We know that there is no single solution or panacea to building the infrastructure and muscle that has been glaringly lacking. However, we recognize the cost of inaction and continued underinvestment is having on our social movements and therefore offer a pathway to begin to address these rising, critical threats.

As advocates for inclusive democracy look at how to best respond to the latest waves of political prosecutions, and how best to inoculate movements against those attacks before they reach a fever pitch, it’s important to consider what confluence of factors may portend a forthcoming wave of legal repression.

Dissent is the lifeblood of democracy. Yet the government has used many tools to quell dissent, and to weaken efforts that call out injustice and demand systemic change. One such tool is political prosecution.