to protect Fourth Amendment rights in the next reauthorization of FISA Section 702.”
Later this month, Congress will vote on reauthorizing FISA Section 702 — a massive surveillance program that “incidentally” collects huge quantities of Americans’ personal communications. Any reauthorization must include reforms to protect the basic rights of Americans.
Our history is filled with figures who have shaped society, culture, and politics in fundamental ways. We teach our children about heroic figures like George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. But America’s story hasn’t only been written by famous presidents or generals. It has often been written by everyday people who confront something unfair, refuse to stand by, and take one small step to fix the injustices they see.
