Here are the written materials from our Sept 12 CLE: Fighting for the Freedom of Political Prisoners.
Assembling Parole Packets and Advo Letters Memo 7.31.2019Africa v. Digulielmo_ 2004 Habeas Decision Challenging ConvictionIL Parole Training Materials
A siege. A bomb. 48 dogs. And the black commune that would not surrender _ World news _ The Guardian Janet Africa Habeas Memo
Post-bar bar night: TLC from the NLG
When: Monday, August 5th from 5:30-8:00
Where: Lagunitas Brewing company
Wander out on the brewery catwalks to watch the magic of beer production. Catch up with your friends in the NLG community. Most importantly, DRINK BEER from the Lagunitas taproom, because all proceeds benefit NLG Chi. Free vegan food!
If you are taking the bar exam in July 2019, there will be one free drink with your admission, AND a free super hero cape. If you aren’t taking the bar exam this summer, support the NLG by buying drinks – for the superheroes in capes and yourself too.
This event is only $10 for admission, but wait! YOU CAN GET IN FREE! We are offering FREE ADMISSION to anyone who signs up to be a monthly donor on our website. Simply sign up to donate at any amount on nlgchicago.org/foundation, and check the box for “Recurring donation.” You will automatically be issued a free ticket to this event for becoming a monthly donor at any level. Simple as that! AND if you sign up to be a monthly donor, you also get a free drink (but no superhero cape), even if you aren’t taking the bar in 2019.
Buy tickets today at www.tinyurl.com/NLGBarBash, or go to the Facebook event for more info. The venue is wheelchair accessible. For any other accessibility questions or concerns, please email chicago@nlg.org.
| Come support National Lawyers Guild Chicago! Join community activists, organizers, legal workers, law students, and lawyers at our annual celebration as we honor #NoCopAcademy with our Next Gen Award and Melinda Power with the Kinoy Award. Enjoy delicious vegan appetizers catered by Hel’s Kitchen, and entertainment provided by the amazing Free Write Sound & Vision! All of it to benefit National Lawyers Guild Chicago’s work supporting liberation movements.
This year’s event will take place on Friday, November 16th, 6:00pm – 9:00pm at Second Unitarian Church, 656 W. Barry. The Next Generation Award was established to honor the essential contribution of the next generation of Chicago activists, peoples lawyers, legal workers, and law students who have engaged in inspiring and relevant organizing or legal work promoting equality and social justice, to the end that human rights shall be regarded as more sacred than property interests. The Arthur Kinoy Peoples Law Award is in honor of Arthur Kinoy, a celebrated and beloved member of the National Lawyers Guild who dedicated himself to using law in service of the People and encouraged generations of others to do the same. Arthur Kinoy was a fierce civil rights lawyer and an active Guild member for most of his adult life. |
Tickets available at https://nlg2018.brownpapertickets.com.
As part of the festivities of this year’s Annual May Day Party, the NLG-Chicago board awarded the Chicago Kent College of Law Student Chapter the Phenomenal Student Chapter Award in recognition of their excellent work and organizing. Here are but a few things they did last year:
Thanks for all your hard work, Kent Students. You’re an inspiration!
On March 27, the John Marshall National Lawyers Guild put together a panel of four attorneys from diverse public interest fields to discuss their practices and offer advice on navigating law school and developing a career as a people’s lawyer.
The speakers were:
Molly Armour
Criminal defense attorney at the Law Office of Molly Armour.
Emily Coffey
Housing justice attorney at the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law.
andre douglas pond cummings
Visiting professor at The John Marshall Law School.
Samoane Williams
Policy director at Raise the Floor Alliance.
Between March 5 and 7, the Kent NLG student chapter hosted three events for the NLG Week Against Mass Incarceration.
On March 5, Kent put together a panel discussion about the Chicago gang database and how ICE is using it for immigration enforcement. Officially known as the Strategic Subject List (SSL), the gang database is a “predictive policing” tool that CPD uses to surveil and target black and brown communities. The content of this deeply flawed database is being shared with ICE, leading to arrests, detention, and deportation actions against Chicago residents.
Activists and lawyers from Organized Communities Against Deportations,The Roderick & Solange MacArthur Justice Center, and Heartland Alliance’s National Immigrant Justice Center, working in various capacities on this issue, shared their experience and insight.
For more background information on ICE’s use of the gang database (and the gang database in general), check out these articles:
http://blackyouthproject.com/chicago-gang-database-deportation/
http://www.businessinsider.com/chicagos-experimental-policing-tool-is-hurting-people-2016-8
On March 6, Kent students organized a bake sale and raffle to raise $144 for Wilmer Catalan-Ramirez and his family. Mr. Catalan-Ramirez did not receive sufficient medical care for his gunshot wounds during his 10 months in detention following a warrant-less, and violent raid that left him with a broken shoulder on March 27, 2017. While he has been released after a long fight, he requires long-term medical care and therapy and cannot work to provide for his family. Mr. Catalan-Ramirez’s online fundraising is still active, if you didn’t get the chance to give please visit https://www.youcaring.com/wilmercatalanramirezandhisfamily-1075617
For March 7, Kent Students had First Defense Legal Aid give a training on station house defense. Law students and graduates eligible for a 711 license were trained to provide direct legal representation to clients in police custody all over Chicago for the period before a public defender is available.
Station house defense is a unique volunteer experience, and is part of the movement for police accountability, and helps protect Chicago residents from coercive police tactics. FDLA sponsored law students and graduates who are eligible for a 711 license, and applications were provided at the training.
