We’ve been busy at ICAP, using strategic impact litigation and public education to defend constitutional rights and values and to restore confidence in the integrity of our government institutions.
As co-counsel for the House of Representatives Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, we opposed former president Trump’s lawsuit seeking to bar the National Archivist from turning over White House records relating to the events on and leading up to that horrendous day—the first time the Capitol had been breached since the War of 1812. The court will hear argument on the case this Thursday. ICAP’s work with DFRLabs to warn law enforcement officials about the threat to the Capitol was featured in an extensive Washington Post review of the red flags that law enforcement failed to heed, including ours.
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Further in our fight against political violence and in support of First Amendment rights, we’ve scored some important wins. On behalf of the NAACP’s Oklahoma State Conference, we obtained a court ruling barring a new law from going into effect that was designed to chill the organizing of peaceful demonstrations by creating vague and overbroad penalties in violation of the First and Fourteenth Amendments. And in September, a New Mexico court agreed with us that its state laws provide a legal remedy against an unlawful private militia that self-deployed to a racial justice demonstration last summer, where their heavily armed presence heightened tensions, resulting in the shooting of a protester. ICAP’s executive director, Mary McCord, also penned an op-ed calling for political leadership to recognize the difference between free expression and violence, as well as articles recounting lessons learned about combating domestic terrorism in the years since 9/11 and highlighting the threat of domestic extremism within law enforcement.
In the Supreme Court, we filed an amicus brief in the first major Second Amendment case to be heard by the Court since 2008, New York State Rifle & Pistol Assoc. v. Bruen. On behalf of more than 30 former national security officials, we argue that concealable weapons present a significant national security threat, as foreign terrorist organizations and domestic extremists take advantage of the U.S.’s lax gun laws to commit mass shootings and other attacks. You can read a shorter version of our argument in this SCOTUSblog article. Or you can check out this panel discussion on the case, featuring Mary and moderated by Georgetown Law Center Dean William Treanor.
In new matters, we’re representing an incarcerated plaintiff seeking redress after a federal prison guard assaulted him while he was in restraints; a Michigan high schooler who was assaulted by an assistant principal and school police officer; and peaceful protesters whose private property was destroyed by New York City officials when they cleared the park where the protest was taking place. We also filed a brief in opposition on behalf of a class of unaccompanied immigrant children, urging the Supreme Court to decline review of a favorable court of appeals’ decision regarding their constitutional right to mental health treatment.
We continue the fight against the diversion of South Carolina’s public funds toward private schools, filing an amicus brief to defend the state constitution’s “no-aid provision,” while appealing the denial of intervention by the South Carolina NAACP and a majority-Black school district to the Fourth Circuit. We also proudly represent the Howard County Board of Education as it defends the validity of a position on the Board for a voting student member, and we look forward to arguing the case in the Maryland Court of Appeals next week.
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This Wednesday, ICAP’s Mary McCord and Kelsi Corkran will join members of Checks & Balances and the Presidential Reform Project in a discussion on reforming the executive branch, moderated by Quinta Jurecic. We urge you to register for the webinar—all are welcome.
Finally, our former Managing Director, Amy Marshak, has transitioned to a role as pro bono senior fellow. We’re so grateful for all she has done for ICAP since its inception in 2017, and we look forward to continuing to benefit from her expertise and guidance going forward.
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Keep up with ICAP on Twitter via @GeorgetownICAP; and suggest what we should take on next via reachICAP@georgetown.edu.
With thanks for your continued support, The ICAP Team
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