Unwritten Law

In this episode of  Unwritten Law , NCLA’s Mark Chenoweth and John Vecchione analyze a remarkable set of unanimous Supreme Court rulings—authored by Justices Jackson, Kagan, and Sotomayor—in cases involving discrimination standards, gun manufacturer liability, and religious freedom. John explains why these once-controversial topics produced unanimous decisions and what this reveals about the...

In this special episode of  Unwritten Law , NCLA's Mark Chenoweth and John Vecchione are joined by Andy Morris, NCLA Senior Litigation Counsel, and Emily Ley, founder and CEO of Simplified—the small business challenging the Biden administration’s sudden and shifting tariff policies. Emily shares how abrupt, emergency-based tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act...

In this episode of  Unwritten Law , NCLA’s Mark Chenoweth and John Vecchione dive into a dramatic legal battle over the president's power to reduce the federal workforce. A federal district judge recently blocked President Trump’s sweeping Reduction in Force (RIF), claiming it undermines Congress’s intent for certain agencies to function properly. Solicitor General John Sauer has appealed to...

In this episode of  Unwritten Law , NCLA’s Mark Chenoweth and John Vecchione explore a major development in Congress involving the Congressional Review Act (CRA). The Senate is preparing to vote on whether to overturn California’s EPA waiver, which allows the state to impose stricter vehicle emissions standards than the federal government. Mark and John break down why this obscure but powerfu...

In this episode of  Unwritten Law , NCLA’s Mark Chenoweth and John Vecchione unpack the recent Supreme Court oral argument in a high-stakes case involving nationwide injunctions—and a controversial executive order on birthright citizenship. John reports from inside the courtroom, where justices wrestled with the limits of judicial power, class actions, and whether a single district court can...

In this episode of  Unwritten Law , NCLA’s John Vecchione and attorney Andy Morris break down the latest developments in  Simplified v. United States , NCLA’s lawsuit challenging the tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). Andy explains why these so-called “Liberation Day” tariffs are constitutionally suspect, how the government is trying to shift t...

In this episode of  Unwritten Law , NCLA’s Mark Chenoweth and John Vecchione are joined by attorney Margot Cleveland to expose the State Department’s role in funding and promoting censorship technologies. They discuss NCLA’s case  The Daily Wire v. State Department , including how federal dollars helped target and suppress domestic speech through outfits like NewsGuard and the now-defunc...

In this episode of  Unwritten Law , NCLA President Mark Chenoweth and Senior Litigation Counsel John Vecchione sit down with NCLA’s Greg Dolin to unpack his recent oral argument before the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals in Newman v. Moore. At 97 years old, Judge Newman has been sidelined from the bench for over two years without impeachment or medical incapacity. NCLA argues that her remo...

In this episode of  Unwritten Law , NCLA President Mark Chenoweth and Senior Litigation Counsel John Vecchione are joined by NCLA attorney Jenin Younes to discuss her latest case challenging Minnesota’s COVID-era vaccine mandate. The case,  Stewart v. Walz , centers on a public college professor who was fired for refusing the vaccine and later punished for emailing his students about it....

In this episode of  Unwritten Law , NCLA President Mark Chenoweth and Senior Litigation Counsel John Vecchione are joined by attorney Andy Morris to discuss NCLA’s latest lawsuit:  Simplified v. Trump . The case challenges tariffs on China imposed under a dubious “national emergency” declaration. Can a president sidestep Congress and unilaterally raise tariffs? Andy explains why these ta...

Is it legal for a president to impose tariffs under emergency powers? In this episode of  Unwritten Law , Mark Chenoweth and John Vecchione break down NCLA’s latest lawsuit— Simplified v. Trump —challenging new tariffs imposed without congressional approval. Filed on behalf of small business owner Emily Ley, this is the  first and only  case taking on President Trump’s use of the In...

In this special episode of  Unwritten Law , NCLA President Mark Chenoweth and Senior Litigation Counsel John Vecchione are joined by NCLA’s Director of Engagement, Karen Harned, for a behind-the-scenes look at the 2025 King George III Prize. They reveal the “Egregious Eight” still in the running for the prize no one wants to win—awarded annually to the worst violator of Americans’ civil liber...

In this episode of  Unwritten Law , NCLA President Mark Chenoweth sits down with Margot Cleveland, Of Counsel at NCLA and Senior Legal Correspondent for The Federalist, to unpack the wave of injunctions stemming from legal challenges to President Trump’s executive orders. Why are federal judges suddenly handing out preliminary injunctions in cases where similar claims struggled to gain tracti...

Can a federal agency raise billions in fees without Congress ever approving the tax? In this episode of  Unwritten Law , host Mark Chenoweth is joined by NCLA’s General Counsel Zhonette Brown to unpack  Consumers’ Research v. FCC , a Supreme Court case challenging the constitutionality of the FCC’s Universal Service Fund. What began as a program to help rural and low-income Americans acc...

Can you really “win” a lawsuit if the court never rules on your case? In this episode of  Unwritten Law , Mark Chenoweth and John Vecchione break down two recent developments that make it even harder to hold the government accountable in court. First, they tackle the Supreme Court’s decision in  Lackey v. Stinnie , which denied attorney’s fees to plaintiffs who clearly forced a change in...

In this episode of  Unwritten Law , hosts Mark Chenoweth and John Vecchione unpack John’s recent Wall Street Journal op-ed calling for the abolition of CIGIE—the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency. This obscure-sounding bureaucracy wields outsized power, launching secretive investigations that can derail careers with zero presidential oversight or Senate confir...

Who really controls the executive branch? In this episode of  Unwritten Law , hosts Mark Chenoweth and John Vecchione break down a high-stakes legal battle over presidential power—Trump’s firing of Hampton Dellinger as head of the Office of Special Counsel. The case sparked a fierce debate over whether the president can remove executive officials at will or if statutory “for-cause” protection...

Are vaccine mandates constitutional? In this episode of  Unwritten Law , hosts Mark Chenoweth and John Vecchione sit down with NCLA’s Jenin Younes to discuss  Health Freedom Defense Fund v. Carvalho , a critical case before the Ninth Circuit challenging Los Angeles Unified School District’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The lawsuit questions whether government agencies can force employees to...

Does the IRS have the right to seize your financial records—without a warrant, without suspicion, and without you even knowing? In this episode of  Unwritten Law , hosts Mark Chenoweth and John Vecchione sit down with NCLA’s Sheng Li to discuss  Harper v. IRS , a Supreme Court petition challenging the government’s warrantless search of cryptocurrency users’ financial records. Sheng expla...

Is it a crime to jump off a cliff in a national park? The National Park Service seems to think so. In this episode of  Unwritten Law , hosts Mark Chenoweth and John Vecchione sit down with NCLA’s Casey Norman to discuss NCLA’s  100th  case—a legal challenge to the Park Service’s unconstitutional ban on base jumping. The lawsuit exposes a bigger issue: how unelected bureaucrats creat...

Should the government be able to deny you a jury trial for a criminal charge?  Unwritten Law  hosts Mark Chenoweth and John Vecchione sit down with NCLA’s Jenin Younes to discuss  Lesh v. United States , a case that could force the Supreme Court to reconsider its long-standing “petty offense” exception to the Sixth Amendment’s jury trial guarantee. Jenin breaks down how a skier and...

Welcome to the inaugural episode of  Unwritten Law , the New Civil Liberties Alliance’s podcast exposing unlawful administrative power. Hosts Mark Chenoweth and John Vecchione kick off the series by breaking down the Supreme Court’s landmark  Loper Bright  and  Relentless  rulings, which dismantled Chevron deference. What happens next in the fight against bureaucratic over...