Newsletter

Dear Troublemaker, ICE agents are torturing detainees in their custody. It’s no secret that conditions at ICE detention and processing facilities are deplorable. Long waits for bond hearings, lack of medical care, verbal abuse and worse from guards have all

Under the United States Constitution, the power to declare war belongs exclusively to Congress. Yet, for 3 years the United States has provided support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen, including refueling Saudi war planes mid air and providing targeting intelligence.

Dear Troublemakers, Across the country, state legislatures have been advancing anti-protest bills and DRAD has been fighting back. The bills all clearly target certain social movements, including anti-pipeline activism, racial justice, campus activism, and human rights for Palestinians. There are

Dear Troublemakers, We are being subjected to a narrative that claims foreign operatives have amplified “divisive issues,” such as Black Lives Matter or opposition to fracking in order to sow discord. Such a narrative delegitimizes domestic dissent. It is also

Dear Troublemakers, We head into July after a rollercoaster of month. Donald Trump’s cruel policy of separating immigrant children from their families and incarcerating them sparked outrage nationwide. As a result, people marched in the streets, peacefully confronted Trump administration officials in

Dear Troublemakers, Before you scroll down to look at all the great articles we published this month, I want to pause and ask if you remember Reality Leigh Winner, the NSA contractor turned whistleblower? She was arrested on June 3, 2017, and

Dear Troublemakers, Together, we’ve been fighting to hold the CIA accountable for torture for over a decade. Thank you for engaging with us in the most recent battle – to defeat the nominations of Mike Pompeo (torture apologist) to be Secretary

Dear Troublemakers, The fact that the nomination of a known torturer to be head of the CIA hasn’t been rejected out of hand even by Democrats in the Senate is truly shameful. Not only did Gina Haspel oversee torture when

Breaking News! Yesterday, Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Mike Lee (R-UT), and Chris Murphy (D-CT) announced they were introducing a resolution to end the United States’s unconstitutional and unauthorized participation in the Saudi-led war in Yemen. Because it is a “privileged” resolution

Dear Troublemakers: Every month you get this newsletter, filled with shocking accounts of the latest assaults on our right to political expression and our Bill of Rights. But it’s also filled with accounts of how Defending Rights & Dissent is

We wish you a happy and activism-filled New Year! We can’t say we’re optimistic for this New Year, but we are determined. As we have for the past decade, we are greeting 2018 with actions to Close Guantanamo on the

Dear Troublemakers, If you’re reading this email, it’s safe to assume that you to rely on a free and open internet to engage in political expression and seek out information. Yet, as I type this, that free and open internet

Dear Troublemakers, If you think you or your kids are addicted to social media, just take a look at the Department of Homeland Security. They just can’t get enough of the stuff. They’ve been monitoring the social media of dissidents (for

Dear Troublemaker, We don’t often ask you to donate to support our work. But today, I have to. Please Donate Now. The next several months are crucial to our mission to fulfill the promise of the Bill of Rights. We face

Dear Troublemakers When you are dedicated to defending rights and dissent, every day is a busy one. Yet, this month was particularly jam packed. Just last week, I was on Capitol Hill talking to Congress about the Israel Anti-Boycott Act.