Come join the campaign to reclaim democracy for the people by fighting for free and fair elections and against abuse of power! Free Speech For People is a national nonpartisan nonprofit organization that was founded in 2010 after the Supreme Court’s Citizens United v. FEC decision. Since then, we have worked to renew our democracy and reclaim our Constitution for We the People, and not for big money and corporate interests. We’re accepting applications for 2024 summer internships in our Legal Advocacy Program.

What do we do? Our summer 2024 work will differ from past work, but will build on similar themes of our democracy work.

Fighting for free and fair elections. In 2023, we went to trial in Texas and Arizona to challenge voter suppression laws, and in 2024, we go to trial against an extremist organization in Colorado for intimidating voters. And we continue to challenge the unlawful attempt by Trump’s attorneys and insurrectionists to gain access to voting software. We’ll continue our fight for free and fair elections in 2024.

Fighting for accountability for the January 6 insurrection. Through our ground-breaking 14point3 campaign, we’ve filed lawsuits in Michigan, Minnesota, and Oregon, with more coming to challenge Trump’s 2024 candidacy under Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment, and we helped support a similar challenge in Colorado. This work builds on our 2022 efforts, in which we filed the first Section 3 lawsuits in over 150 years on behalf of voters in Georgia, North Carolina, and Arizona, and we forced Marjorie Taylor Greene to testify under oath about her involvement in January 6. We’ll continue to hold Trump and other high-level January 6 insurrectionists legally accountable.

Fighting big money in politics and corporate abuse of power. We’ve helped develop, pass, and defend cutting-edge campaign finance legislation in Seattle and Minnesota that ends political spending by corporations partly owned by foreign investors, and we’re working to help pass similar laws in several city and state legislatures. We’ll continue to work with local, state, and federal legislators on bold reforms to fight big money in politics and corporate abuse of power.

Fighting corruption and abuse of power in the courts and elsewhere. We’ve sued the Federal Election Commission for its failure to investigate coordination between the Trump campaign and the Russian government, and are campaigning for the impeachment of Justice Thomas for violating federal ethics laws. We also successfully blocked election-denying Trump lawyer Cleta Mitchell’s reappointment to an important federal post due to her efforts to undermine voting rights and overturn the 2020 election. And we will remain vigilant in challenging corruption at all levels of our government.

Who are you? We’re looking for rising 2Ls or 3Ls who are dedicated to public interest work, write well, and are excited to work for a non-profit leading cutting-edge legal initiatives. Con Law (especially First Amendment) is a plus but not essential. In rare cases, we will also consider undergraduates.

What will you do? You might be researching impact litigation, or working on an amicus brief, or drafting legislation, or creating educational resources. Or something totally different. But you definitely won’t just be doing doc review.

Where’s the office? We are accepting applications from students anywhere in the United States. The internship can be carried out remotely; for interns who are in or near Boston, Massachusetts we can offer a hybrid option in our Newton office.

When would the internship be? The internship is generally full-time for 8-10 weeks, but we would consider a split summer for an exceptional candidate.

What is the compensation? Applicants must first seek funding through their law school internship or field placement programs, scholarships, or another third-party source. Free Speech For People will provide supplemental funding if needed to ensure that students who have exhausted all external public funding sources receive $600 per week of work.

How do you apply? Send a cover letter, resume, transcript, writing sample, and three references (including at least one law school professor) to internship (at) freespeechforpeople (dot) org. Applications are considered on a rolling basis.

Free Speech For People is an affirmative action employer and recruits, employs, retains, and promotes persons in a manner that does not discriminate against any person because of race, color, ethnicity, religion, sex, sexual orientation, genetic information, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, age, veteran status, or physical or mental ability which is unrelated to job performance.