By Art Heitzer, Cuba Subcommittee Chair December 17, 2015 will mark a year after Presidents Barack Obama and Raul Castro announced the release of the Cuban Five and other prisoners, and the U.S. pledge to normalize relations with Cuba. While embassies have been opened and the U.S. no longer lists Cuba as a terrorist sponsor, […]
Author Archive: Communications Director
Run the Jewels “Meows” the Guild
During the Law for the People Convention, the NLG learned that in addition to $40,000 in proceeds from their feline-inspired remix album, “Meow the Jewels” pledged to the families of Mike Brown and Eric Garner, acclaimed rap group Run the Jewels will donate the album’s remaining and future profits to the National Lawyers Guild Mass […]
Liz Fink, Rest in Power
Elizabeth “Liz” Fink (1945-2015) was a “second-generation,” lifelong NLG-NYC member and fierce criminal defense attorney. In this Speaking Freely video, Liz explains how she grew up in the Guild and what led her to become a radical lawyer, ultimately winning a $12 million settlement for the victims of the 1971 Attica prison uprising. Elizabeth Fink […]
President’s Column: Political Prisoners and the Struggle for Justice
“La lucha sin amor se muere.” (Struggle, without love, will die). These are the words of Puerto Rican political prisoner Oscar López Rivera during my visit to see him in federal prison in November. I spent an afternoon with him, along with his lawyer and Guild attorney Jan Susler and Juan Cartagena, President of LatinoJustice […]
In Memoriam: Michael Kennedy
By Eleanor Stein Michael Kennedy, a member of the NLG San Francisco Bay Area and New York City Chapters, died in January at the age of 78. Kennedy represented movement clients in major cases and was known as an indomitable fighter for justice and a combative and creative strategist on the side of the “underdogs […]
Battleground: Lockdown
How Long-Term Solitary Adversely Impacts Society By Dr. George Willie Buford, III, D.D. | Lewisburg, PA One significant, yet overlooked battleground in our march toward American criminal justice reform is the federal lockdown facility. As the federal government usurps vast areas of state criminal justice concern, more federal disproportionality will be realized. People of Color—and poor […]
NLG Student Week Against Mass Incarceration Sparks Political Education and Inspiring Actions
Following the NLG’s 2015 adoption of a resolution in support of prison abolition, the NLG expanded its annual Student Week Against the Death Penalty to become the Student Week Against Mass Incarceration. Guild law students across the nation organized actions and events to bring attention to the problems inherent to mass incarceration in the United […]
Following #Law4thePeople Convention, NLG UC Davis Holds Events on Movement Law
By Aviva Simon, UC Davis NLG Many of us at the UC Davis NLG Chapter were fortunate enough to attend the annual NLG conference held in Oakland last fall. We returned to Davis inspired by the speakers and fellow Guild members, and have put together a series of events to build on this momentum. This spring we […]
Strengthened Court Surveillance Rules for NYPD Muslim Surveillance Program
Responding to public outrage at the disclosure of a “Muslim Surveillance Program” by the New York City Police Department (NYPD), the NYPD agreed in court filings in early January to strengthen oversight of terrorism investigations thorough a series of amendments to the longstanding “Handschu” political surveillance guidelines. The court-ordered guidelines are rules to protect exercise […]
Q&A with Kris Hermes: RNCs, DNCs, and NSSEs—Oh My!
Drawing on first-hand experience and in-depth research, Former Mass Defense Coordinator and longtime Guild member Kris Hermes authored Crashing the Party: Legacies and Lessons from the RNC 2000 (PM Press, September 2015), which shows how the escalation of the National Security State was already being set in motion during the Republican National Convention protests (RNC) […]
