Washington, D.C., June 08, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The New Civil Liberties Alliance, a nonpartisan, nonprofit civil liberties organization, is celebrating five years since it was founded by prominent legal scholar Philip Hamburger to protect constitutional freedoms from violations by the Administrative State. Members of the legal community, academics, and supporters gathered on Tuesday to commemorate the occasion at the NCLA 5th Anniversary Gala in Washington D.C., featuring special guest, the Honorable Mike Pompeo, 70th Secretary of State of the United States. NCLA released a video highlighting the history of the organization, its cases, and the stories of the clients who have stood up to unlawful abuses of administrative power by state and federal agencies.
At the Gala, NCLA awarded Dr. Anthony Fauci with the ignominious “King George III Prize” for the bureaucrat who violated the most civil liberties last year. In a year when public health officials misled the American people for fear they could not handle the truth, only one man had the temerity to claim, “Attacks on me, quite frankly, are attacks on science.” Dr. Fauci also actively participated in efforts to undermine public understanding of naturally acquired immunity to Covid-19, pretending for many months—in a way that led thousands or more people to lose their jobs—that a vaccine should still be mandated for those with antibodies from natural immunity. So much for following the science.
NCLA also announced the winners of the coveted George Washington Awards—the Georgies!—for their partnership with NCLA’s mission and bravery in standing up to the Administrative State. George Washington Award winners include: Raymond J. Lucia, Sr., for Client Bravery; Latham & Watkins LLP and Cooper & Kirk PLLC for Outstanding Pro Bono Service; and Allyson N. Ho and her Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP team for Best Amicus Curiae Brief. Karen Cook and Michael McColloch were awarded the Cincinnatus Award for Selfless Service to NCLA. Avi Weiss of Columbia Law School won the NCLA Student Note Competition and a $10,000 prize to be split with the Columbia Law Review, which is publishing his piece.
Since its founding, NCLA has evolved into a nationally renowned public-interest law firm specializing in filing original lawsuits and amicus curiae briefs against government agencies and defending targets of administrative enforcement. Just in the last month, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari in Securities and Exchange Commission v. Michelle Cochran, NCLA’s first original lawsuit to be argued before the Court, and the Second and Third Circuits ruled in NCLA’s favor in lawsuits concerning the violation of our clients’ First Amendment and Due Process rights. NCLA currently has three cases with pending petitions for writ of certiorari: Aposhian v. Garland, et al., Romeril v. SEC, and Buffington v. McDonough.