NLG CHICAGO

by

Continuing the Fight Against White Supremacy After Charlottesville

August 14, 2017

Contact: Pooja Gehi, Executive Director
212-679-5100,ext. 11 | director@nlg.org

or Tasha Moro, Communications Director
212-679-5100, ext. 15 | communications@nlg.org

NEW YORK—The National Lawyers Guild (NLG), founded in 1937 as the first racially-integrated, human rights bar association, is committed to ending white supremacy in all its forms.  Our hearts go out to the family and friends of Heather Heyer, who was murdered was while standing up to racism and fascism, as well as the 19 additional counter-protesters injured at the “Unite the Right Free Speech Rally” in Charlottesville, VA this weekend.

Primarily through local NLG chapters, the NLG provides mass defense legal support for anti-racist community organizers participating in protest actions and other demonstrations.  In Charlottesville, this support included:

As an organization committed to human rights, the NLG categorically refuses to provide legal support to white supremacists or other hate groups.

“The Charlottesville community experienced multiple waves of horror this weekend. NLG trained Legal Observers were on the ground watching as those who terrorized our community by fulfilling their promises to enact violence. Our hearts our broken but our chapter is united and resolute in our determination to provide legal support to organizers who will continue to protect Charlottesville,” said Andrew Mahler, NLG Central VA Chapter Chair.

While the hateful rhetoric and policies of President Donald Trump and his administration have emboldened racists to assert their “right” to hate speech and violence, the United States was founded in white supremacy—it is nothing new. It is in the spirit of dismantling this oppression that we move forward in the struggle to liberate our institutions, society, and culture.

Photo: NLG Legal Observers in Charlottesville, VA, August 12, 2017.

by

The Case of Palestinian Community Leader Rasmea Odeh

After a three year fight to oppose a politically motivated federal indictment charging her with failing to disclose her 1969 arrest and imprisonment by Israeli military authorities in her naturalization citizenship application,  Rasmea Odeh plead guilty, in return for no time in prison or immigration custody. As a result, following her sentencing on August 17th, she will lose her citizenship and be required to leave her adopted home and beloved community.

Rasmea’s story, like most other Palestinians, is one of dispossession and repression. She was born in 1947 in Lifta, a Palestinian village outside Jerusalem. In 1948, as a result of Israeli aggression and “ethnic cleansing,” Rasmea and her family, along with 750,000 other Palestinians, were forced out of their homes by Zionist militias. The Odeh’s lost their home and all their possessions.

The family resettled on the West Bank of the Jordan River, then under the control of Jordan, when in 1967 the Israeli Army invaded and began its military occupation which continues to this day. Hundreds were arrested resisting the Occupation, and many were tortured and forced to sign false confessions. Rasmea, a college student, who was refused permission to return to school in Lebanon, was arrested in 1969. While in Israeli custody, she confessed to involvement in two bombings after she was tortured: sleep deprivation, beatings, sexual assault, rape and electro-shock.  Following her arrest, her parents’ West Bank home was demolished – a form of collective punishment that continues – and an Israeli military tribunal sentenced her to life in prison. Ten years later, Rasmea and other Palestinian woman prisoners were released in a prisoner exchange.

After living and working on behalf of refugees in Jordan, Rasmea came to the U.S. in 1995 to take care of her ailing father, and then relocated to Chicago in 2004, after obtaining her naturalized citizenship. In Chicago she joined the Arab-American Action Network (AAAN) where she founded a project supporting women’s empowerment, the Arab Women’s Committee.  Her work has become the model for other Arab women’s organizations across the country and she has received many awards recognizing her as an inspirational community leader.

Despite the final outcome, Rasmea’s legal fight raised important issues of Israeli torture and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) caused to Palestinian detainees, the kangaroo Israeli military courts, and how the government targeted Rasmea because of Palestine solidarity work.   Hundreds of supporters filled her court hearings and many more were educated about the Palestinian fight for justice.  We will miss Rasmea, but are confident wherever she is; she will be a strong voice for the human rights of the Palestinian people.

Written by Michael Deutsch and Jim Fennerty

by

Chi NLG Welcomes Skye Allen as our LO Coordinator & Matt McLoughlin as our MDC Coordinator

We are excited to announce that Skye Allen is our new Legal Observers Coordinator and Matt McLoughlin is our new local NLG Mass Defense Coordinator in Chicago! Matt will be responsible for responding to requests for criminal representation for activists who are arrested at political actions and pairing them with attorneys. Skye will be making sure that activists get the LO’s they request for their actions and help train new LO’s.

People facing criminal charges as a result of their political activity, including participating in demonstrations or direct actions, should call the NLG Mass Defense Coordinator at 773-309-1198 and leave a message with their name, phone number, charge(s), and date of next court appearance, or email nlg.chi.crimdefense@gmail.com. Matt will follow up with you to explain the next steps for representation. To request a Legal Observer for your next action, or to inquire how you can help the LO Program, contact Skye at chicago.lo.program@gmail.com

Matt is an activist and legal worker who was a main organizer with Occupy Chicago. A former mass defense client of NLG, he also worked in conjunction with NLG attorneys on the NATO 3 support committee. As a co-founder of the Chicago Community Bond Fund, Matt is currently one of the main volunteer coordinators and he plays a significant role within each of the organization’s four committees. Matt has extensive social media, volunteer management, and organizing skills, and he already possesses strong foundational knowledge about Chicago’s court system which are all skills that will make mass defense committee (MDC) work more effective. For the last few years, Matt has often coordinated with MDC’s legal observer teams to track arrestees and organize jail support.

Skye Allen moved to Chicago in 2002 to attend grad school. She was very active in the anti-war movement at the time. She started Law school in 2011 and immediately joined the NLG and became a Legal Observer. She was very active in the Mental Health Movement and protecting the Woodlawn Encampment. She helped professionalize the LO program in anticipation of NATO and became a coordinator of the program. When not LO-ing, she runs a solo practice defending parents against DCFS.

We wouldn’t be able to hire Matt and Skye to do this important work without your support. We also want to thank all of those who came to our May Day Party this year, all of the proceeds went to fund our Mass Defense Committee and Legal Observers Program. Since May 2015, NLG mass defense attorneys have represented over 500 activists facing city ordinance, misdemeanor, and felony charges. Be sure to keep your eye out for next years party, you see us on the streets and in the courts, we want you to join us on the dance floor!

Welcome Skye and Matt! We are grateful to have you!

by

JMLS Hosts The Path of Resistance: A Public Interest Symposium

The JMLS student chapters of the National Lawyers Guild and The American Constitution Society hosted a symposium on public interest law on Thursday, April 13th, as their final event of the semester.

Six attorneys from diverse public interest fields discussed their practices and offered advice on navigating law school and developing a career in people’s law.

Aneesha Gandhi is a Supervising Attorney at the National Immigrant Justice Center’s LGBT Immigration Rights Initiative. She primarily handles LGBT asylum cases.

Dima Khalidi is the founder and director of Palestine Legal. Her work focuses on advocating for and providing legal advice to Palestinian advocates.

Iveliz Orellano is an Assistant Cook County Public Defender and JMLS graduate. She began her career litigating civil rights and police misconduct cases.

Nicole Schult is an attorney at Uptown People’s Law Center. Her practice areas include: fair housing, social security, and prisoner’s rights.

Quinn Rallins is a community and health care justice attorney at the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law. He began his career as a clerk at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Equal Justice Initiative, and Greater Boston Legal Services.

Steven Saltzman has practiced law for over forty years. His practice areas include criminal defense, police brutality, and employment law.

 

by

Chi NLG Lawyers Representing New Era Chicago Arrestees

We are proud to have our volunteers representing all nine of the New Era Chicago and New Era Detroit members arrested during the #Hood2Hood community clean-up program two weekends ago.

Below is the full story republished from a statement from the Chicago Community Bond Fund:

On April 4th, CCBF posted bond to free Cody and Ron from Cook County Jail. They were both arrested on Saturday, April 1st at a Hood2Hood community engagement program and neighborhood cleanup in Englewood organized by New Era Detroit (NED) and New Era Chicago (NEC). Both New Era chapters organize for Black unity and empowerment. During the event, organizers knocked on neighborhood doors to inform Englewood residents of local resources in their community and picked up trash to help clean up the neighborhood.

As the program was drawing to a close, Chicago police physically attacked the organizers and arrested nine people, including two minors. Four people, including Cody and Ron, were charged with felony aggravated battery to police officers and misdemeanor resisting arrest. All four were given significant bonds at bond court on Monday, April 3rd. The New Era Detroit and Chicago chapters were able to post $6,000 in bond for two of their members charged with felonies, but Ron’s bond was set at $50,000 and Cody’s was set at $30,000. On Tuesday, CCBF posted the ten percent of their bonds required to free both from Cook County Jail. Below you can read NED’s press release about the arrests prior to the posting of bond. Everyone arrested at the Hood2Hood program is now out of custody!

CCBF proudly stands in support of liberation movements facing police repression for organizing against community disinvestment and white supremacy.
—–
“CHICAGO, IL – Several members of New Era Detroit (NED) and New Era Chicago (NEC)–the flagship chapters of the New Era Nation–were violently attacked & arrested by officers of the Chicago Police Department during their first #Hood2Hood community engagement program this past weekend.

The planned event was going well. NED and NEC members had spent the day cleaning and removing blight from several Chicago neighborhoods. They spoke to several residents & delivered a message of unity, hope, and empowerment. They also denounced the self-destructive violence impacting Chicagoans and other communities of color around the country. ‘Love of self’ was the message of the day; it was black, it was beautiful, and it was peaceful.

That’s when the Chicago police arrived and everything changed.

Witnesses reported that between 30-45 police officers, without provocation or warning, began beating members with their clubs, taking and destroying all Pan-African flags, screaming profanities, racial slurs, and shoving anyone in the area not wearing a police uniform. Some officers deployed their department issued Tasers. Others pointed their guns at anyone who wasn’t law enforcement. A Chicago fireman heard an officer issue a warning to the group: ‘This ends today. You guys and your fucking flags. Expect this every time we see you!’ Nine individuals were arrested & charged with felony counts of Aggravated Battery of a Peace Officer. Five were released the same day.

However, four members of the Detroit chapter–Zeek, Momma K, Cody, and Ron–remain in Chicago police custody. Each arrestee’s ten percent bonds have been set for $30,000 to $50,000.

The Detroit chapter’s legal team was able to secure legal assistance through attorneys from the National Lawyers Guild of Chicago who have committed to providing on-going legal support for those charged with felonies. ‘This is why we exist,’ Attorney Max Suchan, National Lawyers Guild of Chicago Mass Defense Coordinator, said. ‘We are dedicated to helping groups who are doing movement work whenever we can.'”

For more on the story, see the WGNTV article here.

Contact

637 S. Dearborn St., 3rd Floor
Chicago, IL 60605

chicago[@]nlg.org