Rights Under Attack: DHS Violence Against Journalists, Observers, and Protestors

In recent months, as federal mass deportation efforts have ramped up, there has been a deeply disturbing escalation of violence by Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers against journalists, observers, and peaceful protesters alike. Scores of violent assaults on reporters have resulted in a growing number of serious injuries and prompted press lawsuits against DHS in Los Angeles and Chicago. Plaintiffs assert that the violence is both excessive and officially sanctioned, part of a concerted effort to silence the press and keep the American people in the dark.

Join the American Constitution Society, the Center for Media and Democracy, and Common Cause for a briefing about the dire threat federal law enforcement violence poses to our First Amendment rights to speech, assembly, and a free press, including your right to record ICE activity and anti-ICE protests.

Speakers:

Nora Benavidez, Senior Counsel and Director of Digital Justice and Civil Rights, Free Press

Alejandra Cancino, Investigative Reporter, Chicago

Adam Rose, Press Rights Chair, Los Angeles Press Club; Deputy Director of Advocacy, Freedom of the Press Foundation

Nick Stern, Freelance Photojournalist

Matt Topic, Partner, Loevy + Loevy

This webinar is designed for journalists, lawyers, students, and activists. When registering, please choose "none" under Law School if it doesn't apply to you.

The American Constitution Society and the Federalist Society Presents: Civil Discourse in the Legal Field

In a time of deep polarization, join the American Constitution Society and the Federalist Society on October 22 for a special event featuring Arizona Supreme Court Justices Maria Elena Cruz and Kathryn King. This unique program brings together two justices with distinct judicial philosophies for a thoughtful conversation about the importance of civility, open-mindedness, and mutual respect in the legal profession. Don’t miss this rare opportunity to see how meaningful dialogue across ideological lines can illuminate complex legal issues and strengthen our shared commitment to justice. In-N-Out will be provided!

A Conversation with Danielle Sassoon

The Jacob Burns Center for Ethics in the Practice of Law, the Criminal Law Society Present, and the American Constitution Society Present: Danielle Sassoon, Former Interim U.S. Attorney For The Southern District Of NY. Ms. Sassoon was appointed to serve as interim U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York by President Donald Trump in January 2025. She resigned from that position in February 2025 rather than carry out an order from a top Department of Justice official to dismiss pending federal criminal corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams. She will be joined in conversation with Professor Jessica Roth.

Careers in Progressive Law and Policy

ACS at Michigan Law is excited to welcome Elizabeth Wilkins, CEO of The Roosevelt Institute, for a conversation about post-JD careers in progressive law and policy. The Roosevelt Institute is a think tank, student network, and nonprofit partner to the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum that seeks to advance progressive policies on issues of corporate and public power, labor and wages, and the economics of race and gender inequality.

Wilkins formerly served as chief of staff to FTC Chair Lina Khan and director of the Office of Policy Planning at the Federal Trade Commission. She also served as a senior advisor to the White House chief of staff, in senior leadership roles at the D.C. Office of the Attorney General, and as a law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan and then-Chief Judge of the D.C. Circuit, Merrick Garland.

Brown Bag Lunch: Memoria Decolonial

Memoria (De)colonial is a nonprofit collective in Puerto Rico composed of researchers, educators, artists, and community organizers committed to examining and transforming how colonial legacies shape the island’s public memory, heritage, and cultural narratives. Their work resonates deeply with Puerto Rico’s constitutional right to access public information. This right guarantees citizens access to documents, archives, and other materials produced by the state—resources that are essential to understanding and contesting how official narratives are constructed.

By producing open-access digital archives, mapping public monuments, and organizing educational walking tours such as (De)Tours or (Des)vío, the collective not only democratizes access to historical knowledge but also models how public information can be transformed into public engagement. Their Cartography of Colonial Monuments and archival research initiatives expand the meaning of public information beyond governmental transparency to include the right of communities to know—and reinterpret—the histories inscribed in their landscapes. 

In this way, Memoria (De)colonial activates the constitutional promise of access to information as a decolonial practice: reclaiming the right to see, name, and understand the past as a collective act of justice and self-determination. Rafael V. Capó García, Memoria (De)colonial's director will join us.