Know Your Rights
If you're heading to a protest, a canvass, or any public demonstration, these organizations can help before, during, and after — legal observers, attorney hotlines, bail funds, and press-freedom support.
This page is informational, not legal advice. Laws vary by state and change over time — confirm details directly
with the organization before relying on them, especially phone numbers and hours.
| Organization | How They Help | Contact | Scope / State |
|---|---|---|---|
|
ACLU (national + state affiliates)
Source: InfluenceWatch profile of ACLU cross-checked against multiple state affiliate KYR pages (ACLU of Illinois
|
Publishes state-specific know-your-rights guides for protesters and monitors/litigates First Amendment violations; individual state affiliates take intake for potential representation. | Contact your state ACLU affiliate via aclu.org/affiliates (no single national emergency hotline) | US (decentralized by state affiliate) |
|
Black Movement-Law Project (BMLP)
Source: InfluenceWatch profile of Black Movement Law Project corroborating its rapid-response jail-support and legal-observer functions
|
Deploys Legal Observers to protests, helps communities build local Jail Support teams for arrestees, and connects activists to a national network of civil/human rights attorneys. | Email info@bmlp.org or use the contact form at bmlp.org (no published 24/7 emergency phone line; form warns not to include sensitive info) | US |
|
Center for Constitutional Rights - Mass Defense Committee
Source: CCR's own Toolkit for the Movement page cross-checked against InfluenceWatch's Center for Constitutional Rights profile describing its litigation/movement-support role
|
Collaborative rapid-response legal network (with the National Lawyers Guild) providing legal support, a Protest Planner risk-assessment toolkit, and referrals to local legal representation for protesters and organizers. | Use the Protest Planner/Toolkit at ccrjustice.org/toolkit-for-the-movement and contact local NLG chapter for hotline/observer requests | US |
|
Civil Liberties Defense Center
Source: Oregon; nationwide activist defense)
|
Represents grassroots activists at no cost when they are arrested for protest/organizing-related conduct, and runs Know Your Rights & Risks (KYRR) trainings before actions. | Use the contact/intake form at cldc.org (no published emergency phone hotline found) | US (based in Eugene |
|
Committee to Protect Journalists - US Journalist Assistance Network
Source: Poynter reporting on evolving legal support for journalists (2025) and CPJ's own site cross-checked against co-founding partner Freedom of the Press Foundation's announcement
|
Coordinates free legal support (including direct legal representation and referrals), physical/digital safety training, and emergency response specifically for US-based journalists facing arrest, assault, or legal threats while reporting (including at protests). | Email emergencies@cpj.org (CPJ Emergencies team) or safety@cpj.org for the Journalist Assistance Network | US |
|
Electronic Frontier Foundation
Source: EFF's own Legal Assistance and Legal Cases pages cross-checked against independent secondary reporting via search aggregation (uslawexplained.com overview); case selectivity independently corroborated
|
Provides know-your-rights guidance on recording police and protecting devices/data at protests, and reviews individual requests for legal help (selectively litigates precedent-setting cases; refers others to a nationwide Cooperating Attorneys network). | Email info@eff.org via the Legal Assistance page (eff.org/pages/legal-assistance); no phone hotline | US |
|
First Amendment Coalition
Source: InfluenceWatch profile and Ballotpedia entry both confirming FAC's California-focused public-records/First Amendment scope
|
Legal Hotline gives free access to FAC attorneys for questions on public-records access, government-meeting access, and First Amendment/free-speech and free-press issues in California; does not provide representation or file documents. | Submit a request via the Legal Hotline page (firstamendmentcoalition.org/legal-hotline); response typically within days by phone or email | California |
|
First Defense Legal Aid
Source: News/advocacy reporting referencing ACLU of Illinois materials citing this hotline (cross-check via ACLU of Illinois protester know-your-rights page); verify current hotline number directly on first-defense.org before publishing
|
Chicago-based nonprofit operating a 24-hour hotline connecting people who are arrested (including at protests) with free attorneys who can respond to the police station before questioning. | Call 1-800-529-7374 (24-hour hotline) | Illinois |
|
National Bail Fund Network (Community Justice Exchange)
Source: InfluenceWatch profile of National Bail Fund Network cross-checked against Chronicle of Philanthropy reporting on bail funds' post-2020 protest activity
|
Maintains a directory of 90+ independent local community bail funds nationwide that post bail/bond for people who can't afford it, including protesters arrested during demonstrations. | Find and contact your local fund via the NBFN directory (communityjusticeexchange.org/en/nbfn-directory); network questions to network@communityjusticeexchange.org | US (directory of state/local funds) |
|
National Lawyers Guild - Mass Defense Hotline (South/Atlanta)
Source: NLG's own hotline page (nlg.org) cross-checked against general NLG Mass Defense description on InfluenceWatch-referenced search results
|
Staffed legal support hotline offering know-your-rights info, attorney referrals, and bail-support connections for protesters; run by NLG South Solidarity/Atlanta NLG but states it also serves national callers. | Call 404-458-9449 | Georgia (regional chapter hotline; serves callers nationally per its own page) |
|
National Lawyers Guild - Mass Defense Program
Source: InfluenceWatch (search-confirmed org description) and NLG's own program pages cross-checked against multiple NLG chapter sites (nlg-seattle.org
|
Deploys trained Legal Observers to monitor and document police conduct at protests, and connects arrestees/organizers to a nationwide attorney referral and jail-support network. | Contact local NLG chapter (nlg.org/chapters) or email massdef@nlg.org to request Legal Observers or support | US |
|
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press - Legal Hotline
Source: Poynter (2025 reporting on journalist legal support) and InfluenceWatch profile of Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
|
Free Legal Hotline for journalists and media lawyers covering newsgathering law, protest-coverage issues, subpoenas, and press-freedom questions; explicitly covers emergencies such as a journalist's arrest or imminent arrest while reporting. | Business hours: hotline@rcfp.org or online form at rcfp.org/legal-hotline; 24/7 emergency line: 1-800-336-4243 | US |
|
U.S. Press Freedom Tracker
Source: Columbia Journalism Review feature on the Tracker's protest-coverage documentation
|
Documents individual press-freedom incidents (arrests, assaults, equipment seizure) in a public database used by advocacy and legal organizations, and lets anyone submit an incident; for direct help it points to its advisory-board partners (CPJ, RCFP) rather than providing legal aid itself. | Submit an incident via the site's 'Submit an Incident' page; for direct legal help contact CPJ or RCFP above (Tracker itself is not a direct-aid provider) | US |