Reserve your tickets for the 2013 Annual Dinner, now available at: https://nlgchicago.org/2013-annual-dinner/
by Admin
by Admin
Introducing our Newsletter for September 2013. Please enjoy and catch up on all the work the Chicago NLG and its committees have been up to!
by Admin
Chicago City-wide National Lawyers Guild presents:
(dis)Orientation *2013*
It’s not you, it’s law school.
Date: September 21, 11am-5pm (followed by HAPPY HOUR!). Lunch included.
Location: Chicago-Kent College of Law, 565 W. Adams St.
Panels Include:
*Welcome to the Guild!*
*Student Tips & Tricks–Surviving Law School without Losing Your Soul*
*Legal Observer AND First Defense Legal Aid Know Your Rights & Hotline Training!*
*Critical Theory: What You Won’t Hear in the Classroom*
*Radical Career Paths*
Interested in social justice lawyering?! NLG is the place to be! Get introduced to the Guild and find out what it’s all about. Plus, a chance to meet and network with NLG law students and Guild lawyers from all over the City!
RSVP by filling out this form: https://docs.google.com/
https://www.facebook.com/events/502601089831033/
In addition: NLG presents: LIVE Screen printing.
Upcycle your wardrobe with our live screen printing setup at (dis)Orientation! Bring your old clothes, pick an awesome design and ink color, and we’ll turn that forgotten sweater into something special.
Please join us afterwards for a special post Dis-O Next Gen Happy Hour with law students from all schools!
Come out to this special happy hour hosted by the Next Gen Committee and welcome students who have just completed the great DisOrientation program! Let’s show them the Guild community and and how great it is here in Chicago.
When: Saturday, Sept. 21st 5:00 – 7:00 p.m.
Where: Dylan’s Tavern and Grill
118 South Clinton Street (DisOrientation is at Kent so we want to be nearby)
Specials: Great food and great beer, and a full bar
$5 Corona,
$5 Modelo
$5 Dos Equis
Other specials to be announced that day
The Next Gen Happy Hour: Every month, the Next Gen Committee of the National Lawyers Guild of Chicago throws a happy hour to bring together young, progressive, and radical attorneys, law students, and legal workers to drink, socialize, organize, and relax. Join us!
by Admin
(Photo: Columbia SJP)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Tasha Moro
Communications Coordinator
(212) 679-5100, ext. 15
communications@nlg.org
IN VICTORY FOR STUDENT FREE SPEECH, DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION DISMISSES COMPLAINTS:
Decisions on Three California Campuses Defeat Attempts to Silence Campus Activism around Palestine
Berkeley – Civil rights organizations this week welcomed news that the Department of Education’s (DOE) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has closed three investigations against three University of California schools, at Berkeley, Santa Cruz, and Irvine, which falsely alleged that Palestinian rights activism created an anti-Semitic climate. The complaints underlying the investigation claimed that student protests and academic programming in support of Palestinian rights and critical of Israel “created a hostile environment for Jewish students.”
“We are pleased that these baseless complaints have been dismissed, though puzzled by the amount of time it took to reach this result. The National Lawyers Guild will continue to defend the free speech rights of students to engage in sharp criticism of Israel,” said NLG attorney Matt Ross.
“The organized legal bullying campaigns have failed,” said attorney Nasrina Bargzie, of Advancing Justice-Asian Law Caucus (ALC), who alongside attorneys from Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) and the National Lawyers Guild (NLG) advocated for the students whose activism was scrutinized in the investigations.
“OCR’s decision in these cases confirms the obvious – that political activity advocating for Palestinian human rights does not violate the civil rights of Jewish students who find such criticism offensive, and that, to the contrary, colleges and universities have an obligation to create an environment that supports freedom of expression.” said Bargzie.
In its letter to UC Berkeley, OCR officials stated that student demonstrations in support of Palestinian rights “constituted expression on matters of public concern directed to the university community. In the university environment, exposure to such robust and discordant expressions, even when personally offensive and hurtful, is a circumstance that a reasonable student in higher education may experience. In this context, the events that the complainants described do not constitute actionable harassment.”
“We speak out on campus about matters of fundamental human rights. Students at institutions that are all about learning deserve to be part of robust discussion about one of the most pressing human rights issues of our time,” said Taliah Mirmalek, a student at UC Berkeley and a member of Students for Justice in Palestine.
The Berkeley complaint was filed in July 2012 by two attorneys who had previously filed an unsuccessful federal lawsuit on similar grounds. The Berkeley investigation was the latest of the three to be open; the Santa Cruz investigation was opened in March 2011, and the Irvine investigation in 2007.
A number of legal and advocacy groups, including Advancing Justice – ALC, CAIR, CCR, NLG, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, American Muslims for Palestine, the Arab American Institute, and American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California have worked to challenge the misuse of civil rights law to intimidate students and dissuade them from advocating for Palestinian rights on campus.
“Students have faced a pervasive stigma that at times negatively impacted our ability to fundraise and hold events on campus, and even intimidated some of our peers into silence,” said Rebecca Pierce, a recent graduate of UC Santa Cruz and member of the Committee for Justice in Palestine. “However, we feel vindicated that the DOE has rejected this attack on our freedom of expression, and we will continue to advocate in accordance with our values regarding human rights and social justice.”
“The First Amendment unequivocally protects the activities that were targeted in these complaints – holding demonstrations, distributing flyers, street theatre – criticizing the governmental policy of the State of Israel and supporting Palestinian human rights. It is long past time that students engaging in First Amendment activities are able to do so without fear,” said Liz Jackson, Cooperating Counsel with CCR, who also worked with the targeted students. “While there continue to be threats of Title VI complaints against other universities, we are confident that OCR recognizes these claims as attempts to silence certain speech on Israel/Palestine, and do not present viable claims of discrimination against Jewish students,” said Jackson.
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QUICK LINKS:
by Admin
Next Gen Post Bar Exam Celebratory Happy Hour at Clark Street Ale House!
Come out and celebrate those who have finished the bar and enjoy a great summer happy hour!
When: Friday, August 2nd, 5:30 – 8:30 p.m.
Where: Clark Street Ale House 742 North Clark Street
Hopefully on the back patio!
The Next Gen Happy Hour: Every month, the Next Gen Committee of the National Lawyers Guild of Chicago throws a happy hour to bring together young, progressive, and radical attorneys, law students, and legal workers to drink, socialize, organize, and relax. Join us!
by Admin
In Wake of New Marijuana Laws, NLG Report Contrasts Legalization Strategies and Obstacles
Traci Yoder
Senior Researcher, National Lawyers Guild
traci@nlg.org
(212) 679-5100, ext. 12
New York
In November 2012, Washington and Colorado became the first states—and the first jurisdictions in the world—to legalize the possession, use, and regulated distribution of marijuana. Although Attorney General Eric Holder promised in March 2013 to announce a Department of Justice policy to address the state initiatives, the White House has yet to take a position. This shifting legal terrain is the subject of “High Crimes: Strategies to Further Marijuana Legalization Initiatives,” a new report by the National Lawyers Guild (NLG).
The NLG report analyzes the legalization process under way in the states, suggests strategies to further marijuana legalization initiatives, and highlights current obstacles to ending prohibition. Among the NLG recommendations: reframe drug use as a public health issue rather than a criminal justice problem, challenge the punitive international drug policy framework, support states’ rights to regulate marijuana use, and reclassify marijuana to allow for medical research.
“High Crimes” also calls attention to the role of law enforcement agencies and private prison industry interventions in the field of US drug policy. “It is crucial to examine who profits from the continued prohibition of marijuana,” said NLG Senior Researcher Traci Yoder, the report’s author. “The increasing militarization of police forces is funded through property and financial seizures during drug arrests. Continued profit making by private corrections corporations is contingent upon ever-increasing rates of incarceration.”
As the nation waits for a response from the White House, the NLG joins other organizations and individuals in calling for the end to marijuana prohibition. “Marijuana legalization will create new jobs, generate millions of dollars in tax revenue, and allow law enforcement to focus on serious crimes,” said Brian Vicente, NLG member and one of the primary authors of Colorado’s legalization amendment. “It would be a travesty if the Obama administration used its power to impose marijuana prohibition upon a state whose people have declared, through the democratic process, that they want it to end.”
The report, “High Crimes: Strategies to Further Marijuana Legalization Initiatives,” can be accessed on the NLG website at www.nlg.org.
The National Lawyers Guild is the oldest and largest public interest/human rights bar organization in the United States. Its headquarters are in New York and it has members in every state.