Image: NLG Los Angeles Chapter holding Legal Observer training at CHIRLA for Guild members heading to the border. By Traci Yoder, NLG Director of Research and Education National Lawyers Guild staff traveled to Tijuana the first week of December to observe conditions at the border and to coordinate with our members already on the ground […]
Category Archives: NLG Blog
NOTE: The views expressed in the NLG Blog are those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the NLG as a whole.
Refugee Caravan: A Legal Observer’s Report from Tijuana
Image: Tents of hunger striking asylum seekers at the border. The tent on the left reads one of their demands, “#2: Que se facilite el proceso legal del asilo USA / #2: That the legal process for US asylum be facilitated.” The tent on the right reads, “Estamos en huelga de hambre / We are […]
Press Release & Demands by Central American Refugees at Border: We Do Not Want to RETURN to Violence
The following is a press release issued by asylum seekers of the Central American Exodus the day after Border Patrol fired migrants, including children, with teargas on 11/26. Scroll below the PDF to read the transcribed press release. Download the PDF file . PRESS RELEASE AND DEMANDS BY CENTRAL AMERICAN EXODUS November 27th / Tijuana, […]
The Conn Crisis: How The Social Security Administration is Waging a Silent War on Thousands of Poor People in Eastern Kentucky
[Content Warning: This article contains content of a sensitive nature relating to suicide.] By Tyler Crawford* & Jessie Boas,*Fordham Law NLG On June 2, 2015, Melissa Jude was on the way to Ned Pillersdorf’s office when she pulled over to the side of the road and ended her life. The week before, SSA demanded that […]
Battle for the Bench: Resisting the Rise of the Judicial Right
By Traci Yoder, NLG Director of Research and Education Recent Supreme Court decisions upholding Trump’s Muslim ban, allowing businesses to discriminate against LGBTQ people, and weakening public sector unions have emphasized the considerable power of the judiciary and the devastating results that occur when it is dominated by conservative judges. With the resignation of Justice […]
Second J20 Trial Ends with No Convictions, Prosecutor Hiding Evidence
By Jude Ortiz, NLG Mass Defense Committee Chair Washington, DC – Much has happened in the J20 (inauguration conspiracy) case since the NLG wrote about the first J20 trial in November 2017. Let’s start from the latest developments and work our way backwards: the second trial ended with either acquittals or mistrials on the charges […]
Conservative-led Anti-Protest Legislation Already Doubled Since Last Year
By Traci Yoder, Director of Research and Education Last March, the NLG shared an overview and analysis of the wave of anti-protest legislation sweeping state legislatures across the country. At the time, we were looking at 25 bills proposed in 19 states—all focused on limiting the right to protest or removing liability for harm caused […]
Struggles of Using Legal Recourse as a Path Toward Better Prison Conditions
Lisa Drapkin, NLG Membership Director It seems there could never be enough legal support to help the millions of prisoners who would benefit from having a lawyer at arms’ length. Whether it is lack of medical care, abhorrent nutrition, exposure to extreme temperatures, lack of clean water, or brutality by prison guards, there are endless […]
The Dangers of Deregulation Under Trump and Pence
By Traci Yoder, NLG Director of Research and Education On December 14th, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will vote whether to end what is popularly known as “net neutrality.” Citing the previous administration’s “heavy handed Internet regulation,” current FCC Chair Ajit Pai proposes “returning to the longstanding light-touch regulatory framework for the Internet and restoring […]
#COINTELPRO: Disrupting Resistance Movements in the Digital Age
By Tasha Moro, NLG Communications Director Trials began last week in the historic prosecution of nearly 200 “J20” defendants indiscriminately arrested en masse during protests against Trump’s inauguration in Washington, DC, each facing more than 60 years in prison on rioting and property damage charges. In an affront to the First and Fourth Amendments, federal […]