In December 2021, the ACLU and NYCLU filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit seeking information from nine federal agencies—the United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Department of Justice (DOJ), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Federal Protective Service (FPS), Marshals Service (USMS), and Secret Service (USSS)—about nationwide aerial surveillance and flight monitoring of protests in 2020 following the death of George Floyd.

On December 4, 2017, Michael Picard stood on the public sidewalk in front of the Bronx County Hall of Justice with a sign reading “Jury info” and distributed flyers advocating for jury nullification. Shortly after he began his advocacy, an officer arrested Mr. Picard for violating New York’s courthouse protest law, N.Y. Penal Law 215.50(7). The law makes it a crime to shout, call aloud, or hold or display signs or placards concerning a trial on a public street or sidewalk within 200 feet of a courthouse.

Can a protest leader be held legally responsible for injuries inflicted by an unidentified person’s violent act at the protest, when it is undisputed that the leader didn’t engage in or intend violence of any kind?

The ACLU and ACLU of Montana filed a lawsuit on September 4, 2018 asking a federal court to order several federal government agencies to turn over all records concerning their plans to surveil and police anticipated Keystone XL pipeline protests.