By Gerard Niles Monticello, FL I am writing in response to “Mississippi DOC Manipulates Grievance Procedures to Avoid Conditions of Confinement Suits,” by Charles Owens, II in the Summer/Fall 2016 issue of Guild Notes. If a state prison grievance procedure is meaningful and not futile, it will contain a section of time frames, with a […]
Issues: Guild Notes Vol. 41, No. 4 (Winter 2016)
BEYOND BARS: Pattern of Discrimination Against Disabled Individuals
Hunter Lee Weeks, Paralegal Sterling, CO In an attempt by several incarcerated individuals to regain rights they have lost, a pattern of discrimination has emerged, perpetrated by the Colorado Department of Corrections (DOC) at Sterling Correctional Facility (SCF). Several inmates have filed a Title II complaint with the Department of Justice (DOJ) alleging various instances […]
BEYOND BARS: There is Hope
By Robert L. Brown San Luis, AZ There exists so much frustration, as to a loss of light, with a sense of darkness trying to engulf one’s light, being an individual in prison means living daily on a treacherous, at times torturous terrain between doubt and faith, despair and hope. Merely, this is a mild […]
BOOK REVIEW: Len, A Lawyer in History by Seth Tobocman
Reviewed by Jim Lafferty, NLG-Los Angeles President Emeritus Len, A Lawyer in History: A Graphic Biography of Radical Attorney Leonard Weinglass by Seth Tobocman, Edited by Paul Buhle & Michael Steven Smith (AK Press, 2016) I never cared for graphic books—then I read Seth Tobocman’s fine graphic biography of the great American lawyer, Leonard Weinglass. […]
Portland City Council Adopts Police Union Contract over Strong Community Objections; Arrests Demonstrators
By Ashlee Albies & Kristen Chambers, NLG-PDX Portland, OR police accountability advocates have worked for years to change terms embedded in the City’s collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with the police union, arguing they impede oversight and accountability. On October 12, 2016, the Portland City Council adopted a CBA over strenuous community objections, surrounded City Hall […]
NLG Legal Teams Respond to Retaliation against Prisoners in the Wake of the 9/9 Strike
Paul Stanley Holdorf, Esq., NLG New Jersey Chapter In the wake of the September 9th work stoppage, a wide variety of prisoners’ rights violations emerged in large numbers across multiple jurisdictions. Prisoners from Washington State to Florida reported being subjected to excessive uses of force, segregation and disciplinary findings without due process, increases in security […]
Unconventional: The Guild at the 2016 RNC & DNC
By King Downing, NLG Director of Mass Defense Movement legal work for the conventions was a big success, thanks to hard working chapter coordinators Jocelyn Rosnick and Jacqueline Greene, NLG Ohio, and Mary Catherine Roper and Michelle Grant, NLG Philadelphia. Members and staff from across the country also joined the efforts. Each city was divided […]
Inaugural NLG Weinglass Fellowship Triples Capacity for Chicago Community Bond Fund
By Max Suchan, NLG Chicago From August through October 2016, Chicago NLG member Max Suchan received the first annual NLG Weinglass Fellowship to work full time for the Chicago Community Bond Fund (CCBF). This grant, named after renowned criminal defense attorney and constitutional law advocate Leonard Weinglass and made possible from a generous bequest from […]
Moving Beyond Brock Turner: Focusing on Mass Incarceration
By Audrey Bomse, Sharlyn Grace, and the Mass Incarceration Committee of the NLG In January 2015, Brock Turner sexually assaulted an unconscious woman behind a dumpster outside a Stanford University frat party. He was convicted of felony sexual assault and received six months in jail—far less than the 14 year maximum. Outrage at Turner’s short […]