Action 25 (Feb. 18)
Support the Lawyers Suing the Administration
The primary tactic in the arsenal against the destruction of the federal government is turning out to be lawsuits. Just Security is tracking 74 different suits filed since the administration took office. Today is day 29, so an average of 2.5 a day.
The administration is being sued for its efforts to revoke birthright citizenship and permit ICE raids in religious spaces. It also faces lawsuits for its attempt to cut off congressionally approved and allocated funding for foreign aid and domestic agencies. States and universities are suing over the announced decrease in grant funding for research institutions. Federal employee unions are suing over the administration’s unlawful firings of significant numbers of federal employees.
While states have brought some of these cases, many are filed by private individuals, research universities, federal employee unions, and non-profit organizations. Most of these organizations do not have attorneys to represent them in these cases. Their staff attorneys are unlikely to have the constitutional, employment, and immigrant law expertise to argue these cases. Most plaintiffs are represented by non-profit public interest law entities like the ACLU and Democracy Forward.
The lawyers, researchers, clerks, and others needed to do this work must be paid. Most organizations providing legal services survive on donations, and at the rate they are going, their workload is far outpacing their fundraising efforts.
One of the earlier actions I posted was to become a monthly donor to direct service organizations—like those supporting immigrants or trans individuals. Now, it’s time to support the lawyers. Here is an incomplete list of the organizations doing this work. If you can, donate to one of the following. While you are at it, send them a thank-you note for working so hard to hold back the tide of tyranny.
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection (Georgetown)
Adding suggestions from readers:
State Democracy Defenders Fund (Thank you, Betsy Teusch)
National Immigration Law Center (Thank you again, Betsy!)
Don’t hesitate to send me the names of more organizations to include on the list.
Hey folks, I'd love to hear your ideas for more actions. And any reports on your actions? Let's make this some more interactive conversation. Join my chat.
If you make your contributions via a Donor Advised Fund, you can contribute without getting on a zillion solicitation mail and email lists.
Another one: State Democracy Defenders Fund. And National Immigration Law Center