637 South Dearborn Street, Third Floor
Chicago, Illinois 60605
Ph: 312-913-0039
Fax: 312-913-0045
contact@nlgchicago.org
www.nlgchicago.org
"...to the end that human rights shall be regarded as more sacred than property interests."
The National Lawyers Guild is dedicated to the need for basic and progressive change in the structure of our political and economic system. Through its members -- lawyers, law students, jailhouse lawyers, and
legal workers united in chapters and committees -- the Guild works locally, nationally and internationally as an effective political and social force in the service of the people.
Our aims:
. to eliminate racism;
. to safeguard and strengthen the rights of workers, women, farmers and minority groups, upon whom the welfare of the entire nation depends;
. to maintain and protect our civil rights and liberties in the face of persistent attacks upon them;
. to use the law as an instrument for the protection of the people, rather than for their repression.
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 Legal
Observers
How to request legal observers
Donate to NLG Chicago
The NLG Legal Observer Program is part of a comprehensive system of legal
support coordinated by the Guild to enable people to express their political
views as fully as possible, without unconstitutional disruption or
interference by the government, and with the least onerous consequences from
the criminal justice system.
LOs work under the supervision of Legal Observer program coordinators, who
are attorneys licensed to practice law in the state of Illinois. LOs include
attorneys, paralegals, legal workers, and law students, who have
participated in attorney-supervised training. Trainings emphasize
professionalism, ethics, nonviolence, and the requirement that non-attorneys
avoid the unauthorized practice of law. No NLG LOs ever tell demonstrators
what to do, nor ever make political or tactical decisions. LOs who are lawyers
may describe possible legal consequences.
LO activities, 2006:
5/4/06 — NLG Chicago provided 6 LOs for an anti-racist demonstration in the largely-Latino neighborhood Logan Square, when the white-supremacist vigilante organization "The Minutemen" attempted to appear in public. There was one arrest and one incident of detain-and-release. NLG Chicago recent-graduate and "Next Generation" attorney Robert Ludemann later represented the arrested man and the case was settled favorably.
5/1/06 — NLG Chicago provided a number of LOs for the demonstration in support of immigrants' rights, drawing more than 500,000 protesters.
4/8/06 — 4/11/06 B NLG Chicago provided at least 1 or 2 LOs for nearly every public activity of the environmentalist groups who arrived from out of town to protest the Biotechnology Industry conference.
3/18/06 — NLG Chicago provided a large contingent of LOs for the demonstrations and march down Michigan Avenue on the third anniversary of the illegal Iraq war, which drew an estimated 10,000 participants. The activity was a first experience for recently-trained LOs and an opportunity for the LO team to work together in a very large crowd with a very heavy presence of law enforcement officials from several agencies.
There were a number of incidents that approached denial of access to public space and called for LOs to exercise judgment in approaching police supervisors with questions about police deployment. There were several intentionally-intimidating displays of police strength. There were no arrests and no use-of-force incidents.
1/31/06 — NLG Chicago provided 7 LOs for the World Can't Wait demonstration and impromptu march through the Loop on the night of George W. Bush's State of the Union address.
1/21/06 — NLG Chicago provided 2 LOs for early-morning the demonstration in front of the Planned Parenthood office, where pro-joice activists honored the 33d anniversary of Roe v. Wade, countering anti-choice groups regularly present at Planned Parenthood. The weather was cold, but the activity was uneventful.
1/6/06 — Eleven LOs were present at the protest of George W. Bush's speech at the Chicago Hilton for the Economic Club of Chicago. There were no arrests, and an impromptu march from Grant Park to Columbia College transpired without incident.
LO activities, 2005:
12/3/05 — NLG Chicago provided LOs for a small but vocal demonstration against Hillary Clinton outside of the Crobar Nightclub.
NLG Chicago provided 5 legal observers
for "The World Can't Wait
- Drive Out the Bush Regime" on November 2. The rally at the Federal plaza
and march through the Loop included nearly 1 thousand activists from a wide
variety of movements and groups. The event was permitted for a Federal plaza
rally and a march in the streets (as opposed to sidewalks). The heavy
Chicago police presence, including about 2 hundred officers in partial or
full riot dress, was noteworthy. Attorneys for the police department and
over a dozen senior members of the superintendent's command staff were
present. Mounted and bicycle officers also policed the event. There were no
arrests, no documented uses-of-force, and no documented instances of denial
of public space or interference with First-Amendment protected activities.
NLG Chicago provided one legal observer
for "A Funeral for the Bill of Rights," sponsored by the
Chicagoland Coalition for Civil Rights and Liberties
on November 1. In a guerilla-theater cortege from the Tribune Tower in River
North to the Federal Plaza in the Loop, mourners decried the USA Patriot
Act's assassination of the Bill of Rights. Members of the Chicago police
bicycle unit lightly policed the evening rush hour march. There were no
arrests, no documented uses-of-force, and no documented instances of denial
of public space or interference with First-Amendment protected activities.
NLG Chicago provided 7 legal observers
for a pro-academic freedom rally at DePaul
University Lincoln Park campus, on October 20, 2005. Professor Ward
Churchill had been invited to speak, and the event had come under threat of
violent disruption. The activity was uneventful.
9/24/05 — A contingent of LOs from Chicago attended the anti-war rally and march held in Washington, D.C.
9/13/05 — LOs were present at an anti-war rally and march beginning at Daley Plaza.
NLG Chicago organized more than a dozen legal observers for the March 19,
2005 demonstrations. The team included veteran lawyers, paralegals, law
students, recent grads, and new lawyers. They observed eight arrests. Their
mission included monitoring use-of-force by Chicago police. Mounted officers
used their horses to shove marchers, including at least one family with a
child in a stroller, off Dearborn Street onto the Federal plaza, and into
barricades.
For several hours into the evening after the protest, NLG Chicago worked to
locate all arrestees, including sending attorneys to two district police
stations.
How to request legal observers
Donate to NLG Chicago
Due to the numerous efforts from the Legal Observers who regularly participate in the Chicago program, local activists have become familiar with those in NLG Chicago "Red Hats" as protecting civil liberties on a grass roots level. (The famous Red Hats are being retired in favor green, which is used nationally.)
The Chapter receives requests nearly every week for observers to attend events, and we can always use more assistance.
If you are interested in being trained to monitor police tactics at demonstrations, please let us know at contact@nlgchicago.org.
We would also appreciate donations so that we can purchase the indispensable green hats, as the increasing interest has exhausted our supply.
How to request legal observers
Donate to NLG Chicago
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