“Good morning, your Honor, Amy Romero for the United States.” Pause. Stares from the court clerk and court reporter. (Horrified stares from my clients.) Laughter from the opposing counsel table, where the government attorneys sat.

I had been introducing myself to the court that way for nearly a decade, as an assistant U.S. attorney in the District of Rhode Island (AUSA). But now, after having spent nine years representing the United States to protect Rhode Islanders from civil rights violations, I was suing the United States for violating the civil rights of Rhode Islanders. As the new chief legal counsel for the Lawyers’ Committee for Rhode Island (LCRI), the mission and the work were the same, but my exclusive client had become my exclusive opponent. It’s understandable that my court introduction was on autopilot, but how was it that I was now across the courtroom from attorneys who were my colleagues only weeks ago?

I joined the U.S. Attorney’s Office in 2016 to focus on federal civil rights enforcement. For nearly a decade, I had the honor of representing the United States to enforce the civil rights of Rhode Island residents. During that time, I represented the United States in cases involving segregation of adults with developmental and intellectual disabilities, failure to provide English as a Second Language to multilingual students in the Providence public schools, redlining by a Rhode Island bank against majority-Black and Hispanic communities, failure to provide bilingual translation and interpretation at elections, and countless other issues.

Being an AUSA in a small district meant that I worked on a variety of types of cases, in addition to civil rights enforcement. I had to defend federal agencies, whether it was a postal truck accident or a slip and fall at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). I worked on False Claims Act cases alleging fraud against the government. And I defended federal agency rules and policies in suits brought under the Administrative Procedure Act.

Having come to the US Attorney’s Office from legal aid, with the vision of focusing on civil rights enforcement, I often found the non-civil rights work frustrating and a distraction from my passion. But I now realize, it is the skills I developed working on those cases that are proving to be most valuable as I forge my new path.

Now, when Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents commit a false arrest or break the windows of my client’s car, I’m glad I have the experience that came with defending car crashes or allegations of medical malpractice in cases brought under the Federal Tort Claims Act. When the government threatens the nonprofits I represent with False Claims Act liability for engaging in “illegal DEI” or intimidates health centers for providing gender affirming care, I’m thankful for the experiences I had working on healthcare fraud cases. And I’m extraordinarily grateful for the cases brought under the Administrative Procedure Act that I defended; we’ve used that law successfully as a tool to challenge unlawful agency actions, including the denial of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits to 40 million Americans.

I went to work for the Lawyers’ Committee for Rhode Island two weeks after my last day at the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Founded in December 2024 by a group of volunteer Rhode Island lawyers, LCRI’s mission is to ensure that skilled and dedicated Rhode Island lawyers will challenge the federal government with an effective and rapid response whenever it acts in violation of the law, threatens democracy or advances authoritarianism. I am proud to be LCRI’s first full-time hire last March, and serve as chief legal counsel.

In the past year, we’ve brought dozens of federal lawsuits in Rhode Island federal court. We’ve represented over 100 named plaintiffs, and their members, to protect billions of dollars in federal funding. We’ve delivered trainings to hundreds of Rhode Island nonprofit staff, leaders and board members to help them protect their missions and their funding, know their rights and address emerging needs. We have filed scores of habeas petitions, challenging the illegality of people detained by ICE. And we’ve introduced state legislation that will make Rhode Islanders safer.

I have no idea if I’ll ever again introduce myself to a court on behalf of the United States. Right now, it seems extraordinarily unlikely. Although suing the United States exclusively and consistently is beyond challenging, I feel unexpectedly hopeful. I see courage all around me: courageous judges; courageous nonprofits, cities and states willing to challenge the federal government; courageous bystanders who protect their neighbors; and even courageous AUSAs who are staying true to their professional and moral compass. The experience of the past year, along with our country’s history of civil rights movements, reinforces that courage is contagious, and that is what motivates me to continue pushing on.

July 2026