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For Immediate Release
December, 21 2017, 02:45pm EDT
Thursday December, 21 2017, 02:45pm EDT
Contact:
Suzanne Ito, 202-601-4273, media@acludc.org
ACLU-DC Applauds Jury Verdict in Inauguration Day Protestor Criminal Trials
WASHINGTON
WASHINGTON - A jury has found all six defendants in the first criminal trial against Inauguration Day protestors in D.C. Superior Court not guilty on all counts.
Scott Michelman, Senior Staff Attorney, ACLU of the District of Columbia, issued the following statement:
"Today's verdict reaffirms two central constitutional principles of our democracy: first, that dissent is not a crime, and second, that our justice system does not permit guilt by association. We hope today's verdict begins the important work of teaching police and prosecutors to respect the line between lawbreaking and constitutionally protected protest. We hope that the U.S. Attorney's Office gets the message and moves quickly to drop all remaining changes against peaceful demonstrators.
"For nearly a year, these people have been under the cloud of felony charges that have turned their lives upside down, subjecting them to the anxiety and expense of defending themselves against charges that should never have been brought. No one should have to fear arrest or prosecution for coming to the nation's capital to express opinions peacefully, no matter what those opinions may be. Through our civil lawsuit against the police, the ACLU-DC will continue to fight for demonstrators' constitutional rights."
The defendants had faced eight charges of rioting, property destruction, and conspiracy, with a maximum sentence of more than 60 years. More than 150 defendants face similar charges in trials that will take place next year.
In June, the ACLU-DC filed a civil lawsuit against the District of Columbia and D.C.'s Metropolitan Police Department on behalf of four individuals. The ACLU-DC lawsuit charges that in response to demonstrations in the District on Inauguration Day, D.C. police carried out an unlawful mass round-up, pepper-sprayed nonviolent demonstrators, and held detainees for many hours without food, water, or access to bathrooms. The case is remains pending before the federal district court in Washington, D.C.
The American Civil Liberties Union was founded in 1920 and is our nation's guardian of liberty. The ACLU works in the courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to all people in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States.
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'A Hallmark of Autocracy': Flurry of Trump Attacks on Universities Sparks Alarm
"If the government can do this to universities, we don't live in a free society. Five alarm fire," wrote one professor.
Mar 14, 2025
Amid a week of scrutiny from the Trump administration on higher education, the U.S. Department of Education announced Friday that it has opened investigations into dozens of universities for "allegedly engaging in race-exclusionary practices in their graduate programs." The department is also probing whether six universities awarded "impermissible race-based scholarships."
The investigations are part of the administration's wider crackdown on so-called Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs and initiatives, and comes as the Trump administration is also taking aim at universities with the purported goal of rooting out antisemitism on college campuses.
The newly announced investigations from Department of Education follows a memo issued last month by the department warning that colleges and universities that receive federal funding must cease using "race-based preferences" in admissions, scholarships, compensation, and other areas.
“The Department is working to reorient civil rights enforcement to ensure all students are protected from illegal discrimination," said U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon in a statement released Friday. "Today's announcement expands our efforts to ensure universities are not discriminating against their students based on race and race stereotypes."
Forty-five schools, including Ivy League institutions such as Yale University, are facing inquiries because of their alleged partnership with the PhD Project, an organization that supports people from historically underrepresented groups in obtaining business PhDs, according to a recent annual report from the group.
The Department of Education is also investigating six schools for "allegedly awarding impermissible race-based scholarships and one university for allegedly administering a program that segregates students on the basis of race."
Meanwhile, the Department of Education on Thursday sent letters to 60 universities "warning them of potential enforcement actions" if they do not take adequate steps to protect Jewish students. Schools that received letters from the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights include multiple University of California schools, multiple State University of New York schools, Harvard University, and others.
"I don't take a back seat to anyone on the subject of antisemitism. Jews are being used here as a fig leaf to advance a broader attack on universities and higher learning," wrote Josh Marshall, the founder of the outlet Talking Points Memo, in response to the Thursday statement from the Department of Education. "Trump wants to bring Universities to heel and obedience. Jews are just a convenient cudgel here and just as disposable."
U.S. President Donald Trump, who signed an executive order on January 29 pledging to combat antisemitism on college campuses, has vowed to crack down on pro-Palestine protesters at universities.
Columbia University, in particular, has borne the brunt of Trump's scrutiny—despite the fact that university administration has already demonstrated it is willing to resort to punitive measures to quell student protest.
In a March 7 press release, members of Trump's Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism announced the cancellation of $400 million in federal grants and contracts to Columbia, and a day later immigration agents arrested a recent Columbia University graduate who played a major role in pro-Palestine demonstrations last year. The arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, a legal permanent resident, has been widely decried.
The Trump administration sent a letter to Columbia University Interim President Katrina Armstrong on Thursday outlining a series of demands that Columbia must comply with in order to maintain a "continued financial relationship" between the school and the government.
The policy shifts outlined in the letter include implementing a mask ban and the granting of "full law enforcement authority, including arrest and removal of agitators," for university security. The letter requires that Columbia complete disciplinary proceedings for students involved in last year's Gaza Solidarity Encampments and occupation of Hamilton Hall. "Meaningful discipline means expulsion or multi-year suspension," according to the letter.
On Thursday, Columbia issued expulsions, multi-year suspensions, and temporary degree revocations for students involved in the Hamilton occupation.
"If the government can do this to universities, we don't live in a free society. Five alarm fire," wrote Brendan Nyhan, a professor and political scientist at Dartmouth College, of the Trump administration's demands.
Jameel Jaffer, executive director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, released a statement decrying the demands the Trump administration is placing on Columbia.
"The subjugation of universities to official power is a hallmark of autocracy. No one should be under any illusions about what’s going on here," said Jaffer.
Data Shows 'Shocking' Consumer Sentiment Plunge as Trump Economic Chaos Takes Hold
"Bloodbath of a consumer sentiment print," said one policy expert. "People hate the Trump economy."
Mar 14, 2025
Data published Friday shows that U.S. consumer sentiment cratered in early March to its lowest level since late 2022 as President Donald Trump's erratic tariff policies and assault on the federal government—the nation's largest employer—spurred far-reaching economic chaos.
The University of Michigan's closely watched consumer confidence gauge shows that sentiment "slid another 11% this month, with declines seen consistently across all groups by age, education, income, wealth, political affiliations, and geographic regions."
"While current economic conditions were little changed, expectations for the future deteriorated across multiple facets of the economy, including personal finances, labor markets, inflation, business conditions, and stock markets," said Joanne Hsu, director of the university's Surveys of Consumers. "Many consumers cited the high level of uncertainty around policy and other economic factors; frequent gyrations in economic policies make it very difficult for consumers to plan for the future, regardless of one's policy preferences."
"Consumers from all three political affiliations are in agreement that the outlook has weakened since February," Hsu added. "Despite their greater confidence following the election, Republicans posted a sizable 10% decline in their expectations index in March. For Independents and Democrats, the expectations index declined an even steeper 12% and 24%, respectively."
The survey also found that consumer inflation expectations jumped to their highest level since November 2022, an indication that Americans are concerned about the impact that Trump's trade war will have on prices, which the president promised during his campaign to bring down.
Alex Jacquez, chief of policy and advocacy at the Groundwork Collaborative, said in a statement that the "shocking consumer sentiment numbers are a referendum on the president’s mishandling of the economy, just 54 days into office."
"Working families are longing for stability as their grocery bills and rent payments continue to climb, but Trump's chaotic approach to the economy has them feeling more uncertain than ever," said Jacquez. "Consumers are rightly terrified about what lies ahead. The administration is more focused on gutting Social Security to pay for tax giveaways to billionaires and corporations than they are making life more affordable for working families."
The new consumer survey data comes a week after a Labor Department report showed that the U.S. added significantly fewer jobs than expected in February, which one economist described as "the calm before the storm" as the Trump administration fires tens of thousands of federal workers, fuels widespread unease and confusion with his tariff threats, and backs devastating cuts to Medicaid and other key programs.
"The administration seems determined to squander and wreck the strong economy," Josh Bivens, chief economist at the Economic Policy Institute, wrote earlier this week. "Each of the individual policies they are pursuing—illegal layoffs of federal workers, mass deportations, constant threats and retractions of broad-based tariffs, and Medicaid spending cuts—would be bad for the economy. But each policy is also being pursued with maximum levels of chaos and incoordination, creating unprecedented levels of economic uncertainty. This uncertainty is itself a serious economic threat."
"Absent a radical reversal of the current policy agenda, the U.S. will be a poorer country at the end of Trump's term than it should have been," Bivens added. "The only open question is how rapidly this de-growth will happen, whether more quickly through a sharp recession or more slowly as the supply destruction outpaces demand destruction."
Alarm as DeJoy Teams Up With DOGE to Gut US Postal Service
One Democratic congresswoman called the partnership "a blatant move toward privatization."
Mar 14, 2025
U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy's Thursday announcement that the independent United States Postal Service is partnering with the Department of Government Efficiency on a cost-cutting crusade that includes a planned reduction of 10,000 workers stoked fears that one of America's most trusted and relied-upon federal agencies is on a path toward privatization.
In a
letter to congressional leaders, DeJoy said DOGE will help the USPS "in identifying and achieving further efficiencies." The postal chief listed "mismanagement" of the agency's retirement assets and workers' compensation program, "unfunded mandates imposed on us by legislation," and "burdensome regulatory requirements restricting normal business practice" as issues to be addressed.
Scoop: Postmaster General Louis DeJoy agreed last nigh to collaborate with DOGE "to assist us in identifying and achieving further efficiencies." Follows Monday meeting at USPS headquarters between DOGE & DeJoy. We've reported Trump considering privatizing USPS or merging with Commerce Dept.
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— Jacob Bogage ( @jacobbogage.bsky.social) March 13, 2025 at 10:59 AM
"The letter suggests alarming actions for DOGE to pursue that would easily lead to the privatization and politicization of the Postal Service," Democrats on the U.S. House Oversight Committee said in response to the announcement. "This includes DeJoy's call to gut or even terminate the Postal Regulatory Commission, the independent regulator of the Postal Service created by Congress and responsible for approving rate changes and ensuring appropriate service."
Brian Renfroe, president of the nearly 300,000-member National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC), said Thursday that while "policy changes are needed to improve the Postal Service's financial viability... misguided ideas like privatization" are not the answer.
"Commonsense solutions are what the Postal Service needs, not privatization efforts that will threaten 640,000 postal employees' jobs, 7.9 million jobs tied to our work, and the universal service every American relies on daily," Renfroe added.
DeJoy—who last month announced his intent to step down after more than four years in office—has led a dramatic restructuring of the USPS, a constitutionally sanctioned agency. His tenure has been marred by allegations of criminal election obstruction, conflicts of interest, and other corruption. Critics have also warned that DeJoy's Delivering for America, a 10-year austerity plan, put the agency on a fast track toward slower service, job cuts, and, ultimately, privatization.
U.S. President Donald Trump has acknowledged that his administration is revisiting plans to possibly privatize the Postal Service—a policy recommended by the Office of Management and Budget during his first term. Last month, The Washington Postreported that Trump planned to fire the entire Postal Board of Governors and bring the independent USPS under control of the Department of Commerce, a move experts argue would likely be illegal.
Elon Musk, the de facto head of DOGE, said earlier this month that the USPS and Amtrak, the national passenger rail service, should be privatized.
DOGE's short but staggering track record of eviscerating federal agencies by dubiously firing tens of thousands of workers—a policy a federal judge found illegal on Thursday—is deeply concerning to many defenders of the Postal Service.
"The only thing worse for the Postal Service than DeJoy's Delivering for America plan is turning the service over to Elon Musk and DOGE so they can undermine it, privatize it, and then profit off Americans' loss," Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), the ranking member on the House Oversight Committee, said Thursday.
"This capitulation will have catastrophic consequences for all Americans—especially those in rural and hard-to-reach areas—who rely on the Postal Service every day to deliver mail, medications, ballots, and more," the congressman added. "Reliable mail delivery can't just be reserved for MAGA supporters and Tesla owners."
Rep. Nikki Budzinski (D-Ill.) said on social media Thursday: "Louis DeJoy just admitted he agreed to hand over the Postal Service to Elon Musk. This is a blatant move toward privatization, and I will fight to protect our postal workers and ensure affordable service—especially for rural communities."
Rep. Norma Torres (D-Calif.) said the agreement "threatens millions who rely on USPS for medications, Social Security checks, and staying connected."
National days of action in defense of the Postal Service are planned for
March 20 by the American Postal Workers Union and March 23 by NALC.
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