UNITED STATES

ICNL works to safeguard Americans’ right to peacefully assemble, as enshrined in the First Amendment of the US Constitution. In the last few years, lawmakers have introduced a wave of bills that would limit peaceful protest. According to ICNL’s US Protest Law Tracker, in 2024, 19 states and the US Congress introduced more than 50 legislative proposals that would restrict this right.

Many of these bills aim to deter demonstrations by increasing the penalties for participating in protest activities. In Georgia, for instance, legislators introduced a bill that would have introduced prison sentences of up to 20 years for minor offenses like unlawfully posting protest signs or engaging in “disorderly conduct” when done in coordination with others.

As a founding member of a network working to protect protest rights in the United States, ICNL alerts advocacy partners about concerning legislative proposals and supports their work to push back against them. In Georgia, local partners used our legal analysis in their successful efforts to stop the problematic bill from moving forward. Through such initiatives, all but eight of the restrictive bills introduced this year have been defeated, withdrawn, or stalled, helping to preserve Americans’ right to peaceful assembly.

This story is from our 2024 Annual Report. Each story in the report demonstrates how ICNL and our partners work to create space for civil society to unite, speak out, and drive positive change.