We Don’t Need Better, More Accountable Policing. We Need De-Policing
By Audrey Bomse, NLG South Florida Chapter A North Miami cop was just charged in the shooting of Charles Kinsey, an unarmed therapist who was trying to coax his severely autistic patient back home. Cell phone video captured Kinsey, lying on his back, on the ground, arms raised, pleading with the cops not to shoot. [...]
Beyond Bars: Innocent Until Proven Guilty?
By C. Martin Sterling Newark, NJ We are assured that if we are charged with a crime in the “Land of the Free,” we are, “innocent until proven guilty.” We are handcuffed and shackled in front of friends, family, and neighbors, though we are, “innocent until proven guilty.” We are vilified by the media, for [...]
Beyond Bars: Law as a Pathway to Character Development
By Jeremiah Phoenix Dannemora, NY As readers of this column know well, familiarity with law is a valuable and often necessary skill in prison. A talented prisoner litigant can effect significant positive change for himself or herself and their fellow brothers and sisters, and can protect themselves from repression and abuse in ways people without [...]
Beyond Bars: Life at Vaughn Prison as a Black Transwoman
When I was sentenced in 2011 to 25 years in prison, I was largely relieved. At least I would escape temporarily the hell of rape, violence, and discrimination which my life on the streets as a black transwoman had involved. Many transgender people like me are ostracized by our families, refused respite in public shelters, [...]
Judge Approves Enhanced Surveillance Rules following Disclosure of NYPD Muslim Surveillance Program
In March, a federal judge in Manhattan approved changes strengthening court-ordered guidelines governing policing of political and First Amendment activity by the New York City Police Department (NYPD). Judge Charles S. Haight Jr.’s approval of Revised Handschu Guidelines recovers some features weakened when he “relaxed” the longstanding Handschu Guidelines in 2003 following the September 11th [...]
Kasia Rutledge of NLG Portland Receives Oregon Women Lawyers Award
By Steven Goldberg, on behalf of NLG Portland As an older Guild member, I have always taken pride in representing, working with and learning from my clients, both within and outside of the U.S. I have been mindful of my privilege, that my background and economic and cultural circumstances are so different from my clients, [...]
Candidate Statement for NLG President: Elena Cohen
No real social change has ever been brought about without a revolution-Revolution is but thought carried into action. Every effort for progress, for enlightenment, for science, for religious, political, and economic liberty, emanates from the minority, and not from the mass. – Emma Goldman It is with deep admiration, enthusiasm, and sense of responsibility that [...]
Political Prisoner Oscar López Rivera Returns Home after 35+ Years
By the Puerto Rico Subcommittee of the NLG International Committee On May 17, after almost 36 years in U.S. custody for his commitment to the independence and self-determination of Puerto Rico, Oscar López Rivera walked in to the waiting arms of the Puerto Rican people. Greeted with an early morning serenade by the chorus of [...]
Charles Hey Maestre: ¡Presente!
Extraordinary tributes were held at San Juan’s Colegio de Abogados (the Puerto Rico Bar Association) in February and at NYU School of Law in April, in honor of Charles Hey Maestre, a leading independentista lawyer and NLG leader. Charlie died in February of cancer. As a staff attorney and administrator of the Instituto Puerto Riqueno [...]
Remembering People’s Lawyer Lynne Stewart
By David Gespass, NLG Past President The National Lawyers Guild joins with all those in the country fighting for a better and more just society in mourning the loss of Lynne Stewart, who passed away March 7. We are proud and honored by her membership in the Guild and were proud to have stood by [...]
NLG DE-NJ & ACLU DE: Initial Study Findings Reveal Worsening Conditions Leading Up to Feb. Uprising at James T. Vaughn Correctional Center
This piece was adapted from a press release by the NLG DE-NJ Chapter and the ACLU-DE June 8, 2017. NOTE: See this issue’s Beyond Bars article, “Life at Vaughn Prison as a Black Transwoman,” by Kamilla London. Initial findings from a joint study currently underway by the Prisoners Legal Advocacy Network (PLAN) of the National [...]
NLG Endorses Millions for Prisoners March on Washington
On August 19, 2017, thousands will gather in Washington D.C. in solidarity with those behind bars. The Millions for Prisoners Human Rights March will move forward with this mission statement: “We seek to unite activists, advocates, prisoners, ex-prisoners, their family and friends, as well as all others committed to the fight to drastically reduce or [...]
President’s Column: NLG Celebrates 80 Years of Challenging Empire
“Our strategy should be not only to confront empire, but to lay siege to it. To deprive it of oxygen. To shame it. To mock it. With our art, our music, our literature, our stubbornness, our joy, our brilliance, our sheer relentlessness – and our ability to tell our own stories. Stories that are different [...]
Gearing Up for #Law4thePeople 2017!
We’re gearing up for the 2017 #Law4thePeople Convention! See below and at nlg.org/convention for all info. Early bird registration rates end June 30, so sign up today! Download the PDF file . Share this:TwitterGoogleDiasporaFacebookEmailPrint Related
Congratulations to our Guild Grads!
NLG law students represent the next generation of law for the people. At the close of the 2017 Spring semester, we’re thrilled to celebrate the accomplishments of so many NLG students across the country! Congratulations, Guild grads—and keep up the great work! (See a list of 100+ NLG law school chapters nationwide.) Download the PDF [...]
2017 Weinglass Fellow Emily Posner to Fight Toxic Prisons
We’re thrilled to announce the 2017 Weinglass Fellowship recipient! Emily Posner will be collaborating with the Campaign to Fight Toxic Prisons and the Abolitionist Law Center to work on a strategic campaign to exhaust federal inmate’s administrative remedies in an effort to challenge the Bureau of Prison’s proposal to build a new maximum security prison [...]
