Featured Image: “BlackLivesMatter-George Floyd. Portland’s Epicenter. The Apple Store. June 14, 2020” by drburtoni / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

NLG Continues Intensified Mass Defense Efforts Amid Election

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: communications@nlg.org

NEW YORK—The National Lawyers Guild (NLG) is continuing its mass defense efforts in preparation for the possibility of a contested US presidential election, and uprisings that may emerge as a result. Many NLG chapters are partnering with Election Protection to provide volunteer attorneys, legal workers, and law students in the interest of fair and free elections.

The NLG Mass Defense Program has had an extremely busy year following the police murder of George Floyd and the mass movements for racial justice that reemerged this summer—and which continue today. Fueled by our volunteer members at local chapters, the Mass Defense Program is an organized infrastructure of Legal Observers, arrest hotlines, and on-call defense attorneys responding to mass arrests and police violence. The NLG released this elections know-your-rights page to help voters protect themselves and their vote, and defend themselves from instances of voter suppression, harassment, or intimidation they may encounter at the polls. 

Additionally, responding to broad concerns about the possibility for unlawful orders regarding the election, the NLG’s Military Law Task Force (MLTF) is providing new and expanded resources for attorneys, GI rights advocates, and servicemembers, including a phone line (619-463-2369) for free, confidential telephone consultations with attorneys to discuss possible illegal orders and related issues. See here for additional MLTF election-related resources for service members and advocates. 

As an organization committed to supporting peoples’ struggles for liberation, the NLG categorically refuses to provide legal support to white supremacists or other hate groups, who are repeatedly encouraged and emboldened by Trump and his administration. Regardless of who becomes the next US President, the NLG will continue its 83-year-long legacy of working in solidarity with communities fighting for a better world, where people and the planet are valued over profit and property. 

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The National Lawyers Guild, whose membership includes lawyers, legal workers, jailhouse lawyers, and law students, was formed in 1937 as the United States’ first racially-integrated bar association to advocate for the protection of constitutional, human and civil rights.

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