PROTECTING FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS OF JOURNALISTS AND PROTESTERS
We filed suit, along with our co-counsel at the ACLU of Southern California, against Kristi Noem and the Department of Homeland Security to stop DHS from unnecessarily and indiscriminately attacking journalists, legal observers, and protesters during the ICE protests in Southern California.
The lawsuit is a continuation of our work in Index Newspapers, CA9 CITE, the leading protest case in the Ninth Circuit, in which we enjoined DHS and the U.S. Marshal’s Service from dispersing and intimidating journalists and legal observers at the 2020 protests in Portland. On August 25, 2025, the Court heard argument on our motion for a preliminary injunction. On September 10, 2025, the District Court in Los Angeles issued a sweeping 45-page preliminary injunction against DHS and Secretary Noem, restraining them from violently assaulting reporters, legal observers, and peaceful protesters.
“The rights to protest and report are critical to our constitutional democracy. If the government can suppress them with violence, the government is the only one controlling the messages to our nation. That is the hallmark of a totalitarian state and the very evil the First Amendment was designed to protect against.”
Partner organizations: ACLU of Southern California; Schonbrun, Seplow, Harris Hoffman & Zeldes LLP; and Law Office of Peter Bibring.
Important Documents:
Media Coverage: Washington Post, “Federal judge curbs DHS force against journalists in L.A.”; The Intercept; The Daily Journal; The Recorder; USA Today; and The Hill