...Rachel Meeropol, senior staff attorney and associate director of legal training and education at the Center for Constitutional Rights, points out that beyond legal fees, court costs, and travel expenses, activists may rack up childcare costs or else miss a day of work. Then there's the "opportunity cost" of what else they could have done with the time they spent protesting for a cause.

Meeropol worries that penalties for protesting are getting harsher. New laws cracking down on protests have been passed or proposed since President Donald Trump was elected in November 2016. According to the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law, 31 states have considered such laws so far, while nine have been passed. ...

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