TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Stacey Shrader Joslin on May 15, 2025

A Washington, D.C., based federal judge has temporarily blocked the Department of Justice (DOJ) from canceling $3.2 million in grants to the American Bar Association (ABA), Reuters reports. The grants have been used to train lawyers to represent victims of domestic and sexual violence since 1995 according to the group. In the opinion, Judge Christopher Cooper said, "The First Amendment injury is concrete and ongoing. The ABA regularly engages in protected expressive activity, and DOJ’s termination of its grants directly punishes that activity." The ABA sued the DOJ in April, claiming the agency illegally terminated the grants in retaliation for the association’s public criticism of the Trump administration.