Join Leigha Gillespie (NLG Palestine Sub-Committee) and Seth Donnelly (Tax Payer Against Genocide) in a panel discussion with Attorneys Huwaida Arraf and Maria Kari as well as Complainant Tariq Al'rouf regarding the complaint filed with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in September and amended in October.

The reorganized Hawaiʻi Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild (NLG) held its founding meeting via Zoom on September 23. The gathering brought together current and former student members along with longtime National NLG members such as Dr. Keanu Sai — a founding member of the Hawaiian Society of Law & Politics and lead Agent for the Hawaiian Kingdom in arbitration proceedings before the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague, Netherlands.

Founding members of the Hawaiʻi Chapter include attorneys serving in the State Legislature, academia, and the State Bar Association, as well as those practicing in Civil Rights, Employment Discrimination, Foster Care, Disaster Law, Indigenous Rights, Criminal Defense, and Consumer Rights.

The chapter’s immediate goals are to establish an Immigration/ICE Court Observer Training Program and a Houseless Sweeps Observer Training Program, and to collaborate with community-based organizations to develop a “Know Your Rights” education series.

-Cathy Malia Lowenberg, Hawaiʻi Chapter Co-Chair

As the administration moves to expand its domestic terrorism framework, new policies and rhetoric are raising alarm among social justice advocates. A recently issued presidential directive, National Security Presidential Memorandum (NSPM-7), reportedly identifies a range of progressive, “anti-American,” and “anti-Christian” beliefs as potential indicators of “terrorism.” Paired with inflammatory claims about so-called “transgender extremism” and Donald Trump’s executive order targeting “Antifa,” these developments signal a disturbing effort to criminalize dissent and stigmatize marginalized communities.

The National Lawyers Guild Review (NLGR) will bring together activists, legal experts, and organizers to unpack what these shifts mean in practice. This urgent conversation comes amid growing political attacks, including Representative Lance Gooden’s (R–TX) formal request that the Department of Justice investigate the National Lawyers Guild (NLG) over its alleged association with “Antifa” or “antifascism.”

Together, we’ll explore:

• What’s new and concerning about the federal domestic terrorism apparatus.
• How these policies may target activists, trans people, and other vulnerable communities.
• Practical steps for staying informed, secure, and organized.

The application for the NLG's Haywood Burns Memorial Fellowship for Social and Economic Justice for Summer 2026 is now available! The Burns Fellowship is open to students and legal workers working on projects that find creative ways to advance justice.

NLG is receiving more and more verified reports of federal agent door-knocks and contacts. If you are approached by federal law enforcement, don’t be afraid to alert your community, and remember:

You do not have to let them into your house without a warrant.

You have no obligation to speak to law enforcement or answer their questions, and it can be dangerous to do so.

It is a crime to lie to federal agents.

Instead, you can invoke your Fifth Amendment right to remain silent, and your Sixth Amendment right to counsel, by saying “I cannot answer any questions without my lawyer. Please leave your name and number, and a lawyer will call you.”

You can also call the National Lawyers Guild federal repression hotline at 212-679-2811, for a free, privileged consultation about your rights, risks, and responsibilities, and to be connected with appropriate legal resources in your jurisdiction.

We keep us safe!

The Mass Defense Steering Committee (MDSC), with the support of the Director of Mass Defense and in collaboration with on-the-ground partners, has created a Hotline Manual to support organizers running legal hotlines for protests and broader social movements.

This document is written with the worst case scenario in mind: starting a hotline from scratch in an area with little legal support infrastructure, during a sudden upswing in demonstrations, such as we saw following the police murder of George Floyd in 2020. However, many of the recommendations within should be relevant to more established hotlines. The system described in this manual is not necessarily the only one possible, but it is based on existing hotlines with strong track records.

As the federal government escalates its attacks against immigrants, university campuses have become a focus of political repression.

Created by the Erasure Resistance Project of the NLG Queer Caucus, supported in part by a grant from the National Lawyers Guild Foundation, this guide is designed to help teachers and students navigate the world of anti-LGBTQ+, and specifically anti-trans, legislation and school policies. States like Florida have passed laws like “Don’t Say Gay” under the guise of “parental rights,” which attempt to limit what teachers can say and do in their classrooms.

Below you may download a graphic summary of the guide, the full guide, and a zine format to be easily printed and distributed. We have updated the the full resources to have more information and relevancy.

Check out our NLG Member Orientation! This is for new, and newer members, so that y'all can learn about how the NLG is structured, how to reach out to other members, and ways that you can become involved with the NLG on a national level!