America First Legal filed a supplemental petition Thursday with the U.S. Department of Education demanding the federal government force colleges to publish their crime logs in a centralized, publicly accessible database.
The conservative legal group argues that the Clery Act, which requires universities to maintain daily crime logs, is falling short. Schools currently keep those records scattered, inconsistent, and often buried from view. AFL wants all of it consolidated in one place where parents and students can actually find it.
“AFL’s petition today brings a new level of accountability to college campuses,” said Emily Percival, senior counsel at America First Legal. “Parents, students, and policymakers deserve the truth in real-time about the safety of college and university campuses. Today’s action is another step toward shining the light on the dangers that have festered at our academic institutions.”
The petition also calls for a new “Political and Religious Violence Transparency Report” that would document threats, assaults, and harassment tied to political or religious beliefs, along with records of how universities responded to each incident. AFL is pushing for fines of up to $71,545 per violation for schools that fail to comply.
The filing comes after a string of high-profile campus incidents tied to protest activity. At the University of California at Berkeley, demonstrators attempted to breach police barricades during a Turning Point USA event, resulting in multiple arrests. The U.S. Department of Justice subsequently launched an investigation into that unrest.
Columbia University and the University of Michigan also faced prolonged disorder tied to Gaza-related protests, including allegations of targeted harassment and intimidation of Jewish students. The Trump administration responded by freezing federal funding at several of the schools involved.
AFL argues existing Clery Act rules give universities room to obscure the true scope of campus disorder, particularly when incidents are tied to ideological protests.
