2012 NLG Midwest Regional Conference
2012 NLG Midwest Regional Conference:
Now’s the Time!
Rising Up for Human Rights
Save the date — March 23 to March 25! Join the Midwest region of the National Lawyers Guild for our annual conference in Chicago, hosted by Chicago-Kent NLG. Join the NLG Chicago Chapter and others from the Midwest as we gather together to reflect, learn, catch up, and recharge.
This year we will be focusing on the timely issues of mass incarceration, immigration, continued attacks on workers’ rights, protest, and more! There will be informative panels as well as a choice of practical workshops in the afternoon. More than ever it is time for us to come together and rise up as basic human rights are being attacked.
March 23-25, 2012
IIT Chicago-Kent School of Law
565 West Adams Street
Chicago, Illinois
Brief Schedule
Friday Night, March 23 | Welcome Social (hosted by Next Gen Chicago)
Saturday, March 24 | Conference
Sunday, March 25 | Caucuses & Trainings
Panels
Which Way Forward for the Guild: Legal Work for the Movement in Times of Change
Workers Fighting Back: Responses to Austerity, Attacks on Unions, and Economic Inequality
Stopping the School-to-Prison Pipeline: Keeping Kids Out of Prison
Legal Response to Mass Political Protest, NSSEs, and the NATO/G8
Workshops
Crimmigration 101: A Primer on Navigating the Immigration Consequences of Criminal Cases
How To Win Section 1983 Wrongful Conviction Cases
Registration
To register, go to: http://tinyurl.com/cknlg2012
For more information, click here!
Update on February 16th Hearing on Occupy Chicago Motions to Dismiss
Dear Occupy Chicago Sisters and Brothers:
If you have any questions regarding any of these matters, please contact your attorney, or the National Lawyers Guild at www.nlgchicago.org. Thank you.
Update from February 15th Hearing on Occupy Chicago Motions to Dismiss
Sisters and Brothers of Occupy Chicago:
Thank you to everybody who came down to the Daley Center this afternoon for the first hearing on the Motion To Dismiss. For those of you unable to attend, John Stainthorp and Tom Durkin did an excellent job arguing the Motion of behalf of all the defendants. However, due to several unresolved legal issues in the matter, the judge was not able to make a ruling on the Motion, and the hearing will now be continued for several more court dates. Here’s what we have scheduled going forth:
-TOMORROW, February 16th, we will return to Room 1307 of the Daley Center at 1:30PM to address issues pertaining to your bonds. This will have an important effect on your ability to travel out of state, or to remain “green” for future political actions, in addition to the impact it will have on this case. Your lawyer, or someone from the NLG, will contact you tomorrow evening to inform you of the judge’s decision.
-The City will have until February 29th to file their Motion to Strike Affidavits, to which we will have until March 14th to file a Response Memorandum, to which the City will have until March 28th to file their Reply Memorandum in turn. None of these dates involve a return to court, as this is just some procedural business.
-The hearing on the Motion To Strike Affidavits, which will involve us returning to court, is set for April 18th, again in Room 1307 at 1:30PM
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact your attorney, or the National Lawyers Guild at www.nlgchicago.org.
Ninety Occupy Chicago Activists Go to Court Seeking Dismissal of Charges
MEDIA ADVISORY
Chicago Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild
For Immediate Release: February 15, 2012
Ninety Occupy Chicago Activists Go to Court TODAY Seeking Dismissal of Charges
National Lawyers Guild will argue First Amendment protections trump park curfew violationsChicago, IL — Motions to dismiss the charges against at least 90 Occupy Chicago activists will be heard Wednesday at 1:30pm in Daley Center. The cases stem from arrests in October of more than 300 people who were charged with violating a city-imposed curfew at Grant Park. Nearly a third of those arrested have chosen to fight their charges based on First Amendment grounds. National Lawyers Guild will be arguing for dismissal on behalf of the Occupy Chicago defendants before Municipal Court Judge E. Kenneth Wright.
What:
Court hearing to dismiss the charges against at least 90 Occupy Chicago defendants
When:
Wednesday, February 15th at 1:30pm
Where:
Room 1307 of the Daley Center, 50 W. Washington Street, Chicago
“It’s an outrage that the city is spending precious tax-payer dollars to prosecute frivolous cases, while being unwilling to give an inch to accommodate the free speech rights of Occupy Chicago activists,” said Sarah Gelsomino with the People’s Law Office, and one of the Guild attorneys who filed motions to dismiss on behalf of the defendants. The Guild has been defending Occupy Chicago activists since their arrest at Grant Park.
“This intolerance of political protest in Chicago casts serious doubts about the city’s respect for and ability to uphold the rights of dissidents in advance of the NATO/G8 demonstrations,” continued Gelsomino. “The needless arrest and prosecution of hundreds of Occupy Chicago activists sets a distressing precedent as thousands of people are expected to protest here in May.” Just last week, the city settled an NLG-led class action lawsuit for $6.2 million, in which more than 700 anti-war protesters were wrongfully arrested in 2003.
Approximately 175 people were arrested on quasi-criminal charges in the early morning hours of October 15th as activists remained protesting in the park after 11pm. A week later, on October 22nd, another 130 people were similarly arrested. Not only did the city refuse to grant Occupy Chicago an ongoing presence in any of the city’s public parks, it also has so far refused to dismiss any of the cases unless defendants agree to perform 10 hours of community service.
Of the 90 Occupy Chicago defendants who are seeking a dismissal of their charges, nearly half say they will go to trial if their motions to dismiss are denied. A ruling by Judge Wright is expected on Wednesday or shortly thereafter.
The Guild has also supported the Occupy Wall Street movement in dozens of other cities around the country through its Legal Observer™ program and by defending hundreds of people who have been arrested.
The National Lawyers Guild was founded in 1937 and is the oldest and largest public interest/human rights bar organization in the United States. Its headquarters are in New York and it has chapters in every state.
Further information:
Sample NLG motion to dismiss: https://nlgchicago.org/wp-content/uploads/NLG-Motion-to- Dismiss.pdf # # #
NLG Attorneys Win $6.2 Million Settlement In Class Action Against Chicago Police
CITY OF CHICAGO AGREES TO PAY $6.2 MILLION IN CLASS ACTION FOR PROTESTORS ARRESTED AT 2003 ANTI-WAR PROTEST
A settlement has been reached in the class action law suit Vodak v. City of Chicago, brought against the Chicago Police Department on behalf of over 700 protestors who were falsely arrested during a demonstration against the Iraq war on March 20, 2003. On that date, over 10,000 protestors demonstrated in Chicago against the U.S. invasion of Iraq, marching through downtown streets and up Lake Shore Drive before Chicago Police surrounded, detained and arrested over 700 people.
Last year an important victory was achieved in the case when the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals issued an opinion which strongly criticized the City of Chicago for its treatment of the demonstrators and reinstated the case after it had been dismissed by the District Court. This opinion, which holds that the City cannot arrest peaceful demonstrators without warning, merely because they do not have a permit, will apply to all future demonstrations.
Now, on the eve of trial, the City has finally agreed to settle this case, agreeing to provide a total of $6.2 Million to compensate the more than 700 class members.
The class is made up of three different sub-classes and the potential compensation each class member receives will depend on which sub-class they are in.
– A-3 sub-class: those who were arrested, charged and had to go to court, will receive up to $15,000
– A-2 sub-class: those arrested and released without being charged, will receive up to $8,750
– A-1 sub-class: those who were held on the street for over 90 minutes, will receive up to $500
In addition, there will be additional payments to persons who are named in the lawsuit as the class representatives and class members who were required to give depositions in the case.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs will also be negotiating with the City and petitioning the court to separately pay their legal fees and the costs of the case. This payment will be in addition to the $6.2 million paid to their clients.
There were also instances of police brutality that night and lawyers working on the case have previously settled a number of excessive force cases totaling over $300,000 in compensation for those who had handcuff injuries, broken bones and wounds requiring stitches.
This case is important not only to the class members and their attorneys, but also for civil liberties, as it scores a significant victory for the right to demonstrate in Chicago. This substantial settlement will send an unequivocal message to the City of Chicago and its police department that they must respect the right to free speech and assembly.
The class action lawsuit has been litigated by a legal team of attorneys and legal workers who are all members of the National Lawyers Guild. People’s Law Office attorneys Janine Hoft, Joey Mogul, Sarah Gelsomino and John Stainthorp, along with attorneys Melinda Power and Jim Fennerty, as well as paralegal Brad Thomson of People’s Law Office, have litigated the case for almost nine years.
For more information or updates on the settlement, visit peopleslawoffice.com or follow People’s Law Office on facebook and Twitter.
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