The Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection uses litigation, policy, and public education to protect constitutional rights and to hold our governmental institutions to the highest standards of integrity and accountability.
A non-partisan institute within Georgetown Law, ICAP’s experienced attorneys use novel litigation tools, strategic policy development, and the constitutional scholarship of Georgetown to vindicate individuals’ rights and protect our democratic processes. In an era of politically polarized discourse, ICAP offers vital understandings of the Constitution that draw on a wide range of practical experience, including extensive service in the federal government.
At the heart of ICAP is our litigation, as the courts remain a critical venue for the vindication of constitutional rights. ICAP collaborates with a wide array of litigation partners across the country, including non-profits, law firms, and governmental entities, focused on protecting constitutional rights. Our recent casework includes:
Constitutional dialogue also occurs outside the courts and in the public square. ICAP uses public education to inform and elevate that dialogue, empowering the community with vital understandings of the Constitution based on history, text, and precedent. Through direct engagement with the public in sponsored events as well as through writing and speaking, ICAP heightens and grounds today’s constitutional conversation. ICAP’s lawyers also drive policy change, working with lawmakers at the federal, state, and local levels to help situate their policymaking in constitutional principles and values.
Finally, ICAP plays an important teaching role within Georgetown Law by involving law students in our work. Through a practicum seminar, law students work directly with ICAP attorneys on constitutional impact litigation and related policy efforts. Additionally, ICAP provides litigation and policy support to other centers and institutes within the Georgetown community.
ICAP's Mary McCord testified about political violence on the fifth anniversary of the January 6 insurrection before Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Congressmember Bennie Thompson, and the House Democrats. Listen to Mary's testimony at the link above.
Former Acting Assistant Attorney General Mary McCord joined Democracy Docket's Marc Elias to deliver a sobering, inside-the-Justice-Department assessment of how political pressure is corroding DOJ norms, judicial trust, and prosecutorial ethics. Drawing on decades as a federal prosecutor and current work at Georgetown Law, McCord explains the collapse of the presumption of regularity, the rise of misrepresentations to courts, and the dangers of politicized prosecutions—from immigration cases to protest arrests and grand jury shopping. She also discusses the devastating impact on U.S. Attorney’s Offices, why juries are increasingly rejecting overreach, how law students are rethinking careers in government, and why lawyers must now speak publicly to defend the rule of law and constitutional democracy.
Listen to the full conversation at the link above.
