ICNL seeks to create a legal environment that protects and strengthens nonprofits, activists, and philanthropy in the United States. We promote freedoms of association, assembly, and expression by analyzing trends in civic space, tracking state and federal laws affecting protest, and providing nonprofit organizations with information about legal compliance and risk management. The U.S. program also aims to reduce the negative impact on civil society of “foreign agent” legislation and counter-terrorism measures.
United States Program
Be sure to browse our U.S. Protest Law Tracker, Current Trends, and Highlights.
Highlights

Litigation Challenging New Anti-Protest Laws
Since 2017, states across the U.S. have adopted over forty new laws that restrict the right to peaceful assembly. These laws can criminalize and deter constitutionally protected protest activity, undermining our First Amendment rights. Advocates have challenged many of the new laws, and in some cases courts have found them to be unconstitutional. This page tracks such litigation and provides access to publicly available documents that may be helpful to lawyers, activists, and others seeking to protect assembly rights.

How DHS is Fueling Georgia’s “Terrorism” Crackdown on Cop City Protests
ICNL Senior Legal Advisor Nick Robinson explores Georgia’s recent use of the state’s domestic terrorism statute to charge Cop City protesters. He argues that the Department of Homeland Security needs to take action to ensure that its “domestic violent extremism” policies are not weaponized by local law enforcement against protesters. Learn more about “terrorism” in an era of aggressive policing against protesters in this Just Security article.

New Restrictions on Protests at Statehouses
Capitol buildings and their surrounding grounds provide demonstrators with a public venue that is not only symbolic but also within the “sight and sound” of representatives who can act on their message and media that can amplify it. Yet across the country, governors and lawmakers are using various tools to limit, punish, and deter demonstrations at state capitols. Explore this issue further in our latest U.S. Current Trend.

The Many Problems with Anti-Rioting Laws
While the government has a legitimate interest in combatting riots, anti-rioting laws have a history of abuse, allowing government to bring charges with extreme penalties against protesters, politicians, and other Americans engaged in protected First Amendment activity. They can also lead to costly lawsuits that sap state coffers and waste taxpayer money. These laws should either be better targeted or eliminated. Read the full briefer here.

Protesting in an Age of Government Surveillance
Protesters face growing government surveillance. ICNL’s briefer Protesting in an Age of Government Surveillance examines how new types of technology used by the government to surveil protests can lead to abuse and deter demonstrators from exercising their First Amendment rights. It then outlines how both courts and lawmakers can respond to this threat.
Key Resources
Freedom of Assembly
The ability to protest is a cornerstone of U.S. democracy. Browse ICNL’s resources on current threats to the right of assembly in the United States, including legislative briefers, analyses, and reports.
U.S. Protest Law Tracker
Started in 2017, the tracker compiles bills – proposed, enacted, or rejected – that could restrict the right to peaceful assembly around the United States.
Foreign Agents Registration Act
The Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) has been used to target nonprofits, activists, and others. Learn more about the impact on civil society of its broad and vague provisions.
Reforms to Protect Protest Rights
Started in 2020, this page tracks municipal, state, and federal reforms to better protect protest rights including restrictions on tear gas and rubber bullets, efforts to demilitarize the police, and reforms of public order laws that can undermine the freedom of assembly.
Compliance & Risk Management
This page provides resources for U.S. nonprofits seeking to comply with federal and state laws as well as learn more about risk management.
Global Grantmaking Country Notes
In partnership with the Council on Foundations, ICNL maintains reports on thirty-four countries to assist U.S grantmakers when they undertake equivalency determinations for foreign grantees.
Current Trends in U.S. Civic Space
U.S. Current Trend: New Restrictions on Protests at Statehouses

U.S. Current Trend: New Threats to the Right to Boycott

U.S. Current Trend: Protest Rights Accountability and Reform
