Free Speech
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.
FAIR’s Counterspin Radio interviews Mara Verheyden-Hilliard about protest suppression
From Counterspin Radio: “If it’s a new day, you’re right to ask if the Trump administration is coming for your rights in a new way, and the answer is yes."
Courthouse News Service: Trump Planning Tough New Rules for Protests Near White House
A proposal by the National Parks Service that could limit protests near iconic landmarks in the nation’s capital is drawing heavy criticism
Bloomberg: “Get Off My Lawn: Trump Proposal Could Squelch Protests in D.C.”
The Trump administration is seeking to restrict protests by effectively blocking them along the north sidewalk of the White House and making it easier for police to shut them down.
The American Prospect: Will the Next Women’s March Be Taxed?
A National Park Service plan to impose harsh new fines and restrictions on public protesters takes Donald Trump’s assault on the First Amendment to a whole new level.
PCJF Op-Ed in the Washington Post: Trump admin wants to tax protests. What happened to free speech?
The Washington Post published an op-ed written by the PCJF’s Executive Director Mara Verheyden-Hilliard and Legal Director Carl Messineo challenging the Trump administration’s new and outrageous plan to charge demonstrators fees a to protest in the nation’s capital.
PCJF Statement on Proposal to Give Nazis Private Metro Service for Unite the Right Rally
The following statement by Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, constitutional rights attorney with the PCJF, on the proposal to provide private Metro cars for “Unite the Right” rally was released to the press today.
The Intercept: With Last Charges Against J20 Protesters Dropped, Defendants Seek Accountability For Prosecutors
Last Friday afternoon, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia dismissed charges against the 39 remaining J20 Inauguration Day protesters under indictment.
US drops charges against remaining J20 anti-Trump defendants
Charges against last 39 people arrested over their alleged involvement in a Trump Inauguration Day rally were dismissed, per Al Jazeera News.
FAIR talks with Mara Verheyden-Hilliard about criminalizing protest
The truth is this country has a rich tradition of radicalism and dissent, struggle in many ways being the thing that has pulled us forward.
Letter to US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence on behalf of Dr. Jill Stein
Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, constitutional rights attorney with the PCJF, is representing Jill Stein, the 2016 Green Party Presidential candidate, before the U.S. Senate Select Committee on…