New Civil Liberties Alliance

New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit civil rights group founded in 2017 by Philip Hamburger. The group describes itself as nonpartisan with the mission of protecting "constitutional freedoms from violations by the Administrative State". According to the Charles Koch Foundation, the group "works to protect due process, free speech, and the right to privacy from threats on another front: administrative action".[1] The organization was founded with seed money from the Charles Koch Foundation, which continues to support it.[2]

In 2023, the NCLA filed an appeal with the Supreme Court of the United States on behalf of Emmanuel Lemelson, a hedge fund manager charged with securities fraud but convicted of making statements that were untrue, though not fraudulent. The petition hinges on a constitutional freedom of expression question: can the SEC "punish commentary about publicly traded corporations that contains a few purported misstatements or omissions when a jury has cleared the accused of all fraud and deception charges"?[3][4]

Also in 2023, the NCLA represented Judge Pauline Newman of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit with respect to efforts by colleagues on the court to unilaterally suspend her from her judicial duties. The NCLA obtained expert reports indicating that the judge was fit to serve, and challenged the constitutionality of the effective removal of an Article III United States federal judge from office without due process of law.[5]

Also in 2023, the NCLA represented multiple scientists against the Biden administration’s social media censorship on Covid-19. The court held that the Biden administration had put pressure on social media companies to censor stories via an implicit threat of regulation if they failed to comply.[6][7]