PUBLISHED: SEPTEMBER 1, 2018

In August, the National Park Service proposed a rule to charge protest organizers fees for clean-up costs associated with demonstrations on public sites in Washington, DC. Public sites would include the National Mall where many historic demonstrations in the United States have been, including Martin Luther King, Jr.’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech.

In response, the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law submitted a comment to the National Park Service. The comment highlights how charging fees to protesters would chill the right to protest, violates the U.S.’s international commitments, and undercuts U.S. foreign policy, as the State Department has criticized such fees as anti-democratic in other countries.

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