Founded | 2017 |
---|---|
Type | 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization |
Headquarters | Washington, D.C. |
CEO | Skye Perryman |
Website | democracyforward |
Democracy Forward Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and non-partisan legal services and public policy research organization in Washington, D.C. Founded in 2017, the organization works to expose and litigate corruption in the Executive Branch of the United States government. [1] [2]
Democracy Forward does not disclose the source of its start-up or ongoing funding on its website. Composed of litigators, researchers, and communications strategists, the organization brings legal action against the agencies and executives of the U.S. government on behalf of individuals, organizations, and municipalities in the United States.
Notable examples of the group's work include Canoe Cruisers Association v. United States Coast Guard , [3] VoteVets v. Department of Veterans Affairs , [4] and City of Columbus v. Trump. [5] On June 2, 2023, Democracy Forward launched a lawsuit, on behalf of a coalition of Arkansas librarians, booksellers, and customers, challenging Arkansas Act 372. [6]
The Institute for Justice (IJ) is a non-profit public interest law firm in the United States. It has litigated twelve cases before the United States Supreme Court dealing with eminent domain, interstate commerce, public financing for elections, school vouchers, tax credits for private school tuition, civil asset forfeiture, and residency requirements for liquor license. The organization was founded on September 3, 1991. As of 2023, it employed a staff of 157 full-time staff members in Arlington, Virginia, and seven offices across the United States.
The National Security Archive is a 501(c)(3) non-governmental, non-profit research and archival institution located on the campus of the George Washington University in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1985 to check rising government secrecy. The National Security Archive is an investigative journalism center, open government advocate, international affairs research institute, and the largest repository of declassified U.S. documents outside the federal government. The National Security Archive has spurred the declassification of more than 15 million pages of government documents by being the leading non-profit user of the U.S. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), filing a total of more than 70,000 FOIA and declassification requests in its over 35+ years of history.
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) watchdog organization devoted to U.S. government ethics and accountability. Founded in 2003 as a counterweight to conservative government watchdog groups such as Judicial Watch, CREW works to expose ethics violations and corruption by government officials and institutions and to reduce the role of money in politics.
Brian E. Frosh is an American lawyer and politician who served as the Attorney General of Maryland from 2015 to 2023. He also served five terms in the Maryland State Senate, representing Maryland's District 16 in Montgomery County. Prior to serving in the Senate, Frosh represented District 16 in the Maryland House of Delegates, serving two four-year terms.
Robert Watson Ferguson is an American lawyer and politician who has served as the 18th attorney general of Washington since 2013. He is the governor-elect of Washington, and is a member of the Democratic Party. In addition, he served as a member of the King County Council from 2004 to 2013 and the council's chair from 2009 to 2013.
The Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF) is an American nonprofit public interest law firm established for the purpose of defending and promoting individual freedom. PLF attorneys provide pro bono legal representation, file amicus curiae briefs, and hold administrative proceedings with the stated goal of supporting property rights, equality and opportunity, and the separation of powers. The organization is the first and oldest libertarian public interest law firm, having been founded in 1973.
Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) is an American charity and veterans service organization that operates as a nonprofit 501(c)(3). WWP offers a variety of programs, services and events for wounded veterans who incurred a physical or mental injury, illnesses, or co-incident to their military service on or after September 11, 2001. Military family members and caregivers are also eligible for WWP programs.
Marc Erik Elias is an American elections attorney for the Democratic Party. He founded Democracy Docket, a website focused on voting rights and election litigation in the United States, in 2020, and he left his position as a partner at Perkins Coie to start the Elias Law Group in 2021.
American Booksellers for Free Expression (ABFE) is a non-profit organization operating as the advocacy wing of the American Booksellers Association (ABA) to promote free speech and expression in the United States. The organization was founded in 1990 as the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE). In 2015, the ABFFE merged with the ABA and became ABFE. The organization works at both the national level and at local levels to support individuals who voice opposition to book challenges and bans. ABFE also provides resources and education to booksellers, politicians, the press, and the public on the importance of free expression.
First Liberty Institute is a nonprofit Christian conservative legal organization based in Plano, Texas.
Campaign Legal Center (CLC) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) government watchdog group in the United States. CLC supports strong enforcement of United States campaign finance laws. Trevor Potter, former Republican chairman of the Federal Election Commission, is CLC's founding president.
Roberta Ann Kaplan, also known as Robbie Kaplan, is an American lawyer focusing on commercial litigation and public interest matters. Kaplan successfully argued before the Supreme Court of the United States on behalf of LGBT rights activist Edith Windsor, in United States v. Windsor, a landmark decision that invalidated a section of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act and required the federal government to recognize same-sex marriages. She was a partner at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison before starting her own firm in 2017. In 2018, she co-founded the Time's Up Legal Defense Fund.
From 1973 until he was elected president in 2016, Donald Trump and his businesses were involved in over 4,000 legal cases in United States federal and state courts, including battles with casino patrons, million-dollar real estate lawsuits, personal defamation lawsuits, and over 100 business tax disputes. He has also been accused of sexual harassment and sexual assault, with one accusation resulting in him being held civilly liable. One case involved a 13 yr old child.
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington v. Trump was a case brought before the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. The plaintiffs, watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), hotel and restaurant owner Eric Goode, an association of restaurants known as ROC United, and an Embassy Row hotel event booker named Jill Phaneuf alleged that the defendant, President Donald Trump, was in violation of the Foreign Emoluments Clause, a constitutional provision that bars the president or any other federal official from taking gifts or payments from foreign governments. CREW filed its complaint on January 23, 2017, shortly after Trump was inaugurated as president. An amended complaint, adding the hotel and restaurant industry plaintiffs, was filed on April 18, 2017. A second amended complaint was filed on May 10, 2017. CREW was represented by several prominent lawyers and legal scholars in the case.
The following is a list of notable lawsuits involving former United States president Donald Trump. The list excludes cases that only name Trump as a legal formality in his capacity as president, such as habeas corpus requests.
Executive Order 13768 titled Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States was signed by U.S. President Donald Trump on January 25, 2017. The order stated that "sanctuary jurisdictions" including sanctuary cities that refused to comply with immigration enforcement measures would not be "eligible to receive Federal grants, except as deemed necessary for law enforcement purposes" by the U.S. Attorney General or Secretary of Homeland Security.
The Presidential Memorandum for the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Homeland Security Regarding Military Service by Transgender Individuals is the 43rd presidential memorandum signed by U.S. President Donald Trump on March 23, 2018.
Military Veterans Advocacy is a Louisiana-based nonprofit organization that provides legal advocacy on behalf of the military and veterans. The organization is focused on veterans’ health issues, such as toxic chemical exposure and Veterans Affairs benefit processing.
Protect Democracy is a nonprofit organization based in the United States. A nonpartisan group, Protect Democracy seeks to check what it believes are authoritarian attacks on U.S. democracy.
Arkansas Act 372 was signed by the Arkansas governor on March 31 and is scheduled to go into effect in August 2023. Sections one and five of Arkansas Act 372 expose librarians and booksellers to criminal penalties, which includes up to a year in prison, in the case they distribute materials such as books, magazines, and movies deemed "harmful to minors."