Attorney Yasmin Cader on the ACLU & the Power of the People

The foundation of American democracy, built on the principles of civil rights, equality, and the rule of law, is currently under intense pressure. Over the course of the last year, the legal landscape has shifted dramatically, requiring organizations dedicated to justice to be ready to combat government overreach at a moment’s notice. I was particularly privileged and honored to welcome Attorney Yasmin Cader, the Deputy Legal Director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), to The Legal Lens Podcast.

The ACLU is a consequential institution that impacts all of our lives every day, and Attorney Cader, who served as a federal public defender and is a graduate of Howard University and Yale Law School, brings decades of experience to the fight. In this riveting conversation, the incomparable Yasmin Cader provides an essential overview of the ACLU’s efforts to combat constitutional attacks since early 2025. She delves into their pivotal litigation on issues like birthright citizenship, book bans, and the crisis of National Guard deployment in US cities.

For a deeper, more convenient dive into these critical topics, I strongly encourage you to listen to our full discussion on The Legal Lens Podcast. You can find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Simplecast, and everywhere you get your podcasts for free. Alternatively, you can also listen to the full episode in the player below:

Attorney Yasmin Cader on the ACLU’s Fight for Democracy, Constitutional Attacks, and the Power of the People

As someone who has been on the frontlines of recent battles for democracy, you won’t want to miss Attorney Yasmin Cader‘s invaluable insights into how the ACLU is mobilizing against national attacks on democracy and defending the rights of vulnerable populations. Here are timestamps and topics covered to help better navigate the episode:

3:10 – Who is Attorney Yasmin Cader?
5:40 – The ACLU’s Mission and the Work of the Thurgood Marshall Center
9:15 – Unprecedented Attacks: How the Current Administration Targets Rights
16:35 – The Status of Birthright Citizenship and Stopping the Erasure of History
19:50 – Victory Against Book Bans in Department of Defense Schools
22:20 – The Louisiana v. Kalay Voting Rights Case at the Supreme Court
26:45 – Combating the National Guard’s Deployment as a “War on US Cities”
30:15 – The Historical Power of Black-Led Struggle and Hope for Today

Who is Attorney Yasmin Cader?

If you are anything like me, you will have chills going up your spine as you learn about the amazing and impactful individuals who paved the way for Attorney Yasmin Cader in her career.

Attorney Cader began by sharing the deep motivation for her life’s work, which started at Howard University. Studying political science in the same spaces where civil rights giants walked created an inevitable call to action.

“It’s impossible for someone who’s interested in studying political science to go to Howard University and not feel really called on to walk in the footsteps of some of the most important protectors of democracy who have ever walked the earth of this country,” reflected Cader with pride.

While there, Cader said that specifically taking classes in Frederick Douglass Hall and learning from esteemed political scientists who were perceiving the world through an important lens of equality was vital to her understanding of what it means to live in a democracy.

“I studied in the very room where Thurgood Marshall, Charles Hamilton Houston, and others created the Road to Brown. The truth is you can’t be raised at Howard and not feel compelled and called to want to make this world a better place for everyone. That’s the pedigree of the students there,” recalled Cader.

This formative environment compelled her toward a career dedicated to defending constitutional democracy and equality.

The ACLU’s Mission and the Work of the Thurgood Marshall Center

The ACLU is a non-profit legal organization. In other words, as I summarized it during our conversation, it can be viewed as a law firm in the world of non-profits.

For over a century, the ACLU has served as a fundamental American institution with an over 100-year legacy. The ACLU was established in the 1920s during a time of significant attacks on democracy.

“The ACLU was formed during a time when we had many attacks on our democracy and were facing a real constriction of rights, and it has been going ever since, so this fight is really just in the DNA of the organization,” explained Cader.

Its core mission remains to expand civil rights and liberties for every single person in this country. The organization works through the courts and advocacy on a full court press across critical areas, including:

Racial Equity and Gender Equity
Protection of fundamental First Amendment rights
Immigrant Justice and LGBTQ communities

“There isn’t a family in this country that isn’t positively touched by the work that we do, and we’re proud to do it. We’re in the courts, we are making sure people know their rights, we are helping people enforce their rights, and we are working extremely hard to ensure our lawmakers are upholding our civil rights and liberties,” added Cader.

Attorney Cader leads the Thurgood Marshall Center for Justice and Inequality, which focuses on criminal legal system change and racial justice at the national level.

This work encompasses fighting police abuse, mass incarceration, seeking constitutional prison conditions, and advocating for educational and health equity.

“The ACLU is the people’s representatives – that’s how we see it. We represent people, organizations, and causes across the country. The thing about the ACLU is that we are a large national organization, but we have affiliates in each state, so we have a local impact. We have the presence to be a part of this ecosystem and hold the government accountable,” said Cader.

Unprecedented Attacks: How the Current Administration Targets Rights

When asked if the ACLU had anticipated the level of constitutional attacks seen, attorney Yasmin Cader confirmed that while they were prepared, they hadn’t necessarily forecast every action.

She minced no words about the current state of affairs and where the ACLU stands.

“In terms of the attacks on our constitutional democracy from this administration, we are really on the frontlines combating those attacks,” elaborated Cader with her trademark resolve.

Cader also detailed how the administration is waging an unprecedented campaign. She said there are three essential attempts that can be boiled down to:

Targeting Institutions: The government is attacking the press, universities, non-profits, and law firms that serve as the bulwark against government overreach and abuse.
Attacking Opponents: They are going after individuals who are ideologically opposed to the government by seeking to deport immigrants for their speech and indicting political opponents.
Waging Culture Wars: The administration seeks to erase history, defund critical research (like sickle cell and cancer), and target vulnerable communities with violent, unconstitutional ICE raids.

“What all this sums up to is really an attack on our constitutional democracy and our individual rights, which are pillars of equality in our country, as well as the rule of law. It’s really an attack on our functioning systems of checks and balances,” explained Attorney Yasmin Cader.

The Status of Birthright Citizenship and Stopping the Erasure of History

Yasmin Cader and her team were on the vanguard of those who were taking legal action to combat these attacks.

In fact, Attorney Cader confirmed that the ACLU did not just anticipate the need for action – they were ready to respond quickly to threats, including filing the very first lawsuit against an executive order attempting to eliminate birthright citizenship within two hours of its issuance.

“We were here, we were ready, and we pivoted. I’m really proud of what we’ve done as an organization, but I’m also proud of how we have linked arms with many across different movement spaces to be there. I’m very proud of my colleagues across the civil and immigration rights communities and the way that we have managed to divide and conquer,” said Cader.

She is confident that the right to citizenship is still robustly protected, and they continue to urge the courts to follow the Constitution.

Attorney Cader said the ACLU is also successfully combating the administration’s efforts to erase history. In one instance, they were able to prevail in a case stopping a pernicious executive order seeking to censor the teaching of basic history concepts in schools.

“I think we met this moment, but there’s more to meet. It’s constant, and it’s formidable, but we are ready,” added Cader.

Victory Against Book Bans in Department of Defense Schools

Attorney Yasmin Cader provided an update on the ACLU’s successful litigation challenging book bans.

Early in the administration, an unconstitutional book ban was issued for children of military members attending Department of Defense Schools. This order censored reading materials pertaining to race and gender.

The full list included 596 censored books on topics like slavery, Native American history, women’s history, and LGBTQ+ identities.

On behalf of six military families, the ACLU and its affiliates filed a motion for a preliminary injunction in May.

“We were able to prevail, and we are really heartened by this because what was obvious to everyone was that this was censorship,” said Cader with pride.

The court agreed, granting the injunction and sending a clear message that such censorship in the learning environment is unconstitutional.

While this lawsuit pertains specifically to Department of Defense Schools, Cader made a point of saying that this type of litigation in response to these policies has been cropping up nationwide in public education as well.

“Really, what we are trying to ensure is that families and students have the right to learn and that it’s made abundantly clear for them,” explained Cader.

The Louisiana v. Kalay Voting Rights Case at the Supreme Court

The ACLU is currently involved in several key cases before the Supreme Court, including one of profound significance for our democracy: Louisiana v. Kalay.

This case concerns equal representation for Black voters in Louisiana and the role of race in redistricting. The ACLU is working to protect the role of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which is a critical tool for safeguarding the promise that people of color can equally participate in our democracy.

Attorney Cader emphasized that Congress passed and reauthorized the Voting Rights Act with bipartisan support because leaders understood that you can’t cure discrimination if you pretend it doesn’t exist.

“You must be able to protect people’s right to vote. It is fundamental to democracy, and it is something that we’ve been at the forefront of. It is incumbent on us if the court is out of step, not just with societal norms, but with what we know to be clear, obvious, and unalienable rights, that we are making our voices heard and known. Because there are so many ways in which we as citizens and members of society have power, and we cannot lay down. The right to vote is really at the heart of all of that,” said Cader.

Combating the National Guard’s Deployment as a “War on US Cities”

The ACLU is also challenging the administration’s deployment of the National Guard and federal agencies into US cities. Attorney Cader called this a “war on US cities” being waged by the government in an effort to create an unaccountable national police force.

Attorney Cader explained that this is another example of a circumstance in which the government manufactures crises by claiming the deployment is necessary to combat crime, when in reality, it is a means of terrorizing communities.

Attorney Cader provided harrowing examples from Memphis, a city with a deep civil rights legacy, where military troops are conducting local policing without authorization. This has led to citizens feeling the need to carry their passports like freedom papers.

The ACLU is standing in lockstep with the people in these cities to challenge this unconstitutional trolling and action.

“It’s really important that, in addition to our efforts to be in lockstep with those government officials who are challenging this, we are in lockstep with people who find themselves terrorized, and we are making their voices heard in every venue we can,” said Cader.

The Historical Power of Black-Led Struggle and Hope for Today

I asked Attorney Cader for her perspective on maintaining hope amidst these threats. She provided a powerful historical lesson, noting that African Americans have been here before, and the current struggle is not new.

She stressed that the struggle for liberation led by Black people, from the abolition movement to the Civil Rights Movement, has consistently resulted in liberation and the protection of democracy for everyone.

“When you look at the Civil Rights Movement and the war against Jim Crow, which is, again, another long game, what you see is that decades of resistance didn’t happen overnight. But we stayed the course, and we did so in a multiracial coalition. The progress from the Civil Rights Movement was for everyone,” smiled Attorney Yasmin Cader.

The lesson, she says, is one of discipline, resilience, sacrifice, and deep strategy. She urged listeners not to despair, reminding them that every individual is part of a constitutional constituency that has the power to hold the government accountable.

“If we take those lessons now to this struggle here, I am confident we can really find the opportunity in the crisis that we are facing to build back stronger and better with the lessons that we learned from the past,” explained Cader.

Do You Want to Hear More Powerful Insights from Experts and Activists Like Attorney Yasmin Cader? Subscribe to and Download the Legal Lens Podcast Today!

Our conversation with Attorney Yasmin Cader provided a necessary reminder that the fight for our constitutional democracy is constant and must be met with vigilance, strategy, and collective action.

Listen to this full episode of The Legal Lens Podcast to hear Attorney Cader’s complete perspective on Simplecast, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify, and subscribe to never miss a critical conversation.

Also, to learn about all things Legal Lens, follow me on Instagram @iamangelareddockwright.

For media inquiries, please reach out to josh@kwsmdigital.com.

This communication is not legal advice. It is educational only. For legal advice, consult with an experienced employment law attorney in your state or city.

Attorney Yasmin Cader on the ACLU’s Fight for Democracy, Book Bans, and the Power of the People