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ACRU: Obama's 'Julius Caesar Option' Usurps Legislative Power

By |2013-12-18T10:56:46-05:00December 18th, 2013|

EPA Has No Authority to Issue ‘Greenhouse Gas’ Rules that Congress Refused to Enact, Supreme Court Brief Says

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Dec. 18, 2013) — Under President Obama, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is violating the Constitution’s clear separation of powers by issuing “greenhouse gas” emission regulations that Congress explicitly rejected, the American Civil Rights Union argues in a brief filed Dec. 16 at the U.S. Supreme Court.

Written by ACRU General Counsel Peter Ferrara, the brief in Utility Air Regulatory Group v U.S. Environmental Protection Agency notes that, “Our Constitution’s fundamental framework provides for the people’s representatives […]

ACRU: Obama Made Illegal Recess Appointments to NLRB

By |2013-11-26T11:46:58-05:00November 26th, 2013|

Group’s Supreme Court brief supports private company against negative ruling by a National Labor Relations Board that lacked a constitutionally legal quorum.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Nov. 26, 2013) — President Obama violated the Constitution by claiming to have made three appointments to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) when the Senate was not in recess, so a ruling made by that body is invalid, the American Civil Rights Union (ACRU) argues in a friend of the court brief filed Monday at the U.S. Supreme Court. President Obama is the first President in U.S. history to try to make recess appointments that bypass Senate […]

ACRU: ObamaCare Violates Freedom of Religion

By |2020-04-23T21:52:41-04:00October 15th, 2013|

Brief filed on behalf of Liberty University says the cost of defying abortion order would be “crippling.”

ALEXANDRIA, VA (Oct. 15, 2013) — In an amicus brief submitted on October 9, the American Civil Rights Union asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear a case brought by Liberty University. Located in Lynchburg, Virginia, the Christian college contends that forcing it through the Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare) to fund employee health insurance that covers abortions is unconstitutional.

In Liberty University v. Lew, Sibelius, et al, the ACRU brief, written by General Counsel Peter Ferrara, notes that, “if Liberty University fails to comply with the employer mandate […]

ACRU: Supreme Court Should Clear Way to Clean Up N.J. Slum

By |2013-09-04T09:02:35-04:00September 4th, 2013|

Township Broke No Federal Law in Redeveloping Blighted Housing Project, Group Argues

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Sept. 4, 2013) — In a Supreme Court brief submitted Tuesday, Sept. 3, the American Civil Rights Union argues that local officials did not violate the Fair Housing Act when they demolished residences in a blighted, mixed-race area and built more modern units for low-income residents. A group of activists, claiming that the new units had a “disparate impact” on the price of other housing in the area owned mostly by minorities, sued the town, claiming racial discrimination.

Two lower courts ruled for the township on all counts. The Third U.S. […]

ACRU Asks Court to Use 'Coercion Test' in Freedom to Pray Case

By |2020-04-23T21:53:57-04:00August 8th, 2013|

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Aug. 6, 2013) — Is allowing prayer at public meetings an example of the free exercise of religion as guaranteed by the First Amendment or an illegal governmental establishment of religion?

To assist courts in threading this needle, the ACRU is promoting a unique, new doctrine called the Coercion Test.

In a brief filed on Aug. 2 at the U.S. Supreme Court in Town of Greece v. Susan Galloway and Linda Stevens, ACRU General Counsel Peter Ferrara defends the upstate New York town’s practice of allowing rotating, voluntary prayers before council meetings and explains the Coercion Test:

“At the time the First […]

ACRU: D.C. Gun Transfer Law Violates Second Amendment by Burdening the Sale of Goods or Services

By |2020-04-23T21:53:43-04:00July 11th, 2013|

WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 11, 2013)—The District of Columbia’s law requiring residents who purchase out-of-state guns to go through an expensive middleman to get a transfer permit violates the Second Amendment, according to a brief filed on July 1 at the U.S. Supreme Court by the American Civil Rights Union (ACRU).

Although the Court’s 2008 ruling in the Heller case overturned the District’s ban on handgun possession, the city has another law that requires people who want to buy guns out of state to transfer them through a federally licensed firearms dealer (FLFD). Since the District has no retail gun stores, anyone who wants to buy a […]

ACRU Brief Says Popular Michigan State Initiative Ending Racial Preferences Is a Cure for Unintended, Bad Consequences

By |2013-07-10T07:24:07-04:00July 10th, 2013|

WASHINGTON D.C. (JULY 10, 2013)—In 2009, Michigan voters by 58 to 42 percent approved Proposal 2, a constitutional amendment that stopped preferential treatment of minorities at publicly funded institutions, including college admissions. Several racial preference groups sued, and the case is now before the U.S. Supreme Court.

On July 1, the ACRU submitted a brief to the U.S. Supreme Court written by ACRU General Counsel Peter Ferrara in Bill Schuette, Attorney General of Michigan v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action. The brief argues that the amendment is constitutional even if subjected to heightened scrutiny, and that there are several compelling reasons:

  1. It ends […]

ACRU: Supreme Court Gets It Right in Property Case

By |2013-06-28T13:43:10-04:00June 28th, 2013|

Ruling mirrors ACRU’s brief that Florida officials resorted to unconstitutional coercion against land owner.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 28) – The U.S. Supreme Court on June 25 in a 5-4 ruling smacked down Florida officials who tried to coerce a landowner into paying for improvements to a piece of property in order to obtain needed permits for an entirely unrelated parcel.

The Court essentially agreed with the argument made in the American Civil Rights Union’s amicus brief that the demand amounted to an unconstitutional “taking” of property that violates the Fifth Amendment.

The brief in Coy A. Koontz v. St. John’s River Water Management District, […]

ACRU Asks Supreme Court to Strike Campaign Finance Limits

By |2020-04-23T21:52:44-04:00May 14th, 2013|

Political speech should have higher protection than “pornography, nude dancing and abortion,” brief says.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 13, 2013) — In an amicus brief filed May 8, the American Civil Rights Union argues that limits on campaign donations infringe on freedom of speech.

Written by ACRU General Counsel Peter Ferrara, the brief sides with plaintiff Shaun McCutcheon, who is appealing a September ruling by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia upholding the federal campaign contribution law.

Mr. McCutcheon challenged the aggregate limit ($74,600) on contributions to non-candidate committees because he wanted to contribute $25,000 each to three Republican political committees […]

ACRU Brief: EPA Jumped the Gun in CO2 Crackdown

By |2013-04-29T19:36:55-04:00April 29th, 2013|

WASHINGTON D.C. (April 29, 2013) — A lower court ignored the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) breach of federal law requiring peer review when the agency issued a finding that carbon dioxide (CO2) is a pollutant subject to federal regulation, a brief filed on April 22 by the American Civil Rights Union states.

Written by ACRU General Counsel Peter Ferrara in Pacific Legal Foundation v. Environmental Protection Agency, the brief asks the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case. The brief notes that peer-review is essential to determine scientific merit, and that the EPA imposed regulations without bothering to abide by the law’s […]

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