Ms. Vanita Gupta Associate Attorney General U.S. Department of Justice 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20540

Ms. Kristen Clarke Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights U.S. Department of Justice 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20540

 

August, 10, 2021

Dear Vanita Gupta and Kristen Clarke,

We write to you, two champions of racial justice, to convey our rapidly growing fear and concern over draconian anti-protest bills that harken back to the Jim Crow era, and are being passed into law across the country.

It’s been one year since we took to the streets in historic numbers amid a global pandemic to stand up for Black lives. Our persistent, loud and clear voices, and organizing efforts were instrumental in obtaining a modicum of accountability for George Floyd. As a result of our collective repudiation of white supremacy and efforts to end the police terror of Black communities, we’re now facing an unprecedented backlash from Republican lawmakers. 

State lawmakers have introduced more than 100 punitive anti-protest bills since the summer of 2020, and 81 in 2021 alone – that’s more than twice as many proposals as in any other year. 

These laws, often backed by organizations affiliated with police unions, are an attempt to criminalize free speech, punish those who speak up for Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) communities, and even offer specific protections for counter-protesters who harm us.

Eight states have already passed anti-protest laws this year. In Florida, Oklahoma, and Iowa, laws include deputizing vigilante violence by protecting drivers who injure protesters with their cars – reminiscent of state-sanctioned white mob violence of the post-Reconstruction era. A proposed bill in Indiana would ban anyone convicted of unlawful assembly from holding state employment, including elected office; and bills pending in Minnesota and Oregon would disqualify people convicted of protest-related crimes from enrolling in public assistance programs – including Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and unemployment benefits. 

In addition to targeting our right to protest, the laws also undermine our collective struggle for Black freedom by allowing local police to penalize municipalities that reduce funding for law enforcement and denying bail to those arrested until their first court appearance – ensuring more of our people in jail. 

This is an assault on our constitutional rights, our communities, and human rights. Even the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner decried the laws for violating international human rights law and the US Constitution’s protection of the right to peaceful assembly, and the explicit targeting of Black Lives Matter protesters.  

We have seen time and time again that where racial justice protests flourish, anti-protest laws follow. And we know that police and prosecutors don’t need more tools or power to abuse our Constitutional rights. Congress has yet to act and seriously investigate the FBI for its racist designations such as the Black Identity Extremists (BIE), which are used to label movement activists as terrorists, and further legitimize its authority to stalk us and criminalize constitutionally protected activities. These racist “anti-protests” bills are inseparable from the wider political backlash against our movements fighting for Black liberation and freedom.

As leaders and advocates, we’re asking that you make a public statement condemning these laws on behalf of the Department of Justice, and support any efforts to sue states that have passed anti-protest legislation that disrupts our First Amendment Constitutional right to protest racial injustice. Your actions are necessary to protect the Constitutional rights of all people, and will support our work to protect the right to protest racial injustice, and BIPOC protesters around the country.  

 

Until Justice is Real,

Color of Change MediaJustice Free Press Action Center on Race and the Economy (ACRE) Advocacy for Principled Action in Government American Civil Liberties Union American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA) American Association of University Professors ANSWER Coalition Black and Brown Biennale Black Freedom Collective California LGBT Arts Alliance Carceral Tech Resistance Network Citizen Action of New York Civil Liberties Defense Center Center for Community Alternatives Center for Media and Democracy Center for Protest Law & Litigation Chicago Community Bond Fund Community Change Action Community Justice Project Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd, U.S. Provinces CreaTV San José Cunningham Township Californians United for Budget Reform Defending Rights & Dissent Demand Progress Education Fund DemCast USA Ella Baker Center for Human Rights EX-incarcerated People Organizing (EXPO) Fight for the Future Fix Democracy First Free Speech Coalition (FSC) Greenpeace USA Highlander Research & Education Center Illinois State University Initiative for a Representative First Amendment Japanese American Citizens League Just Futures Law

Line Break Media Mainers for Accountable Leadership Media Alliance Media Freedom Foundation and Project Censored MPower Change National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd National Black Worker Center National Lawyers Guild NorCal Resist Official Black Lives Matter Memphis Chapter Organization for Black Struggle Palestine Legal People’s Advocacy Institute People’s Budget Greenfield PEN America PhillyCAM Progressive Technology Project Project On Government Oversight Public Justice Center Riverside All of Us or None RootsAction.org RYSE Center St. Paul Neighborhood Network (SPNN) Semillas Temple Beth El Texas Criminal Justice Coalition Tully Center for Free Speech Unitarian Universalist Service Committee United Church of Christ, OC Inc. Urbana Champaign Independent Media Center Washington Defender Association Wealth Matters Wisdom/Moses/Expo. WITNESS Woodhull Freedom Foundation Workers Center for Racial Justice Working Narratives X-Lab

1 https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/21/us/politics/republican-anti-protest-laws.html

2 https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?LangID=E&NewsID=27060