newsletter 02/12/21

Forging Ahead in a Period of Transition

Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection
GEORGETOWN LAW

In this season of transition and uncertainty, we at ICAP have been hard at work! The January 6 insurrection shocked and saddened the nation, and ICAP continues to lead in the fight against unlawful, unaccountable private militia activity and extremist violence through our ongoing litigation, letter-writing, and public education efforts.  ICAP’s work has been recognized repeatedly in major media including the Washington Post, USA Today, and NPR.  Legal Director Mary McCord continues to write about domestic extremism and accountability for the January 6 attack, including in the L.A. Times and the Atlantic.  Mary was recently tapped as legal advisor to the U.S. House of Representatives’ January 6 Task Force on U.S. Capitol security.

ICAP also has taken on important cases addressing inequities made apparent by the coronavirus pandemic. We are pressing ahead with our challenge to the discriminatory denial of emergency economic assistance to U.S. citizen children who have been excluded from CARES Act benefits solely because their parents are undocumented immigrants—discrimination that remains for millions of children despite recent legislationresolving the problem for mixed-immigration status married couples.  And we have achieved significant accommodations for individuals with disabilities in Idaho through a lawsuit to allow them to exercise their First Amendment rights to participate in the state’s legislative session after the legislature failed to implement meaningful public health protocols or opportunities for remote testimony.

We’re also advancing our ongoing cases in courts across the country.  Just this week, after ICAP intervened on behalf of the Prince George’s County Office of the Public Defender, a federal judge ordered the unsealing of the vast majority of an expert report documenting numerous incidents of misconduct committed by the Prince George’s County Police, giving a major victory to accountability advocates.  And we have upcoming en banc arguments in the Third Circuit seeking greater transparency in bail hearings and in the Fourth Circuit challenging an exclusionary immigration policy that remains in effect. 

We have had our own transitions here at ICAP as well: we are at once proud and sad to announce that our founding Executive Director, Joshua Geltzer, has taken on a position within the National Security Council as Special Assistant to the President and Special Advisor to the Homeland Security Advisor on Countering Domestic Violent Extremism. We are thrilled that Josh will be able to continue to build on ICAP’s work in battling domestic extremism in the new administration. Mary McCord will continue in her role as Legal Director while also assuming the mantle of Executive Director, and Amy Marshak, who has been an integral part of the ICAP team since 2017, will take on additional leadership responsibilities as Managing Director.  Amy is a former clerk to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and also spent several years at the U.S. Department of Justice before joining ICAP.  Finally, we are excited to announce that Kelsi Corkran, formerly a partner and head of the Supreme Court practice at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP, has joined the ICAP team as a pro bono senior fellow.

Keep up with ICAP on Twitter via @GeorgetownICAP; and suggest what we should take on next via reachICAP@georgetown.edu.With thanks for your continued support, The ICAP Team.