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ACRU Files Brief Urging N.J. Supreme Court to Allow Menendez Recall Petitions

By |2010-05-10T15:51:59-04:00May 10th, 2010|

On May 10, 2010, the American Civil Rights Union filed a brief with the New Jersey Supreme Court urging the justices to affirm a state appellate court ruling ordering the Secretary of State to recognize a recall notice for U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez (D). If the court concurs, petitioners could begin immediately to collect the 1.3 million signatures needed within 320 days to put Menendez on the ballot. Menendez, who was elected in 2006, is not slated for re-election until 2012.

The brief, filed by ACRU General Counsel Peter Ferrara, makes it clear that the court is deciding only the validity of a lower court’s […]

Salazar v. Buono

By |2020-04-23T21:52:59-04:00April 28th, 2010|

The ACRU is happy to report that an important stride was taken today, April 28, 2010, in defense of the 1st Amendment, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in favor of protecting an historic veteran’s memorial cross in the Mojave Desert that had been challenged by the ACLU. The Veterans of Foreign Wars erected the memorial cross in the Mojave National Preserve in 1934. A former preserve employee and visitor, Frank Buono, claimed that the cross violated the First Amendment. Rather than remove the cross, Congress and the Interior Department transferred the land to the VFW. Buono, backed by the ACLU and the Ninth Circuit Court of […]

ACRU Urges NJ Supreme Court to Deny Sen. Menedez Petition to Hear Recall Appeal

By |2020-04-23T21:52:59-04:00April 21st, 2010|

Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) petitioned the New Jersey Supreme Court to hear his appeal from the ruling of a state appellate court that a citizens committee seeking a recall election to remove him from office could proceed to circulate petitions to collect the signatures required under the New Jersey Constitution to qualify for such an election.

The American Civil Rights Union (ACRU) filed an amicus curiae brief on April 21, 2010 with the New Jersey Supreme Court urging it to deny the petition from Senator Menendez to hear the case on the grounds that the circulation of petitions and the collection of signatures is political activity […]

Loar et al v Michigan Department of Human Services

By |2010-04-14T12:01:39-04:00April 14th, 2010|

On April 12, 2010, the ACRU filed an amicus brief requesting the Michigan Supreme Court to hear the case of Loar et al v Michigan Department of Human Services. This case presents critical questions regarding institutionalized misappropriation and diversion of public funds, and forced unionization as state employees of self-employed, privately owned and operated, home based, independent contractors serving the general public.

Under a state program to assist low income mothers in working and thereby reducing the burden of public assistance on taxpayers, the Michigan Department of Human Services (DHS) is authorized under state law to pay these independent providers for child care services to qualifying […]

Ken Klukowski: "How Dare He Speak!"

By |2020-04-23T21:53:00-04:00February 18th, 2010|

This piece originally appeared on Townhall.com on February 17, 2010.

The ink isn’t yet dry on January’s landmark Supreme Court campaign finance decision Citizens United v. FEC, and already Round Two has begun. As new legislation is planned to limit political speech and some even call for a constitutional amendment, the courts are addressing the next round of constitutional challenges.

Last month the country’s second-highest court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, heard arguments in SpeechNow.org v. FEC. This case was already pending at the D.C. Circuit before the Supreme Court handed down its decision in Citizens’ United. Some aspects of the […]

COMMITTEE TO RECALL ROBERT MENENDEZ v. NINA WELLS, SECRETARY OF STATE, ET AL.

By |2010-02-08T18:50:27-05:00February 8th, 2010|

February 9, the American Civil Rights Union filed an amicus brief in support of a grassroots citizens effort to petition for recall of Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ).

The Sussex County Tea Party and NJ Tea Parties United, which filed the original petition request to gather signatures as The Committee to Recall Senator Robert Menendez from the United States Senate, contend that Menendez has violated his oath of office by voting for unconstitutional measures such as the attempted government health care takeover bill.

The New Jersey Secretary of State at the time rebuffed the request. So the matter is in court. Menendez is up for re-election […]

McDonald v. City of Chicago

By |2020-04-23T21:54:06-04:00December 3rd, 2009|

The case McDonald v. City of Chicago presents to the Supreme Court the issue of whether the Second Amendment right to bear arms is applicable to state and local governments, or instead is only a right that Americans have against the actions of the federal government. Specifically, the question is whether the right to bear arms applies (or is “incorporated”) to the states through either the Privileges or Immunities Clause or the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

On November 23, the ACRU, joined by three other organizations, argued that the Second Amendment should be incorporated to the states through the Privileges or Immunities Clause, […]

United States v. O'Donnell

By |2009-11-23T09:29:27-05:00November 23rd, 2009|

Pierce O’Donnell was charged with a criminal violation of federal campaign finance laws. The District Court granted his motion to dismiss most of the Indictment on the grounds that his conduct was not prohibited by the plain language of the statute under which he was charged. The Justice Department appealed to the 9th Circuit supported by several amici arguing that the statute should nevertheless be held to prohibit his conduct based on public policy arguments. On November 16, the ACRU filed a brief amicus curiae in support of O’Donnell arguing that stretching criminal statutes beyond their plain terms to railroad defendants into prison terms […]

Stop the Beach Renourishment, Inc v. Florida Department of Environmental Protection

By |2009-08-23T11:15:23-04:00August 23rd, 2009|

In this case, the homeowner petitioners owned oceanfront property with private beaches. State and local entities in Florida conducted a beach nourishment project on their properties which involved adding tons of sand at the waterline. As part of this project, the government unilaterally redefined their property lines away from the water and added a 75 foot public beach at the waterline. As a result, they lost all of the littoral property rights which belong to those who own property at the waterline. The homeowners sued arguing that the beach nourishment project involved an unconstitutional taking of property rights without compensation in violation of […]

Free Enterprise Fund v. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board

By |2009-08-03T22:31:28-04:00August 3rd, 2009|

Congress created the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) to enforce the Sarbanes Oxley law. But Congress provided for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), not the President, to appoint the members of the PCAOB. The President also has no powers of oversight or removal regarding the board members. Yet the PCAOB has the power to establish standards of criminal misconduct, and to decide on their prosecution and punishment. It also has the power to impose taxes on publicly traded companies, and to set its own budget, again independent of the President.

The Free Enterprise Fund brought suit challenging the constitutionality of this arrangement, arguing that […]

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