Unwritten Law

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...

In this episode of Unwritten Law , NCLA Senior Litigation Counsel John Vecchione is joined by Staff Counsel Christian Clase to discuss a remarkable concurrence by Justice Clarence Thomas in a recent Supreme Court case involving Roundup, pesticide regulation, and federal preemption. Although the Court's decision focused on whether federal law preempts state-law failure-to-warn claims, Justice Thoma...

In this episode of Unwritten Law , NCLA Senior Litigation Counsel John Vecchione is joined by Litigation Counsel Jacob Huebert to discuss the Supreme Court's decision in Wolford v. Lopez , a significant Second Amendment case arising from Hawaii. After the Supreme Court's landmark decision in Bruen , Hawaii enacted a law making it a crime to carry a firearm on private property open to the public un...

In this episode of Unwritten Law , NCLA Senior Litigation Counsel John Vecchione is joined by Senior Litigation Counsel Russ Ryan to discuss Smith v. SEC , a case raising fundamental questions about jury trial rights, administrative adjudication, and constitutional exhaustion requirements. The case began more than a decade ago when FINRA initiated an investigation into George Smith. After years of...

In this episode of Unwritten Law , NCLA Senior Litigation Counsel John Vecchione is joined by Senior Litigation Counsel Peggy Little to discuss the SEC's Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT) —a massive government database that collects information on virtually every securities transaction made by American investors. The conversation centers on a new SEC request for public comments on the future of the C...

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 Alana Black to discuss NCLA's amicus brief in Johnson v. United States Congress , a case asking whether constitutional challenges to federal statutes must be heard by Article III courts. The case involves a disabled veteran ch...

In this episode of Unwritten Law , NCLA President and Chief Legal Officer Mark Chenoweth, Senior Litigation Counsel John Vecchione, and Senior Litigation Counsel Peggy Little discuss NCLA's reply brief in Powell v. SEC , the case challenging the SEC's decades-old gag rule. Although the SEC recently rescinded the rule that prohibited settling defendants from publicly denying the agency's allegation...

In this episode of Unwritten Law , NCLA President and Chief Legal Officer Mark Chenoweth, Senior Litigation Counsel John Vecchione, and General Counsel Zhonette Brown discuss NCLA's recently filed reply brief in Choice Refrigerants v. EPA , a case asking the U.S. Supreme Court to revisit the nondelegation doctrine. The conversation focuses on a fundamental constitutional question: Can Congress han...

Why did one federal judge receive only a reprimand after engaging in sexual activities in her chambers, while Federal Judge Pauline Newman remains sidelined after more than three years — with no judicial review of her suspension, despite no findings of misconduct and passing 3 mental fitness tests from 3 different doctors? In this episode of Unwritten Law , Mark Chenoweth and John Vecchione discus...

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 Kurtin v. South Carolina Department of Labor , a case challenging an extraordinary series of procedural abuses by a state licensing board. NCLA is challenging the South Carolina Real Estate Board’s unlawful sa...

In this episode of Unwritten Law , NCLA President and Chief Legal Officer Mark Chenoweth, Senior Litigation Counsel John Vecchione, and Senior Litigation Counsel Peggy Little discuss a major development in Powell v. SEC : the SEC has formally rescinded its decades-old gag rule. The rule prohibited settling defendants from publicly denying the SEC's allegations against them, often leaving individua...

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 Jacob Huebert to discuss a newly filed federal lawsuit challenging Illinois’ Firearm Owner’s Identification (FOID) card system. The case, Laurent v. Kelly , argues that Illinois unconstitutionally requires residents to obtain governm...

In this episode of Unwritten Law , NCLA President and Chief Legal Officer Mark Chenoweth and Senior Litigation Counsel John Vecchione discuss developments in the Supreme Court’s landmark Loper Bright and Relentless (2024) decisions overturning Chevron deference. Mark and John explain the unusual procedural developments following the Supreme Court’s decision, including remand proceedings in the Fir...

In this episode of Unwritten Law , NCLA President and Chief Legal Officer Mark Chenoweth and Senior Litigation Counsel John Vecchione are joined by NCLA General Counsel Zhonette Brown to discuss the federal government’s response brief in Choice Refrigerants v. EPA , a case asking the U.S. Supreme Court to revisit the nondelegation doctrine. The discussion focuses on whether Congress unconstitution...

In this episode of Unwritten Law , NCLA President and Chief Legal Officer Mark Chenoweth and Senior Litigation Counsel John Vecchione discuss the growing real-world impact of the Supreme Court’s landmark decisions in Loper Bright and Relentless —the cases that ended Chevron deference and restored the judiciary’s independent role in interpreting federal statutes. As the two-year anniversary of the...

In this episode of Unwritten Law , NCLA President and Chief Legal Officer Mark Chenoweth and Senior Litigation Counsel John Vecchione discuss a major victory in Flint Ave. LLC v. U.S. Department of Labor , after the federal government decided not to move forward with its appeal. The case challenged a Department of Labor rule that dramatically increased the salary threshold for employees classified...

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 Andy Morris to discuss new developments in Newman v. Moore , an NCLA case asking the U.S. Supreme Court to decide whether Judge Pauline Newman has a right to judicial review after being sidelined from the Federal Circuit for more tha...

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 Michael Sztrom and David Sztrom v. SEC , a case raising fundamental questions about administrative power and the right to a fair hearing. After settling an SEC enforcement action in federal court, the Sztr...

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 Peggy Little to discuss new developments in Powell v. SEC , a case asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review the SEC’s long-standing gag rule. The discussion focuses on a wave of 16 amicus briefs filed in support of Supreme Cour...

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 Lek Securities Corp. v. SEC , a case highlighting extreme delays in administrative adjudication. The case involves a nearly decade-long delay by the SEC in resolving an appeal from a New York Stock Exchang...

In this episode of Unwritten Law , NCLA President and Chief Legal Officer Mark Chenoweth and Senior Litigation Counsel John Vecchione are joined by NCLA General Counsel Zhonette Brown to discuss new developments in Choice Refrigerants v. EPA , a case asking the U.S. Supreme Court to revisit the nondelegation doctrine. The conversation focuses on a wave of amicus briefs filed in support of Supreme...

In this episode of Unwritten Law , NCLA President and Chief Legal Officer Mark Chenoweth and Senior Litigation Counsel John Vecchione break down a recent decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit involving plans to construct a ballroom at the White House. The case—brought by the National Trust for Historic Preservation—sought to halt construction, raising questions about histori...

In this episode of Unwritten Law , NCLA President and Chief Legal Officer Mark Chenoweth and Senior Litigation Counsel John Vecchione break down Trump v. Barbara , a closely watched case before the U.S. Supreme Court addressing the scope of birthright citizenship under the Fourteenth Amendment. John shares firsthand insights from attending oral argument, where the Court considered whether the Cons...

In this episode of Unwritten Law , NCLA President and Chief Legal Officer Mark Chenoweth , Senior Litigation Counsel John Vecchione , Senior Litigation Counsel Peggy Little , and Of Counsel Margot Cleveland discuss a major settlement in The Daily Wire, The Federalist, and the State of Texas v. U.S. Department of State . The case challenged a years-long effort in which State Department funds were r...