Esquire magazine reports on the legal situation of hundreds of people arrested during protests at the Trump Inauguration, now facing felony riot charges and 10 years in prison simply for having been in proximity to a few other people who were breaking windows.

UN human rights advocates have condemned bills introduced in 19 US states that target peaceful protest and other forms of free speech. They say that the proposed laws violate First Amendment protections as well as international human rights standards. Mara Verheyden-Hillard, a human rights attorney and co-founder of Partnership for Civil Justice Fund, joins RT America’s Simone Del Rosario to explain what’s at stake.

PCJF Executive Director Mara Verheyden-Hilliard talks about the latest victory — a $125K judgment for a man who was publicly strip searched by a Laurel, MD police officer (who remains on the police force). The suit was a joint effort between PCJF and the Washington Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs.

WTOP ("Washington's Top News") covers the lawsuit filed by PCJF against the District of Columbia for withholding police reports on the response to protests against the Inauguration of Donald Trump.

Partnership for Civil Justice Fund Executive Director Mara Verheyden-Hilliard appears in an NBC 4 TV report and condemns serial civil rights violator Peter Newsham, who was named new chief of D.C. Metropolitan Police.

We talk about the right to protest with activist and attorney Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, executive director of the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund.

"You can't arrest people for the acts of others simply because they arguably share a political view -- that's illegal," Verheyden-Hilliard says.

“We believe that this is a significant victory for free speech. They are doing this under threat of litigation,” Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, the fund’s executive director, said in a telephone interview.

Mara Verheyden-Hilliard of The Partnership for Civil Justice Fund on NPR'S The Kojo Nnamdi Show discusses the right to protest and free speech issues arising at Trump's Inauguration.

Guest host Linda Olson-Osterlund is joined by Carl Messineo, Legal Director of The Partnership For Civil Justice Fund.