Member Recap: March 26, 2021


Welcome to the rebranded Member Recap, formerly known as the Member News Digest, where you can catch up on NLG news from the last two weeks.

Be sure to keep up with us in real time on social media, on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook


Upcoming & Recorded Webinars

TONIGHT: 7 PM EST/4 PM PST: I GOT A MONSTER Book Talk with NLG Maryland

Join NLG Maryland and authors of I Got a Monster (Brandon Soderberg, Baynard Woods, Lisa Snowden-McCray, and Debbie Levi) as they discuss corrupt policing in Baltimore and beyond.

REGISTER BY 6 PM EST/3 PM PST HERE.

PANEL: April 3, 5 PM EST/2 PM PST: Guardians or Warriors: Copaganda: How the Media Influences Our Perceptions of Law Enforcement with NLG Las Vegas

Save the date for this panel with Nissa D. Tzun, Daniel Lachance, and Lawrence Mower for part three of NLG Las Vegas’ “Guardians or Warriors” teach-in series on policing. The event will be streamed live at: fb.com/VegasNLG

Know Your Rights: Organizing Workplace Safety During COVID-19

Missed NLG San Francisco’s webinar last night? You can click here to read and learn more about their latest publication, the Know Your Rights: Employment & Labor During COVID-19 guide.

March 31st WEBINAR: How the Federalist Society’s Philosophies Took Over the Courts…& How Movement Lawyers Can Fight Back

Come by this webinar to learn more about the Federalist Society, a counter-establishment organization turned establishment. “This webinar will ask: How did they get there? What are the details of their agenda? How do they fund it? How are they organized? What can the left learn from them?”

Speaker: Michael Avery, former president of the National Lawyers Guild and one of the founders of the National Police Accountability Project. Moderator: Rachel Pickens, Executive Director, National Police Accountability Project.” REGISTER HERE

 


 

National, Committee, and Chapter Statements and News

NLG LA Condemns LAPD’s Militant Use of Force against Protestors Advocating on Behalf of Unhoused Residents at Echo Park Lake

Read this recent statement from NLG Los Angeles: “Last night, more than 200 people gathered in Echo Park to exercise their First Amendment Rights to protest the Los Angeles Police Department’s (“LAPD”) massive sweep of the houseless encampment community at Echo Park Lake. They were met by several hundred LAPD officers in riot gear who proceeded to brutalize, kettle, and detain not only protestors, but also NLG-LA’s Legal Observers, and journalists documenting the protest. Approximately 80 of these protestors were placed under formal arrest. LAPD’s unlawful and shameful policing tactics have been repeatedly called out by activists and organizers and extensively reported on by local and national media.”

Former NLG President Michael Ratner Publishes Memoir: MOVING THE BAR: My Life as a Radical Lawyer

The late Michael Ratner, who served as the President of both the NLG and the Center for Constitutional Rights, has published his memoir: MOVING THE BAR: My Life as a Radical Lawyer. Michael was committed to justice, representing incarcerated people at Guantanamo Bay after 9/11, and serving as Julian Assange’s principal lawyer in the U.S. You can read more and purchase the book here.

NLG Supports Jailhouse Lawyers Speak’s August and September Shut ‘Em Down Demonstrations

The NLG is proud to support the upcoming Shut ‘Em Down demonstrations at jails and prisons, organizing around the horrendous impact that COVID-19 has had on incarcerated people. In the words of the JLS press release: “Lives could have been saved if America was on the path of Abolition. We must struggle harder to close prisons, jails and to free people from the grips of American prison slavery. This is all stated while recognizing that we must develop effective strategies to have the billions of taxpayers dollars used to grow the prison industrial slave complex (PISC) redirected to the communities.”

Read more about the demonstrations, and find ways to support JLS, here.


NLG In The News

3/23/21 | The Justice Artist Shana Merola combines political activism and photography in artist talk

Take a look at this profile of NLG Michigan legal worker and artist Shana Merola, whose work weaves “in and out of activism and conceptual art” and “lies at the intersection of photography, grassroots organizing and the legal system.”

3/19/21 | The LA Times Judge strikes ordinance Beverly Hills used to charge protesters

“If convicted under the ordinance, demonstrators faced up to six months in jail. Friday’s ruling was met with relief by attorneys affiliated with the National Lawyers Guild, many of whom volunteered to defend clients in the case.

“Today’s ruling was the result of a tremendous group effort of dedicated volunteer attorneys who were collectively dumbfounded and deeply concerned by the Beverly Hills ordinance,” said attorney Jerod Gunsberg. “A law requiring silence from any public gathering of 10 or more people is absurd and unconstitutional on its face.”

 

3/16/21 | Chicago Tribune New legal clinic concentrates on cases of women languishing in the system for crimes against alleged abusers

Read through this cover story on NLG Chicago Board Member Rachel White-Domain and her work as Director of the Women and Survivor’s Project at Illinois Prison Project. Rachel’s work focuses on clients with a history of gender-based violence.

“Since getting funding last year the Women and Survivors Project has represented 30 clients in 15 clemency petitions, 14 administrative advocacy cases, four resentencing cases, one post-conviction case, and one appeal.

So far, five women have been released. Collectively that has added up to about 30 years of incarceration saved, White-Domain said.”

 

3/11/21 | The LA Times | Report faults LAPD for mishandling George Floyd unrest

A new report by the City Commission finds LAPD at fault for mishandling the protests.

“In one of the largest lawsuits, brought by Black Lives Matter Los Angeles, the National Lawyers Guild [LA] and others, protesters alleged the LAPD brutalized them with projectiles and batons and violated their constitutional rights by subjecting them to hours of inhumane treatment for infractions that warranted only street citations.”


Jobs

Members-Only Job Board

Are you searching for a movement-related legal or organizing job OR internship?

A reminder that all current NLG members have access to our Members-Only job board! This resource includes open positions for attorneys, paralegals, organizers, legal workers and law students.

Check it out at nlg.org/job-board (NOTE: you must be logged in with your nlg.org account to view this page). Have a job or internship listing you’d like to share with fellow Guild members? Send it to jobboard@nlg.org.

Posted in Member Recap, News.