NLG CHICAGO

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Action Alert! Oppose Anti-Protest Legislation in Illinois

Take Action Today to Oppose Anti-Protest Legislation in Illinois!
HB1633, the “Illinois Critical Infrastructure Bill” is currently in front of the Illinois Senate. The legislation is backed by the conservative lobbying group ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council) as a way to suppress climate justice protests. It will create new criminal offenses and increase penalties for “trespassing,” “interference” and “vandalism” at “Critical Infrastructures” like pipelines.
HB1633 was scheduled last minute for hearings TOMORROW, Tuesday, May 28, in the Criminal Law Committee and Subcommittee on CLEAR Compliance.
We, as the Chicago Chapter of NLG, have joined a coalition of other organizations opposed to HB1633.

Allied organizations are calling to take action today! Please fill out witness slips in OPPOSITION to this bill. The links to submit witness slips are below.

Hearing Notice For Criminal Law – 5/28/2019 10:01 AM
http://my.ilga.gov/WitnessSlip/Create/116175?committeeHearingId=17273&LegislationId=116175&LegislationDocumentId=147293

Hearing Notice For Subcommittee on CLEAR Compliance – 5/28/2019 10:00 AM
http://my.ilga.gov/WitnessSlip/Create/116175?committeeHearingId=17272&LegislationId=116175&LegislationDocumentId=147293&SCommittees5%2F30%2F2019-page=1&committeeid=0&chamber=S&nodays=7&_=1558651512971

In addition, please contact the Illinois Senators below, particularly if you are a constituent of any of the listed Senators.

The message is simple “The People of IL oppose HB1633 in any form” 

Senate President Cullerton’s office- (217) 782-2728

Members of the Criminal Law Committee:
District 52 Bennett (217) 782-2507
District 57 Belt (217) 782-5399
District 56 Crowe (217) 782-5247
District 10 Mulroe 217) 782-1035 
District 13 Peters (217) 782-5338

Also,send a “Thank You” for standing firm as a NO vote
Senator Sims (217) 782-3201
Senator Van Pelt (217) 782-6252 

For more background and information:

 

As part of National Lawyers Guild’s (NLG) mission to defend dissent and supporting human rights and environmental justice, NLG is opposed to bills like HB1633 that criminalize environmental activists.  At a national level, the NLG has publicly opposed similar “Critical Infrastructure” bills. NLG’s Director of Research and Education Traci Yoder has written about anti-protest bills like HB1633 and the broader attacks on the climate justice movement.
For more information on HB1633 and “Critical Infrastructure” bills like it:

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NLG CHI Demands: Move the CLE!

NLG Chicago, in partnership with the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, The Center for Constitutional Rights, and Palestine Legal, are demanding that the Chicago Bar Association’s March CLE conference be moved out of Jerusalem.  The National Lawyers Guild Chicago is deeply concerned that the Jerusalem CLE Conference discriminates against Chicago Bar members who would be denied the right to attend due to their religion, race or national origin, and lends legitimacy to Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land, in violation of international law.

Please sign our petition to move the CLE.

If you are a member of the Chicago Bar Association, please contact president Steven Elrod at steven.elrod@hklaw.com and tell him you want the CLE to be moved.

Read the full list of signatories to our letter.

Read our full letter to the Chicago Bar Association here.  NLG Letter to Chicago Bar Association.2.20.2019_Final

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NLG Chicago Annual Event 2018 – November 16!

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.

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NLG Chi hosts CLE on Direct Actions and Mass Mobilizations

On August 23, NLG Chicago hosted a workshop that focused on the unique situations that arise when representing organizers and activists arrested at mass mobilizations or direct actions, with an emphasis on supporting LGBTQ and HIV/AIDS movements. The presenters were Janine Hoft, attorney at People’s Law Office, who has decades of experience providing legal support to activists and has represented over 1,000 people arrested at protests, and Jeanne Kracher, Executive Director of Crossroads Fund and an organizer with extensive social justice experience and founding member of ACT-UP/Chicago. The event was moderated by Emmanuel Garcia, community organizer and founder of Vives Q, a public program by and for the Latinx LGBTQ community in Chicago.

The discussion drew upon Janine and Jeanne’s shared history of participation in and support of social movements from the 1980s to the present, from ACT-UP and International solidarity actions to protests against police brutality and the War in Iraq to movements for immigrant rights and economic justice.

They addressed how lawyers can empower their activist clients within a disempowering legal system and the role of a lawyer in advising and guiding clients while giving them agency to decide their own legal and political goals. The presenters also discussed the tension of zealously advocating for an individual client while also considering the collective goals of other defendants and a larger movement.

Jeanne Kracher reminded us, “The law is incomprehensible to anyone other than lawyers.”

This was the second event in an ongoing series of workshops provided by the Mass Defense Committee of NLG Chicago.

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NLG Chicago Is Hiring A Chapter Administrator

The National Lawyers Guild (NLG) was formed in 1937 as the country’s first integrated national bar association. The NLG is dedicated to the need for basic change in the structure of our political and economic system. We seek to unite the lawyers, law students, legal workers and jailhouse lawyers to function as an effective force in the service of the people, to the end that human rights shall be regarded as more sacred than property interests.

 

The Chicago Guild is hiring a part-time chapter administrator and organizer.  We are looking for a self-starter who will bring a forward-looking perspective and renewed energy into the Guild office.  Organizing skills and a commitment to social justice are required. The person who fills this position will be tasked with building the Chicago Guild and facilitating our continued growth. Fundraising experience preferred.

The chapter administrator position includes the following roles (additional tasks may be assigned):

  • Performing office administrative duties, including responding to phone calls, email, and receiving postal mail in the Guild Office
  • Coordinating and facilitating chapter wide events, including NLG Chicago’s annual fall fundraising event and spring May Day Party
  • Growing chapter membership and fundraising through organized initiatives & outreach
  • Building relationships between the Chicago Guild and like-minded or partnered organizations, plugging the Guild into the progressive community in Chicago
  • Maintaining NLG Chicago’s online presence by updating our website, Facebook, and Twitter pages
  • Maintaining listservs and sending updates to chapter membership through MailChimp
  • Meeting with the NLG Treasurer to discuss budgetary matters
  • Directing and managing office volunteers

The position will begin as soon as possible and require 10 hours per week, with regular office hours and some flexibility depending on the Chapter activities each month.  The compensation is $20/hour.

NLG Chicago is an equal opportunity employer and minorities are encouraged to apply. To apply, please email a resume, cover letter (in the body of the email), and three references, to chicago[at]nlg[dot]org, with the subject line “NLG Chicago Administrator Application.”  Applications will be accepted until 11:00pm on August 19, 2018. Interviews will be held in late August and early September.  No phone calls please.

 

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Remembering Susan Compernolle

Susan Compernolle

Susan Compernolle (credit: Chicago Tribune)

On June 15, 2018, beloved Chicago activist and immigration lawyer Susan Compernolle peacefully passed away while surrounded by family.

Sue worked and volunteered in several immigration organizations including Centro Romero and American Immigration Lawyers Association. She passionately committed to providing legal aid to countless immigrants. Her brother, Paul Compernolle told the Chicago Tribune, “[Sue] was always off doing good things, helping farmworkers in Florida and the Carolinas who were facing deportation.”

James Fujimoto, a federal immigration judge in Chicago, worked with Sue on immigration issues including the National Immigration Project of National Lawyers Guild (NLG). The non-profit initiative promotes justice and equality of treatment in all areas of immigration law, the criminal justice system, and social policies related to immigration.

NLG Chicago honored Sue with the Arthur Kinoy award in 2008 as recognition of her enduring and distinguished commitment to the struggle for immigrants’ rights. Sue joined the Guild while attending Northeastern University School of Law in Boston, where the student chapter was involved in the struggle to end U.S. involvement in Latin America. Her ability to speak Spanish fluently allowed her to travel widely in Latin America, Europe, and Asia.

After living a full life, Sue – who friends described as a “quiet advocate with a keen sense of justice”—died of cancer in her Edgewater neighborhood home. Sue’s memorial service was held at Donnellan Funeral Home in Skokie, IL.

NLG Chicago’s board and members express our deepest condolences to the Compernolle family and friends in the activist community. Susan, PRESENTE!

Contact

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

(773) 492-1405
chicago[@]nlg.org