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Where the Legal Fight Over Trump’s Military Deployments Stands

Reposted by Movement Law Lab

Democracy Docket @democracydocket.com · 19h

Trump recently raised the possibility of invoking the Insurrection Act after several courts stymied his National Guard deployment efforts. But with some courts enabling the president’s federalization of troops, what could come next?
https://bit.ly/3KHchcR

Read about the fight for democracy from activists, elected officials, legal experts and others.

www.democracydocket.com

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Reposted by Movement Law Lab

Prisonculture @prisonculture.bsky.social · 1d

The Regime's goal is to grind everyone down. Plain & simple. Our goal is to refuse this by taking turns to fight where and how we can. When one group needs to bow out, then another group needs to step in and so on. We don't all have to do everything. We can all do something though. Stay in the fight

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Movement Law Lab @movementlawlab.bsky.social · 1d

@immigrantjustice.bsky.social +
@acluofcentralil.bsky.social

Movement Law Lab @movementlawlab.bsky.social · 1d

5/ In this particular case, organizers gathered the stories. Lawyers brought them into court. It’s a movement playbook that’s bridging lived experiences w/ legal power to force accountability where the Trump regime refuses it.
#MovementLawyering #FourthAmendment #Chicago #CivilRights #Accountability

Movement Law Lab @movementlawlab.bsky.social · 1d

4/ This legal win isn’t just legal theory. It’s survival. Racial profiling, warrantless arrests, and fabricated paperwork are violations of the very rights that define democracy. #4thAmendment.

ICE Violated Consent Decree With Warrantless Arrests, Federal Judge In Chicago Says

Movement Law Lab @movementlawlab.bsky.social · 1d

3/ “Today’s decision makes clear that DHS and ICE – like everyone else – must follow the Constitution and the law,” said Michelle García, ACLU of Illinois. blockclubchicago.org/2025/10/07/i...

Attorneys argued that the recent arrest of an Albany Park family at Millennium Park violated a consent decree that limits the conditions under which federal agents can make warrantless arrests.

ICE Violated Consent Decree With Warrantless Arrests, Federal Judge In Chicago Says

Movement Law Lab @movementlawlab.bsky.social · 1d

2/ The case was brought by the National Immigrant Justice Center and the ACLU of Illinois. This is a perfect example of what can happen when movements and lawyers work hand-in-hand. They can expose systemic violations hiding behind official policy.

Attorneys argued that the recent arrest of an Albany Park family at Millennium Park violated a consent decree that limits the conditions under which federal agents can make warrantless arrests.

ICE Violated Consent Decree With Warrantless Arrests, Federal Judge In Chicago Says

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Movement Law Lab @movementlawlab.bsky.social · 1d

1/ A federal judge ruled that ICE violated a consent decree and the Fourth Amendment when agents arrested 22 people without warrants.

Attorneys argued that the recent arrest of an Albany Park family at Millennium Park violated a consent decree that limits the conditions under which federal agents can make warrantless arrests.

Judge finds Trump administration unconstitutionally targeted pro-Palestinian students in searing rebuke

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Movement Law Lab @movementlawlab.bsky.social · 1d

A federal judge ruled that Trump officials unconstitutionally targeted pro-Palestinian students for deportation to silence dissent.

This is what authoritarianism looks like.

www.cbsnews.com/news/judge-t...

A judge gave a blistering assessment of the Trump administration's efforts to go after international students who expressed pro-Palestinian views on college campuses.

www.cbsnews.com

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Movement Law Lab @movementlawlab.bsky.social · 4d

3/ The state is weaponizing law to silence dissent and criminalize protest. Movement lawyers must respond with both legal defense and collectively strategize with organizers to defeat attacks like these.

Movement Law Lab @movementlawlab.bsky.social · 4d

2/ Protesters gathered outside a synagogue to oppose a real estate event marketing homes in Israeli settlements. It’s the first time this law is being used to allege “interference with religious worship.” www.northjersey.com/story/news/2...

Feds use unusual tactic to sue protesters over West Orange synagogue clash

The protesters were interfering with the attendees' civil rights to exercise their religion, says the federal complaint.

www.northjersey.com

Movement Law Lab @movementlawlab.bsky.social · 4d

1/ In a new twist, the US govt is framing political protest as a “hate crime.” The DOJ is now suing protesters using a law originally intended to stop blockades at abortion clinics.

Judge Rules Feds Can't Pepper-Spray, Tear-Gas Journalists After Block Club Chicago And Others Sue

Movement Law Lab @movementlawlab.bsky.social · 4d

“Individuals are allowed to protest.They are allowed to speak. That is guaranteed by the First Amendment of our constitution, and it is a bedrock right that upholds our democracy.” -U.S. District Judge Ellis

Stephanie Lulay @slulay2.bsky.social · 5d

NEWS: Today, a judge banned federal agents from using riot control weapons against reporters in Chicago.

It comes after 4 of our journalists were tear-gassed and shot w/ pepper-spray bullets and our nonprofit newsroom @blockclubchi.bsky.social and others sued.

This judgement protects us all:

Block Club and news organizations sued the federal government for its actions against journalists outside the Broadview ICE detention facility. Four of our journalists have been shot with pepper-spray...

The Supreme Court Is Being Tested on History Once Again

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Reposted by Movement Law Lab

ACLU @aclu.org · 4d

Next week, the Supreme Court will hear a case that could determine the future of the Voting Rights Act.

At stake in Louisiana v. Callais is Black voters’ ability to elect their candidates of choice in Louisiana, and all voters' ability to challenge racially discriminatory maps.

The leading arguments in support of Black voting rights were race-conscious at their core.

slate.com

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Movement Law Lab @movementlawlab.bsky.social · 5d

“Civil society strengthens and protects democracy, and true democracy is impossible without it.”

Authoritarians know this, which is why they attack independent nonprofits and advocacy groups first.

Civil society helps uphold democracy and provides built-in resistance to authoritarianism

There are growing signs that American civil society is becoming more vulnerable to the president’s preferences and dictates – something that happens in authoritarian countries.

theconversation.com

Things to know about federal law enforcement activity in Chicago, Portland, Memphis

Movement Law Lab @movementlawlab.bsky.social · 6d

Portland, Memphis, and other cities don’t need occupation, they need opportunity.

Federal crackdowns bring intimidation, not safety. Real security comes from jobs, schools, & healthcare, not troops in the streets.

#Memphis #Portland #Chicago #DC

apnews.com/article/port...

Armed federal agents are patrolling Chicago’s downtown streets and President Donald Trump has called up 200 National Guard troops for deployment in Portland, Oregon.

apnews.com

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Movement Law Lab @movementlawlab.bsky.social · 6d

What he said 👉 “It’s illegal, unconstitutional. It’s dangerous. It’s wrong. This is not about deportation, this is not about safety for this president, this is about authoritarianism.” -Chicago Mayor

wgntv.com

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Reposted by Movement Law Lab

Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 7d

Monstrous.

"federal agents detained nearly every resident of the 130-unit building—including children and babies—placing them in zip ties and separating them by race into vans for more than two hours early Tuesday morning."

Daniel Knowles @dlknowles.bsky.social · 7d

Good reporting on the South Shore raid from South Side weekly here.

Confirms one thing I was told but didn't put in my own piece because I didn't have a second source and it seemed too insane: border agents segregated arrested residents by race

southsideweekly.com/federal-agen...

Federal Agents Storm South Shore Building, Detaining Families and Children

Families were woken by flashbangs and helicopters as hundreds of federal agents raided their homes. Days later, neighbors are still searching for the missing.

southsideweekly.com

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Reposted by Movement Law Lab

Public Citizen @publiccitizen.bsky.social · 8d

"A war from within" ????

The President of the United States is openly talking about waging war against US cities because he doesn't like their mayors and governors.

This is how a dictator talks.

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Movement Law Lab @movementlawlab.bsky.social · 8d

From Hungary to Argentina to the U.S., authoritarians share some common tactics: criminalize protest, weaken institutions, and scapegoat the vulnerable.Lawyers and movements must connect across borders to stop the drift.

convergencemag.com/articles/wha...

What Propels the Global Authoritarian Surge and How We Can Fight Back

“Any issue that progressive lawyers hope to advance–no matter how local–is bound up with the worldwide rise of authoritarianism. We need to better understand the threat so that we can play our part…

convergencemag.com

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Movement Law Lab @movementlawlab.bsky.social · 8d

Armed federal agents in Chicago. National Guard deployments in Portland and Memphis. These are not public safety measures, they are intimidation tactics.

Lawyers & communities, you need to know your rights. Here’s a resource on how you can prepare: www.movementlawlab.org/nationalguard

What You Need to Know if the National Guard Is Deployed to Your State by the Trump Regime — Movement Law Lab

Learn your rights when the National Guard is deployed to your city. This guide explains the law, including the Posse Comitatus Act and the Insurrection Act, and provides critical information on…

www.movementlawlab.org

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Movement Law Lab @movementlawlab.bsky.social · 8d

From @lawdorknews.bsky.social: Calling the order “yet another grave misuse of our emergency docket,“ Jackson wrote that the majority had failed by “privileging the bald assertion of unconstrained executive power over countless families’ pleas for the stability our Government has promised them.“

Chris Geidner @chrisgeidner.bsky.social · 10d

Friday’s SCOTUS decision was issued in a brief, unsigned order that contained virtually no reasoning. It was accompanied by no signed opinions from any of the justices in the majority and over opposition from the three Democratic appointees. Only Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote.

Supreme Court lets Noem end legal status for many Venezuelans in the U.S.

The majority gave virtually no reasoning. The Democratic appointees objected, but only Justice Jackson wrote: "[Y]et another grave misuse of our emergency docket."

www.lawdork.com

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Movement Law Lab @movementlawlab.bsky.social · 11d

3/ Moments like this show us both the danger of authoritarian overreach and the power of collective resistance.
blockclubchicago.org/2025/09/10/n... #Democracy #Chicago

No National Guard In Chicago After All? Trump Appears To Sour On Plan

Despite Trump apparently changing his tune on sending National Guard troops to Chicago, federal immigration agents are in the city as part of Operation Midway Blitz.