Grant Funding Must Be Restored as Case Continues

Washington, D.C. – The American Bar Association (ABA), one of the largest voluntary association of lawyers and legal professionals in the world, represented by Democracy Forward, has won a preliminary injunction in its case challenging the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) cancellation of grants the ABA relies on to train and provide technical assistance to lawyers and judges who work with survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. 

“Today’s order is welcome news for the survivors of domestic and sexual violence and their families, who rely on trauma-informed attorneys to help them stay safe. For decades, the American Bar Association has provided critical training to lawyers to enable the provision of essential legal services to survivors. The court recognized today that the ABA is being unconstitutionally targeted by the Department of Justice because of their longstanding and unchanged stance on the importance of the rule of law and our Constitution,” said Skye Perryman, President & CEO of Democracy Forward. “Our team is honored to represent the ABA in this case and are pleased that this injunction will be in place as we continue to defend the right to petition the government free from retaliation.”

The grants at the heart of the lawsuit, and the important work they support, were abruptly canceled on April 10, 2025, a day after Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche issued a memorandum titled “Engagement with the American Bar Association,” which singled out the ABA for what Blanche called “support of activist causes” and the ABA’s litigation against the federal government. In response to those constitutionally protected activities, Blanche imposed new and extraordinary limits on DOJ employees’ engagement with the ABA. The next day, DOJ terminated all of the ABA’s grants for work related to domestic and sexual violence. DOJ did not terminate any other grants to other organizations for similar work. The ABA’s lawsuit challenges DOJ’s termination of the ABA’s grants as retaliation in violation of the First Amendment and unlawful under the Administrative Procedures Act. 

The lawsuit asks a court to intervene in the matter to stop the termination of the grants. The ABA is represented by Democracy Forward, with attorneys Skye Perryman, Jodie Morse, Christine L. Coogle, Pooja A. Boisture, Kristin Bateman, and Brian Netter. 

The ABA had for decades received grants from DOJ to advance the goals of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). VAWA is a landmark piece of legislation that sought to improve criminal legal and community-based responses to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking in the United States. The passage of VAWA in 1994 and its reauthorization in 2000, 2005, 2013, and 2022 have changed the landscape for victims who once suffered in silence. 

Read the original filing here and the preliminary injunction issued today here. 

– # # # – 

Democracy Forward is a national legal organization that advances democracy and social progress through litigation, policy, public education, and regulatory engagement. For more information, please visit www.democracyforward.org.