Like you, we at ICAP have been outraged by Russia’s appalling war of aggression against Ukraine, and heartbroken by the unfathomable human suffering we have witnessed. Here at home, Putin’s war serves as a stark reminder that the democratic values we cherish are vulnerable and under assault. In defense of those values, ICAP continues to achieve results in court and contribute vital understandings to the broader dialogue about the role of constitutional rights in our complex democracy.
First and foremost, ICAP has continued to focus on threats to democratic institutions and principles. The fruits of ICAP’s work in this arena have been above-the-fold news in recent weeks. Following our Supreme Court victory over the former president in Trump v. Thompson, the National Archives began handing over records to the House January 6 Select Committee. Among the documents were phone logs and presidential diaries showing an alarming 7-hour gap in Trump’s communications on the day of the attack. ICAP also continues to offer its expertise to other aspects of the Select Committee’s investigation, including by submitting an expert statement, requested by the Committee, on the role of private militias in the lead-up to and execution of the attack and on the threat to democratic processes that these unlawful militias continue to pose. Tying the role of social media and other online platforms to these threats, ICAP’s Executive Director Mary McCord spoke about free speech in the mobile internet age at the widely covered Chicago conference on Disinformation and the Erosion of Democracy.
ICAP also partnered with the States United Democracy Center to produce and distribute guidance for law enforcement agencies to address bigotry and extremism in their ranks. The guidance explains that the First Amendment provides law enforcement agencies with substantial leeway to discipline, fire, or refuse to hire individuals who engage in extremist speech or activities that undermine their public safety mission. We stand ready to offer our legal support to law enforcement agencies that seek to eradicate extremism from their forces and build trust in their communities. Furthering ICAP's battle against extremism, in our case against an unlawful private militia in New Mexico, just this week we filed a motion for sanctions, including default judgment, for the outrageous behavior of the militia's leader, who destroyed evidence and failed to comply with a court-ordered deposition. Take a look at the video of the deposition and our explainer thread on Twitter to see why we felt it necessary to file this motion.
|
|
On the litigation front, we’ve continued to win major civil rights victories on behalf of the vulnerable and marginalized. In one of ICAP’s school excessive force cases, E.W. v. Wilkins, our litigators achieved a unanimous win in the Sixth Circuit, which affirmed the district court’s denial of qualified immunity for school officials who violently assaulted a 14-year old high school freshman, leaving him with broken bones and a dislocated jaw. The court’s decision bucks the trend toward qualified-immunity maximalism and clears the way for E.W.’s claims of excessive force to reach the jury, where they belong.
ICAP also shared in an important recent civil rights victory at the Supreme Court, which held in Thompson v. Clark that a person who is wrongly charged with a crime that prosecutors later dismiss can bring a civil rights action to seek damages for official misconduct relating to the arrest. Our brief on behalf of 70 current and former prosecutors, DOJ officials, and judges (and covered by NPR’s Supreme Court reporter, Nina Totenberg) made clear that lower court rulings barring such actions did not serve prosecutorial interests and that failure to hold police accountable undermines faith in the legal system.
Down the street at the Justice Department, we received the welcome news that the government would NOT appeal our victory over the exclusionary “Passport Rule,” a Trump-era rule that required applicants for the yearly diversity visa lottery to have a valid passport just to apply for the chance to seek a visa. This is a triumph of international reach and will reignite the American Dream for those who cannot readily afford a passport or endure other obstacles in obtaining one.
|
|
Other important work proceeds apace. After obtaining a preliminary injunction on behalf of the NAACP against Oklahoma’s sweeping anti-protest law last fall, we filed our merits brief explaining why the law is unconstitutionally vague and infringes on First Amendment rights. Last week, we sought summary judgment in our Maryland open courts case, a First Amendment challenge to Maryland’s ban on publicly airing recordings of criminal court proceedings for which we had already obtained reversal by the Fourth Circuit of the lower court’s prior erroneous dismissal of the case.
Finally, we’re excited to announce a new addition to our team: Sara Adeli recently joined ICAP as our Litigation and Administrative Assistant.
|
|
|
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.
|
|
|
|
