Journalist Nick Shirley challenges California law over constitutional rights: free speech, due process 

Independent journalist Nick Shirley is suing California, claiming the state’s new law targeting his fraud reporting violates the Constitution on multiple fronts.

California Assembly Bill 2624, which critics have branded the “Stop Nick Shirley Act,” goes into effect Oct. 1, 2027. The law specifically protects “designated immigration support services,” including providers, staff and volunteers, according to a press release from America First Legal (AFL), which is representing Shirley.

The law safeguards private and public immigration-related information, such as addresses, phone numbers, financial data and employment history for both individuals and organizations, including offices, clinics or health care facilities. The same information, however, involving immigration enforcement personnel or organizations is not protected, according to the release.

“If the asserted governmental interest is protecting individuals from harassment, threats or other harms arising from the publication of personal information, that interest does not logically depend on whether the affected individual or organization provides ‘immigration support services,’” the complaint, filed Friday, states.

Specifying immigration services-related work, by definition, violates the First Amendment as a “content-based restriction of speech,” AFL argues.

“The First Amendment does not allow the government to silence truthful reporting because it is controversial, inconvenient or politically disfavored,” the lawsuit states.

Under its broad and vague protections, the law now censors much of “protected journalism, political commentary, watchdog reporting and whistleblowing,” AFL says. It also fails to give individuals “fair notice of what is prohibited,” which violates the 14th Amendment’s protection of due process.

Shirley, famous for his fraud whistleblowing, relies on the ability to investigate, report and publish information pertinent to the public, including immigration coverage, AFL argues. After AB 2624 passed, Shirley began to “self-censor” to avoid criminal prosecution under the law, which restricts “his profession and his livelihood,” and legally qualifies as “ongoing injury,” according to the lawsuit.

“In practical terms, the law places a target on all the investigative reporting Mr. Shirley conducts,” the lawsuit states.

From Minnesota to California

In December and January, Shirley uncovered more than $100 million in alleged fraud at Somali-run daycare centers in Minnesota, which prompted a state and federal government crackdown. He then turned his attention to Armenian hospices and Somali daycares in California, promising more undercover videos, but California Attorney General Rob Bonta called the fraud allegations “reckless,” “false,” “outrageous” and “ridiculous,” according to AFL’s release. 

Assemblywoman Mia Bonta, AG Bonta’s wife, introduced AB 2624 on Feb. 20. It passed the Democrat-controlled Legislature, and Gov. Gavin Newsom, also a Democrat, signed the bill Aug. 22.

“Why create new laws that restrict the freedom of speech if you have nothing to hide?” Shirley said in the AFL release. “Now more than ever, the people deserve more transparency, not less. Freedom of speech is essential for a high-trust society.”

In one of his most recent videos, Shirley, wearing a “Califraudia Republic” T-shirt, reveals a nearly empty plaza, where dozens of previously operating hospices now sit abandoned. The businesses shut down and the owners fled after Shirley revealed they were robbing the American people of taxpayer money, he explains.

“And now they’re currently passing laws that would make what I did illegal here inside the state of California,” Shirley says in the video.

AB 2624 also applies to previous immigration-related reporting or publishing, meaning Shirley and others could be accused of violating the law before it was ever a law. But this application violates Article I, Section 10 of the Constitution, which forbids “ex-post facto laws,” or the retrospective application of a law on previous actions, AFL argues.

AFL directed Heartlander News to its press release for comments.

“Nick Shirley is an American patriot,” AFL President Gene Hamilton said in the release. “He has been exposing fraud that too many people have tolerated or facilitated for decades . . . This will not stand. America First Legal is proud to stand with Nick.”

(Photo: Nick Shirley, X)