NLG CHICAGO

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NLG to Provide Legal Support for Chicago NATO Demonstrations

National Lawyers Guild to Provide Legal Support for Chicago NATO Demonstrations
Support effort to include recording police misconduct, staffing a legal hotline & criminal defense

Chicago, IL — The National Lawyers Guild (NLG) will be providing legal support to political protesters in Chicago this week as several demonstrations are set to occur in advance of and during the NATO summit on May 20th & 21st. The Guild has already been working with protest organizers to secure rally and march permits, and will extend those efforts to include: staffing a legal hotline, conducting Know Your Rights trainings, dispatching Legal Observers throughout the city to record police misconduct, and representing people who have been arrested and criminally charged.

The NATO summit has been designated as a National Special Security Event (NSSE) and the policing apparatus set up to respond to protest activity is under the authority of the U.S. Secret Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Historically, NSSEs have led to widespread violations of people’s constitutional rights, including heavy surveillance and infiltration, preemptive raids by police and other administrative agencies, as well as harassment and intimidation used to chill political protest.

The city’s intolerance to political protest was brought into question after it refused to allow Occupy Chicago activists to demonstrate in Grant Park last October, arresting more than 300 people in the process. More than 90 of those cases are still being prosecuted. In February, 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.

“The police have again been harassing activists in the Occupy movement who came to Chicago to protest this week,” said Sarah Gelsomino with the NLG and the People’s Law Office. “The city should be on notice that the Guild will be vigilant in recording actions that are aimed at preventing political protest.”

The Guild is widely disseminating its legal hotline number, which is 312-913-0039, to provide activists with a way to contact legal support staff and for friends and loved ones to find out the status of people who have been arrested.

National Lawyers Guild media liaisons are available for interviews:
Kris Hermes 510-681-6361 or krishermes@earthlink.net
Sarah Gelsomino 773-520-8246 or sarahgelsomino@gmail.com

Other ways of getting information from the NLG include:
www.NLGChicago.org
www.Facebook.com/NLGChicago
Twitter: @NLGChicago

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NLG NATO HOTLINE

312-913-0039 

As part of our commitment to providing legal support and defense work to activists protesting against the NATO summit in Chicago, Chicago NLG will be staffing a 24-hour hotline throughout the NATO summit.

Call 312-913-0039 to report arrests, police misconduct, request legal observers, of for any other legal support needs.

 

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Occupy Chicago Activists Back in Court


MEDIA ADVISORY
Chicago Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild
For Immediate Release: March 27, 2012
Contact: NLG Legal Worker Kris Hermes 510-681-6361 or NLG Attorney Sarah Gelsomino 773-520-8246

More than Ninety Occupy Chicago Activists Back in Court Wednesday Seeking Dismissal of Charges
City continues to use procedural issues to drag out legal cases and duck claims of First Amendment violations

Chicago, IL— At least 94 Occupy Chicago defendants will have their day in court again Wednesday, as the city uses procedural issues to drag out the legal cases and avoid accountability for what National Lawyers Guild attorneys are saying were clear First Amendment violations. The cases stem from arrests last 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 and are being represented by Guild attorneys and others, who will be arguing motions to dismiss on Wednesday at 1:30pm in Daley Center.What:

Court hearing aimed at dismissing the charges against more than 90 Occupy Chicago defendants

When:

Wednesday, March 28th at 1:30pm

Where:

Room 1307 of the Daley Center, 50 W. Washington Street, Chicago

“The city is showing its intolerance of the First Amendment by refusing to relent against activists arrested last year for protesting in the park,” 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. “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.”

Although hundreds of Occupy Chicago activists were arrested last year with many of them jailed for up to 24 hours, the city is now claiming that the resulting legal cases are civil, not criminal. The city is also using legal procedure to omit defendant affidavits — the statements of arrested Occupy Chicago activists — in an attempt to drag out the proceedings.

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 more than 90 Occupy Chicago defendants who are seeking a dismissal of their charges, more than half say they will go to trial if their motions to dismiss are denied.

“The city’s posture on the Occupy Chicago cases casts serious doubts about its respect for and ability to uphold the rights of dissidents in advance of the NATO demonstrations in May,” continued Gelsomino. Also, just last month, 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.

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

Contact

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

chicago[@]nlg.org