Trump Administration Attack on Southern Poverty Law Center Puts Democracy at Risk

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has spent years fighting hate, racism, and injustice in the American South and has played a critical role in strengthening the civil rights of millions of Americans. It has even worked closely with the FBI in that effort. Now, the Trump administration claims that the SPLC was actually involved in some kind of con to further the missions of hate groups.

We can’t take this prosecution at face value. SPLC has been in the Trump administration’s crosshairs because of their central role in calling out right wing extremism. The manufactured outrage against SPLC at both the Department of Justice (DOJ) and in Congress are just the latest examples of the Trump administration and its allies turning the power of the government on people and organizations that they see as opposition. Whether or not you’re a fan of SPLC’s work, or of the administration’s policies, we all have a stake in defending SPLC.

Like the cases of dozens of peaceful protesters and observers of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) violence and several higher profile DOJ targets, the government may well fail to ever win a conviction against SPLC. But winning a conviction in these outlandish cases is hardly necessary for the administration to achieve its aims.

The point of prosecuting SPLC or others that make the president angry is to send a message: fall into line or pay the price. It doesn’t take a conviction to exact a toll on the target. Lawyers are expensive. Time is precious. Just an accusation, even a frivolous one, can endanger an organization’s survival. Three of the largest sponsors of donor-advised funds — Fidelity, Vanguard, and Schwab — have already cut off certain customer donations, ostensibly because SPLC is the target of an ongoing government investigation. The chilling effect of facing such costs is the true purpose of these attacks. The administration wins if people watch what they say, avoid taking certain clients, or terminate particular lines of work out of fear of getting on the White House’s bad side.

The use of the Justice Department as a tool for repression is only part of the story. We’ve seen the Federal Communications Commission threaten media companies for their on-air content. The administration has tried to deport green card holders for their protected speech. Research grants have been cut off based on lists of prohibited words, while law firms have been punished for representing the “wrong” clients. Media outlets have been thrown out of the Pentagon and the White House for refusing to be the administration’s mouthpieces.

The ACLU has been confronting government overreach and abuses of power for 106 years. Presidents and other politicians across the political spectrum trying to silence and sideline their opponents is nothing new. Just two years ago, for example, we won a case in the Supreme Court 9-0, preventing the state of New York from abusing its power to punish the National Rifle Association. But we have never seen this kind of systematic weaponization of the government to punish dissent and coerce compliance in the U.S. It's a direct attack on a functioning democracy. That’s bad news for all of us, regardless of our politics.

Politicians are supposed to hold office to serve the public’s needs, not to enrich themselves, pursue vanity projects, and focus on the wants of a narrow slice of the wealthy and well-connected at the expense of ordinary people. If they miss that memo, we‘re supposed to be able to hold them accountable at the ballot box. But for democracy to work, we need a free press, robust civil society, and the right to protest and to organize freely. Think of democracy as a tug-of-war between competing visions and ideas. By attacking and coercing the press, critics, civil rights organizations, political opposition leaders, the administration is trying to yank power away from those who fail to toe the line and scaring anyone who might jump in to help.

The Trump administration may be prosecuting SPLC now, but make no mistake, this affects all of us. Once the government is allowed to punish critics and go after groups for their views, none of us is safe from those in power now or in the future. If we value our freedom, we must draw a line. When the president and the attorney general abuse their power, we need to loudly push back. When Congress enables these attacks on our rights, they need to hear the full measure of their constituents’ ire. And private sector actors who make themselves arms of censorship and abuse need to know it will come with a steep reputational and financial cost.

We have a right to a government of, by, and for the people. To protect our rights, we must stand with SPLC.