For decades, the ABA has provided critical training to lawyers, enabling them to provide essential legal services to domestic violence survivors. The ABA has received grants from the DOJ to advance the goals of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), 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. 

With these grants, the ABA has trained and provided technical assistance to lawyers and judges who work with survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault.

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 “support of activist causes” and the ABA’s litigation against the federal government, the ABA’s federal grants were abruptly cancelled. DOJ did not terminate any other grants to other organizations for similar work. 

The ABA, represented by Democracy Forward, filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, challenging the DOJ’s unlawful termination of the grants as retaliation in violation of the First Amendment and the Administrative Procedures Act. The lawsuit asks a court to block the termination of the grants.

On May 14th, the District Court for the District of Columbia granted a preliminary injunction establishing that DOJ must restore the cancelled grants, finding the cancellations were likely done to retaliate against the ABA. 

Timeline:

  • April 23, 2025 — We filed a complaint against the DOJ seeking to stop the 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.
  • May 14, 2025 — The District Court for the District of Columbia granted a Preliminary Injunction establishing that DOJ must restore the cancelled grants, finding that DOJ likely did so to retaliate against the ABA.

The case is American Bar Association v. DOJ.

Press Release
American Bar Association Files Suit to Stop Retaliation by the Justice Department, Restore Funding for ABA Services For Domestic and Sexual Violence Survivors
Press Release
Federal Judge Rules Department of Justice Likely Retaliated Against American Bar Association In Abruptly Cancelling Grants to Support Domestic and Sexual Violence Survivors

Documents