Our Litigation

Police offices block the street in San Francisco during the Dolores Park Hill Bomb

San Francisco Police’s Illegal Arrest of Children and Youth at Skateboarding Event

The PCJF filed a civil rights claim in October 2023 against the City and County of San Francisco, challenging the illegal and unconstitutional arrest and detention of 113 young people. The PCJF is currently preparing to file a federal civil rights class action lawsuit against San Francisco and police commanders.
Learn MoreSan Francisco Police’s Illegal Arrest of Children and Youth at Skateboarding Event
People struggling after being pepper sprayed. They are rubbing their eyes and one person pours water on another person.

Federal Lawsuit to Stop DC MPD’s Indiscriminate and Violent Use of Less Lethal Weapons

Throughout 2020, the D.C. MPD conducted a widespread and forceful assault on protestors taking to the street of the District to rally against racist police violence. The PCJF seeks to end the MPD’s unconstitutional and punitive tactics of indiscriminately deploying less lethal weapons into crowds of persons engaged in First Amendment protected activities.
Learn MoreFederal Lawsuit to Stop DC MPD’s Indiscriminate and Violent Use of Less Lethal Weapons
Line of Indigenous water protectors standing in a line with signs reading "protect the future"

Successfully Defending Water Protectors Against Line 3 Criminal Charges

Brave water protectors put their bodies on the line tirelessly and peacefully protesting the construction of the Line 3 pipeline in northern Minnesota, in opposition to the destruction of Indigenous land, resources, and the environment. The CPLL supported water protectors as they faced trumped up criminal charges for lawfully opposing the destruction of their land. This intense fight resulted in important victories and the dismissal of outrageous felony theft charges leveled against water protectors.
Learn MoreSuccessfully Defending Water Protectors Against Line 3 Criminal Charges
Anti-Trump Protesters

Stopping Trump’s Plan to Crush Protest in the Nation’s Capital

In 2018, at the same time the Trump administration and other proponents of bigotry, repression, and environmental devastation ratcheted up their verbal attacks against a protest against them, they took concrete actions to shut down free speech actions in Washington, D.C. In rapid-response, PCJF then led a national organizing, education, and outreach campaign bringing together organizations and grassroots groups across the country, that resulted in more than 140,000 comments to the formal record.
Learn MoreStopping Trump’s Plan to Crush Protest in the Nation’s Capital
Very large protest in Washington D.C. A lot of people hold signs that read "end the war now"

The Fight to Strike Down Unconstitutional Regulations on Postering

The PCJF waged a decade long battle to strike down the District of Columbia’s unconstitutional regulations on postering winning a string of victories in the lower court which forced the District to repeatedly rewrite its unlawful regulations. The final iterations were upheld by the D.C. Circuit despite the PCJF’s continued objection to remaining rules that determined how posters were regulated based on the content of the words. 
Learn MoreThe Fight to Strike Down Unconstitutional Regulations on Postering
A siren on a police car flashes. The PCJF sued Laurel Maryland Police for publicly strip-searching a man during a racial profiling traffic stop.

Federal Civil Rights Lawsuit Over Public Strip-Search and Racial Profiling Traffic Stop 

The PCJF and the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights & Urban Affairs filed a federal lawsuit against the Laurel Maryland Police Department for publicly strip-searching Allan Sergeant during a baseless traffic stop which occurred solely on the basis of racial profiling. The lawsuit ended with a $125,000 settlement for the plaintiff.
Learn MoreFederal Civil Rights Lawsuit Over Public Strip-Search and Racial Profiling Traffic Stop