For the first time, the U.S. government wants demonstrators to pay to use our parks, sidewalks and streets to engage in free speech in the nation’s capital. This should be called for what it is: a protest tax. This is a bold effort by the Trump administration to burden and restrict access to public spaces for First Amendment activities in Washington. If enacted, it would fundamentally alter participatory democracy in America. Read more

“When you think about petitioning your government for redress of grievances, this is the nation’s capital -- this is where you come to do it. And now you have the Trump administration that is not only engaging in extreme rhetoric against demonstrators and suggesting that protests should be illegal,” but “taking concrete actions to suppress dissent and suppress free speech.” — Mara Verheyden-Hilliard in Bloomberg News. Click here to read the full article. Read more

In a follow-up to the OpEd by the PCJF, the editorial board of the Washington Post issues "a resounding no" to the Pay-to-Protest proposal by the Trump administration and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke.

The proposal to turn Metro into a private livery service for Nazis is outrageous and unconstitutional. Neither Metro nor the police should act as private security or escorts for white supremacists who choose to come to Washington, D.C.. ATU Local 689 members and Metro workers should not be required to act as their chauffeurs. Click the link to read the full statement.

With a new focus on "civility" amidst continuing attempts to criminalize protest, FAIR talks with PCJF Executive Director Mara Verheyden-Hilliard. Read more

On the night of November 20, 2016 law enforcement unleashed specialty impact munitions, explosive grenades, chemical agents, and water cannons in freezing temperatures injuring and maiming water protectors engaged in peaceful First Amendment-protected protest activities and prayer circles. We are proud to be part of the civil team litigating this case.

After months of denial and stonewalling by the General Service Administration (GSA), the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund (PCJF) has uncovered through painstaking and persistent litigation that certain government communications between the GSA and the Trump Organization negotiating terms of the arrangements for the Trump International Hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue have been kept outside agency records, on private email. Read more

The Empire Files' Abby Martin sat down recently with PCJF's Mara Verheyden-Hilliard to discuss assaults on civil liberties taking place around the country.

Mara Verheyden-Hilliard: "Police often seem to use these [National Special Security Events], at least in past years, as an opportunity to requisition all manner of new weapons and gear ... It's a spending spree for them, and they can legitimize it by saying 'The demonstrators are coming to town.'" Read more