The cities, towns, colleges, and universities that make up America’s social and political communities are under attack, and it is the responsibility of every citizen to stand up to protect their rights and liberties, according to Carol Rose.
“We have to mobilize to say no, not on our watch,” Rose said. “We won’t stand for it. We will call it out, and continue to call it out.”
Rose, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Massachusetts and senior fellow at the Rappaport Center for Law and Public Policy, joined the Rappaport Center on Tuesday for a talk on the role of law and lawyers in defending democracy in the United States.
Rose discussed the Trump administration and the value of rights and liberties, noting the different steps lawyers can take to counter what she sees as America’s slide toward authoritarianism.
“We the people, we as a nation, are at a crossroads,” Rose said, referencing Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. ‘s 1967 book Where Do We Go From Here. “Will we choose community, or will we succumb to chaos?”
Rose said Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity in Chicago, Boston, and Portland, the temporary suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, funding cuts targeting colleges, nonprofits, and scientific research as assaults on the core democratic institutions that comprise America.
“We gather on the common area for commerce and business and for the exchange of ideas, and to exercise our right to dissent or engage in religion and belief and to defend our democracy,” Rose said. “It’s no wonder why they want to attack where we gather for the stuff of life.”
Rose explained the role the ACLU plays in fostering a culture of demoracy, often in collaboration with other organizations, with the overarching goal of defending the civil rights and liberties of all people in the United States.
“We use litigation, that’s what you hear about on our court cases,” Rose said. “But we also use non-litigation, legal advocacy. There’s legislative advocacy, there’s field organizing by lawyers and others, there’s public education and know your rights trainings and communities across Massachusetts and the country—there are so many ways to be a lawyer.”
Rose discussed the ACLU’s efforts over the last 10 months, noting that the organization has filed 90 lawsuits and taken more than 170 legal actions in response to what it views as attacks on constitutional rights.
“Since January of 2025, our lawyers have filed lawsuits challenging efforts to take away birthright citizenship, defending academic freedom, defending scientific research, equality for trans people, the rights of students and faculty to free speech, and the due process rights of immigrants,” Rose said.
Rose recounted the ACLU’s involvement in the case of Tufts University Ph.D. student Rümeysa Öztürk. According to Rose, the ACLU was put into contact with Öztürk’s immigration lawyer, tracked her location across states to a for-profit ICE prison in Louisiana, and filed a brief challenging Öztürk’s detention.
“She wasn’t advocating any kind of violence or anything like that,” Rose said. “She was targeted because she had co-authored a piece in The Tufts Daily student newspaper, an op-ed calling upon the faculty senate and the university to take up something around boycott, divest, and sanctions.”
Rose emphasized the strength of dissent and the American imperative to protect and nurture democracy, urging the audience to exercise their right to peaceful protest and vote.
“Power belongs to the people, and it is the people, fortified by the law, that must hold power to account,” Rose said.
