Year
Issue Area
Court
2023
Masterpiece Cake Shop v. Scardina
Question Presented
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.
2023
NetChoice, LLC v. Moody & Paxton
Question Presented
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.
2023
Consumers’ Research v. FCC
Question Presented
(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.
2023
Corner Post, Inc., v. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Question Presented
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”?
2023
James Harper v. Daniel Werfel, et al.
Question Presented
Whether the IRS violated the Fourth Amendment by seizing Mr. Harper’s private financial information from a third-party virtual currency exchange without a showing of probable cause that a crime, or any other wrongdoing, had been or was likely to be committed.
2023
Felkner v. Nazarian et al.
Question Presented
(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?
2023
SEC v. Jarkesy
Question Presented
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.
2023
Speech First, Inc. v. Sands
Question Presented
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.
2023
Newell-Davis v. Phillips
Question Presented
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 and hold that the right to enter a common and lawful occupation is a privilege or immunity protected by the Fourteenth Amendment.
2023
CFPB v. Community Financial Services Association of America
Question Presented
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.
2023
Illumina v. FTC
Question Presented
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.
Amicus Commentary
- All
New York Appellate Court Strikes Down A State Practice Allowing Intrusive Surveillance Of Innocent Families
In a significant win for the liberty interests of parents in the care and custody of their children, yesterday a New York appellate court vacated and held unlawful a longstanding state practice that subjected parents who were never accused of any wrongdoing to ongoing supervision by local child services officers. That supervision allowed state authorities…
NetChoice and the “Informational Interest”: Can the Government Ensure You Listen to the Right Message?
The Supreme Court’s decision in NetChoice v. Moody, the much-anticipated challenge to Texas’s regulation of social media companies, was not the barnburner many had anticipated. Instead of deciding the First Amendment question directly, the Court found that neither lower court did the proper facial analysis, meaning they must not only find a First Amendment violation…
Americans for Prosperity Foundation releases summary of engagement for Supreme Court October 2023 term
Arlington, VA – Americans for Prosperity Foundation today released a report of its amicus engagement during the October 2023 Supreme Court term. AFPF Chief Policy Counsel James Valvo said: This term the Supreme Court upheld protections for free expression, ruling the government cannot coerce companies to stop doing business with organizations based on their speech. The…
Congress, not bureaucrats, should make federal criminal law
By Michael Pepson Would it surprise you to know that Congress has granted the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) unfettered power to write its own criminal code governing one-tenth of the land in the United States? A Nevada federal court ruled that Congress unconstitutionally transferred its legislative power to write crimes to the BLM. Last…
Freelancing or free speech? California’s AB5 gets speaking professionals coming and going
Threats to free speech can be veiled as restrictions on economic activity. California’s AB5 is the latest example. Many people who don’t prefer traditional office environments have benefited from independent contracting. From freelance photographers to truckers to massage therapists, workers can find freedom in setting their own hours and being their own boss. California took…
AFPF Files Amicus Brief Applauding President Trump’s Effort to Spur The End of The De Facto Fourth Branch of Government
The separation of powers is badly distorted. Today, there are many administrative bodies within the Executive Branch that Congress has tried to shield from presidential control, and in doing so, set up a veritable Fourth Branch of government. President Trump recently has taken several actions to assert his proper control over these extraconstitutional administrative bodies. …