At its annual Law for the People Convention held this year in Oakland, CA, NLG membership voted to pass two resolutions: one supporting the abolition of prisons, and another calling on the US Government to formally normalize relations with Cuba—both of which exemplify the Guild’s mission of holding human rights over property interests.
Below are excerpts from each resolution. Click on the titles to read them in full. All previous NLG resolutions are available here.
Resolution Supporting the Abolition of Prisons
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the National Lawyers Guild at its 2015 Law for the People Convention calls for the d
ismantling and abolition of all prisons, and of all aspects of systems and institutions that support, condone, create, fill, or protect prisons. The NLG commits itself to supporting grassroots organizing efforts, policy initiatives, and litigation that promotes or moves toward abolition, including: the rights and organizing of prisoners, the defunding and closure of prisons and redirection of prison and policing budgets into social and human services as well as reentry support; legalization of drug use and sex work; release of prisoners serving life without parole and other inhumane sentences, decreased use of solitary confinement, and efforts to prevent construction of new prisons.
Resolution on Normalizing Relations with Cuba
