“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 […]
Issues: Guild Notes Vol. 40, No. 4 (Winter 2015)
NLG-SF Bay Area’s Police & Prisons Committee Launches Prisoner Advocacy Network
By Caitlin Henry, NLG San Francisco Bay Area Chapter We are excited to launch the Prisoner Advocacy Network and share “Support From Outside The Walls” training materials! Prisoner Advocacy Network (PAN) On November 21, the NLG-SF Bay Area Chapter’s Police & Prisons Committee launched it’s Prisoner Advocacy Network (PAN). We will train California based volunteers […]
BEYOND BARS: Mass Incarceration—Transforming an Unconstitutional System
By Bro. Brad Broussard, Beeville, TX Under the Thirteenth Amendment, “neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for a crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction” (emphasis added). The word ‘except’ here indicates that slavery and involuntary servitude […]
BEYOND BARS: Challenging Imperialism
By Mwalimus S. Shakur, Corcoran, CA Within the confines of these concrete tombs, we prison activists have responded to fascist oppression by becoming jailhouse lawyers. California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) has buried us alive in the “SHU” (Security Housing Unit), where maintaining one’s sanity is the ultimate challenge. Locked in a tiny cell […]
BEYOND BARS: Concrete Empire
By Carl H. Harrison | Susanville, CA In the 1980s, California began a prison- and jail-building boom. Concrete jails and prisons popped up all over the state, while laws were quickly changed to make it easier to lock people up. These facilities quickly filled up and people had to join gangs within the facilities in […]
NLG Ohio and Partners Get Cases against Protesters Dropped
By NLG Ohio Chapter On May 23rd, 71 protesters, plus two Legal Observers, were arrested during demonstrations following the acquittal of Michael Brelo, a Cleveland police officer charged in connection with the deaths of Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams in November 2012. Protesters were pushed into and trapped in a small alley, given no opportunity […]
NLG Asks Obama to “Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is” on Cuba
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, […]
Food Justice and Intersectionality
We are the primary authors of the Food Justice Guidelines. We are Muslim women of color, Palestinian human rights attorneys, animal rights attorneys, public defenders, racial justice attorneys, and intersectional social justice activists. We were compelled to write the Food Justice Guidelines in an effort to push the Guild to be more intersectional, rather than […]
Black Lives Matter Clarion Call for Black-Led Legal Support: Is This a Turning Point for the NLG?
By Dr. Jill Humphries, 2015 Legal Worker Honoree Black Lives Matter (BLM) activists’ clarion call for Black-led legal support that is primarily provided by Black attorneys, legal workers, and community members is a critical moment for the National Lawyers Guild. The organic push by Black communities to organize governing coalitions to direct the type of […]
Guild Member Wins Peabody Award for Albie Sachs Documentary
Soft Vengeance: Albie Sachs and the New South Africa, the latest film by Abby Ginzberg, Bay Area filmmaker and former national NLG leader, topped off a year of worldwide screenings and rave reviews by receiving a Peabody Award, one of the highest honors in documentary film and public affairs programming. Narrated by Alfre Woodard, Soft […]