Unwritten Law

Can the government deny you a jury trial—and then refuse to let you challenge that denial in federal court? NCLA is asking the Supreme Court to hear Smith v. SEC , a case challenging the constitutional limits of administrative adjudication and the procedural barriers that can prevent Americans from asserting their rights. On this episode of Unwritten Law , NCLA President and Chief Legal Officer Ma...

What happens when a federal investigator secretly obtains a U.S. senator's phone records—and prevents her from challenging the search? NCLA has filed a lawsuit on behalf of Senator Marsha Blackburn against former Special Counsel Jack Smith, challenging his acquisition of her telephone records during the Arctic Frost investigation. On this episode of Unwritten Law , NCLA Senior Litigation Counsel J...

After more than three years, Judge Pauline Newman's judicial conduct and disability proceeding has been transferred out of the Federal Circuit. It's a significant and unprecedented development in a case that NCLA has been fighting since 2023. On this episode of Unwritten Law , NCLA Senior Litigation Counsel John Vecchione and Andy Morris discuss the newly disclosed order from Eleventh Circuit Chie...

What happens when a federal agency publicly declares a product unsafe—but can't adequately explain the evidence behind that declaration? NCLA has secured an important ruling for Dreamland Baby Company in its challenge to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. On this episode of Unwritten Law , NCLA President and Chief Legal Officer Mark Chenoweth is joined by Senior Litigation Counsel Kara McKenn...

The SEC's Consolidated Audit Trail collects information on virtually every stock-market transaction in the United States, creating an enormous database that regulators can search for suspicious activity without first identifying a particular person or crime. NCLA has long argued that this mass collection and searching of Americans' financial information violates the Fourth Amendment. Now, a new Su...

NCLA has won an important preliminary victory for members of the Silver Spring Jewish Center who want to protect their congregation. In this episode of Unwritten Law , NCLA President and Chief Legal Officer Mark Chenoweth and Senior Litigation Counsel John Vecchione are joined by Senior Litigation Counsel Jacob Huebert to discuss the latest development in Silver Spring Jewish Center v. Montgomery...

The Supreme Court has allowed construction of the new White House ballroom to continue—but the Court's 5–4 decision turned largely on a threshold question: Who actually has standing to challenge it? On this episode of Unwritten Law , NCLA Senior Litigation Counsel John Vecchione is joined by NCLA Staff Attorney Andreia Trifoi to break down National Park Service v. National Trust for Historic Prese...

Can the SEC force someone to give up money when it cannot identify a single harmed investor? NCLA is asking the Supreme Court to take Spartan Securities Group v. SEC , a case that has been winding through the courts for years and now presents two significant questions about the reach of federal securities law. NCLA President and Chief Legal Officer Mark Chenoweth and Senior Litigation Counsel John...

For roughly 60 years, the Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs enforced a sweeping regulatory regime governing federal contractors—one rooted largely in presidential executive orders rather than laws passed by Congress. Now, the Department of Labor has acknowledged that much of that regime lacked statutory authority. In this episode of Unwritten Law , NCLA President...

In this episode of Unwritten Law , NCLA Senior Litigation Counsel John Vecchione is joined by NCLA General Counsel Zhonette Brown to discuss Franey v. Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife , NCLA’s challenge to Washington State’s warrantless surveillance of commercial crabbers. Washington requires commercial crabbers to install government-mandated tracking equipment on their boats. Once crab...

In this episode of Unwritten Law , NCLA President and Chief Legal Officer Mark Chenoweth and Senior Litigation Counsel John Vecchione discuss the D.C. Circuit’s recent decision in Heroes Technology v. Consumer Product Safety Commission . NCLA challenged a CPSC safety rule affecting infant support cushions. Congress created a streamlined rulemaking process for a limited category of “durable infant...

In this episode of Unwritten Law , NCLA President and Chief Legal Officer Mark Chenoweth and Senior Litigation Counsel John Vecchione are joined by Senior Litigation Counsel Jacob Huebert to discuss NCLA’s amicus brief in Rogoff v. Trump , a case raising an unusual separation-of-powers question: Should federal judges be allowed to appoint the U.S. attorneys who prosecute cases in their own courts?...

In this episode of Unwritten Law , NCLA Senior Litigation Counsel John Vecchione is joined by Litigation Counsel Casey Norman to discuss NCLA’s appeal in BASE Access v. National Park Service , now before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. For decades, the National Park Service has treated BASE jumping as a federal crime in national parks. But Congress never passed a law specifically...

In this episode of Unwritten Law , NCLA Senior Litigation Counsel John Vecchione is joined by NCLA General Counsel Zhonette Brown to discuss Jacobsen v. Spellerberg , NCLA's newly filed lawsuit advancing a groundbreaking First Amendment argument: education is speech, and parents have a constitutional right to choose the educational speech provided to their children. Nebraska requires parents to ed...

In this episode of Unwritten Law , NCLA President and Chief Legal Officer Mark Chenoweth and Senior Litigation Counsel John Vecchione take on a provocative argument from The New Republic : Is the Supreme Court weakening Congress and creating a more powerful presidency? Mark and John give author Matt Ford credit for a thoughtful and well-researched article—but think he draws the wrong conclusion fr...

In this episode of Unwritten Law , NCLA President and Chief Legal Officer Mark Chenoweth and Senior Litigation Counsel John Vecchione are joined by Senior Litigation Counsel Russ Ryan to discuss Department of Labor v. Sun Valley Orchards , an important case headed to the Supreme Court. Sun Valley Orchards is a family farm that employs domestic workers as well as foreign workers through the H-2A vi...

In this episode of Unwritten Law , NCLA President and Chief Legal Officer Mark Chenoweth and Senior Litigation Counsel John Vecchione are joined by Senior Litigation Counsel Andy Morris to discuss National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors v. Ryan , NCLA's newly filed challenge to Colorado's Producer Responsibility Program for recycling. The lawsuit isn't about opposing recycling. Instead, it...

In this episode of Unwritten Law , NCLA President and Chief Legal Officer Mark Chenoweth and Senior Litigation Counsel John Vecchione are joined by Senior Litigation Counsel Jacob Huebert to discuss NCLA's newly filed lawsuit challenging Montgomery County, Maryland's ban on firearms in places of worship and within 100 yards of numerous public gathering places. The case, Silver Spring Jewish Center...

In this episode of Unwritten Law , NCLA President and Chief Legal Officer Mark Chenoweth and Senior Litigation Counsel John Vecchione discuss NCLA's Supreme Court amicus brief in Boysen v. PeaceHealth , a case asking the Court to revisit Jacobson v. Massachusetts , its landmark 1905 vaccine mandate decision. The conversation examines how Jacobson —which upheld a smallpox vaccination requirement mo...

In this episode of Unwritten Law , NCLA President and Chief Legal Officer Mark Chenoweth and Senior Litigation Counsel John Vecchione are joined by Litigation Counsel Casey Norman to discuss NCLA's appeal in Dressen v. Flaherty , a case challenging alleged government-induced censorship during the COVID-19 pandemic. The plaintiffs include individuals who say they were censored after sharing their p...

In this episode of Unwritten Law , NCLA President and Chief Legal Officer Mark Chenoweth and Senior Litigation Counsel John Vecchione are joined by Litigation Counsel Casey Norman to discuss Beaird v. United States , a Supreme Court case that could reshape federal criminal sentencing. At issue is Stinson deference , a doctrine requiring courts to defer to the U.S. Sentencing Commission’s commentar...

In this episode of Unwritten Law , NCLA President and Chief Legal Officer Mark Chenoweth and Senior Litigation Counsel John Vecchione are again joined by NCLA Staff Attorney Andreia Trifoi to discuss the Supreme Court’s opinion in West Virginia v. B.P.J. The Court held that neither Title IX nor the Equal Protection Clause prevents states from organizing school sports teams based on biological sex....

In this episode of Unwritten Law , NCLA President and Chief Legal Officer Mark Chenoweth and Senior Litigation Counsel John Vecchione are joined by NCLA Staff Attorney Andreia Trifoi to discuss the Supreme Court's landmark Fourth Amendment decision in Chatrie v. United States . The Court held that the government's collection of cell phone location history through a geofence warrant constitutes a F...

In this special Supreme Court edition of Unwritten Law , NCLA President and Chief Legal Officer Mark Chenoweth and Senior Litigation Counsel John Vecchione are joined by NCLA Of Counsel Margot Cleveland to discuss the Supreme Court's landmark decision in Trump v. Slaughter . The Court's decision effectively ends Humphrey's Executor , the 1935 precedent that limited the President's authority to rem...

Part 2 of our Supreme Court Special. In this episode of Unwritten Law , NCLA President and Chief Legal Officer Mark Chenoweth and Senior Litigation Counsel John Vecchione are joined by NCLA Senior Litigation Counsel Jacob Huebert to examine the Supreme Court's decision in Trump v. Cook and what it means for the Federal Reserve and presidential removal power. Although the Court's decision in Trump...