Vermonters expect leaders from both the public and private sectors to respect the rule of law and our democratic norms. Doing so requires these institutions to assess whether voluntary compliance a new federal directive would violate state or federal law or undermind values Vermonters cherish—and if so, refrain from giving in to that unjust abuse of power.
In response to the rapid and brazenly unconstitutional executive actions issued by the Trump Administration, the ACLU of Vermont has issued new legal guidance detailing how public and private institutions should respond to unlawful federal directives or threats to withhold funding. In making this guidance available as a letter open to the public, the ACLU seeks to empower organizations of all sizes to resist voluntary compliance with federal abuses of power that undermine state and federal law.