At the heart of every fight for justice, there have always been brave individuals who have been willing to stand in opposition and demand change.
Even though the right to peaceful protest is constitutionally guaranteed, lawful protesters are sometimes harassed, jailed, and prosecuted.
We take cases to protect the rights of individual protesters and hold law enforcement accountable for unlawful tactics deployed during protests, particularly protests targeting police abuse.
Key Cases
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Taylor v. Wagner et al.
Rights of Protesters
On June 1, 2020, Theresa Taylor was participating in a peaceful protest on issues of police brutality and racial injustice when she was unlawfully arrested, charged, and, upon being released from jail, given a verbal banishment order. The banishment order prohibits her from returning to the area, the Country Club Plaza (known as the Plaza),...
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Spoon v. Bayou Bridge Pipeline LLC et al.
Rights of Protesters
Three water protectors have filed a federal civil rights lawsuit in response to their false arrests during protests of the construction of the Bayou Bridge Pipeline in St. Martin’s Parish, Louisiana in August 2018. Cynthia Spoon, Sophia Cook-Phillips, and Eric Moll were traveling in a canoe and kayak on the waters of Bayou Bee to...
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Mitchell v. Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier, et al.
Rights of Protesters
In the fall of 2016, Marcus Mitchell traveled to North Dakota to join the peaceful water protectors in their demonstration against the construction of the DAPL. As a Diné from the Navajo nation, he was answering the Great Sioux Nation’s call to peacefully stand in support of the Nation’s sovereignty and to help them protect...
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Alton Sterling Protesters
Rights of Protesters
The MacArthur Justice Center represents fourteen Baton Rouge area residents who were arrested during the protests following the murder of Alton Sterling by police. The suit alleges violations of their constitutional rights, physical injury and denial of necessary medical treatment while in jail; all experience ongoing trauma as a result of their unlawful arrest and brutal treatment by law enforcement officer
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Whitt v. City of St. Louis
Rights of Protesters
David Whitt, co-founded the St. Louis CopWatch, after Michael Brown was killed in 2014 by an on-duty police officer and there was no video evidence of the incident. He has provided CopWatch training in communities across the country. In August 2016, he was arrested while recording a video of police activity despite maintaining a reasonable...
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Brown v. Trump
Rights of Protesters
The MacArthur Justice Center represents Mr. Brown in his federal lawsuit against President Donald J. Trump, the City of St. Louis and several St. Louis Metropolitan Police District (SLMPD) police officers after he was falsely arrested, detained and made to stand trial simply because he laughed during a Trump campaign rally.
Key Facts
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First Amendment
The "right of the people to peaceably assemble" is protected under the First Amendment. -
Donald Trump
However, Donald Trump has said he thinks it's "embarrassing" that the country "allows protesters". His administration has sparked a new era of protest. -
#BlackLivesMatter
Twitter has changed the way people protest. Beginning online in response to the murder of Travyon Martin, and the acquittal of his killer, #BlackLivesMatter has been tweeted over 30 million times by 2016. -
Alton Sterling
In Baton Rouge, community members protesting Alton Sterling’s murder by police faced police brutality, 200 unjustified arrests, and jail time for peacefully assembling. -
Water Protectors
From April 2016 through February 2017, "water protectors", an indigenous-led movement, raised the objections of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe to the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) violating ancestral and treaty lands. -
Militarized Response to Peaceful Protest
Law enforcement formed an increasingly militarized response, using using aggressive, violent tactics and munitions against the peaceful water protectors.
in the news
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Pipeline protesters challenge law that makes trespassing at ‘critical infrastructures’ a felony
Louisiana Record August 23, 2019 -
Lawsuit: North Dakota officers used ‘violence’ on protester
Associated Press July 19, 2019 -
‘Apparently in the Trump era laughing is a crime’ | St. Louis activist sues President Trump
KSDK March 11, 2018 -
Protesters Against Police Violence Risk the Very Thing They’re Fighting
The Nation December 1, 2017