A Reconstruction-era law meant to protect Black Americans from white supremacists is finding a new life in federal court in recent lawsuits targeting hate groups and Donald Trump.

Trump is currently facing two federal lawsuits in Washington, D.C., alleging he violated the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871 through his attempts to undermine and overturn the 2020 election results. The most recent of those suits was filed Tuesday by Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Mississippi, backed by attorneys with the NAACP and Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll.