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May 16, 2018 by Admin

University of Chicago NLG Chapter Protests Trump’s Solicitor General

At the University of Chicago Law School, just months after the Edmund Burke debacle earlier this year, students members of the Federalist Society decided to honor Trump’s Solicitor General Noel Francisco. Francisco’s visit was following his cringe worthy oral arguments before the Supreme Court to defend the Muslim Ban. He struggled to indicate that Trump’s Muslim Ban was an informed and deliberately protective policy, rather than the animus-based and xenophobic mess that unfurled in airports across the country. In a lesson on how not to represent your client, Francisco uttered his last statement, “Islam is a Great Country,” indicating the level of precision and knowledge of the policy and legal decisions made within the administration.

The Federalist Society celebrated Francisco by awarding the Lee Otis Award for Public Service. Lee Otis is an alum, and founder of the Federalist Society at the University of Chicago. During the event’s introduction she spoke of how as a student she felt there was a need to represent the views of conservative libertarians, that they were a minority group and remain a minority group. At this point, Professor Otis began to list decades of professors at the Law School that precisely align with and espouse the views she finds so lacking within the field. As Otis spoke on the need for smaller government, at least four plainclothes bodyguards for Francisco were noted in the front and back of the courtroom, presumably paid for with federal funds. Twice Otis noted how embarrassing it is that the Federalist Society’s award is named for her. Students at the University of Chicago agree; we are also embarrassed by her attendance at the law school.

Prior to the event, students from the National Lawyers Guild worked to advertise the event to their fellow students:

Just two weeks before, the University of Chicago NLG chapter was featured by the law school for winning the first annual pro bono student organization award. The NLG continued their good works in the school, lining the hall to offer informative brochures to contextualize the event for attendees, and handing one to Francisco himself as he entered the corridor.

At the entrance, students held posters which greeted the guest speakers. Francisco spoke to the Muslim woman holding a poster by the door which read “A Complete and Total SHUTDOWN of Francisco until we figure out what is going on.”

He tried an exchange with her,

“How are you doing?”
“Disappointed by your presence here in the law school.”

Driving the student dissatisfaction were the events of the prior quarter. The Edmund Burke society, a conservative “debate” society existing at the law school for over two decades, released a whip sheet that finally caught the attention of the student body. Though the whip sheet comparing immigrants to literal trash was particularly notable, this was just one in a series which can be found here.

The Chairman of the Burke Society is now the new President of the Federalist Society, an unsurprising development given the almost complete overlap between these sets of student organizations. Other students saw this awards ceremony as another attack on the same targets: undocumented, Muslim, immigrant and LGBTQIA people who suffer as a result of Francisco’s insistence on defending the indefensible. However, the Federalist Society wanted to learn his tactics and normalize his advocacy. Upon the introduction of Francisco to the audience, approximately half of the students in the courtroom stood to turn their backs. Harried law school administrators asked students to lower their posters lest they obstruct the views of the audience. Some explained that they posed no obstruction, and remained standing.

Students had also prepared a card to show they were in compliance with University policy:

The audience was permitted to ask questions of the speaker via pre-submitted index cards. For a University obsessed with “Free Expression,” it is surprising that every question was filtered by the moderator Professor Todd Henderson. The remarks by Professors Otis and Henderson praised the federal official for his magnanimity in the face of the clear opposition before him. Likely this was one of the few venues in which he sees the faces of those who object to his work, from which even his bodyguards could not protect him.

Some students walked out of the talk, which consisted largely of anecdotes from his days at the Law School (Did you know Francisco once dropped a class? He also studied in the library). Among the most substantive praises of his actions were celebrations of his confidence when he casually dismissed opportunities to further develop his thinking as a law student.

Protest posters were used again to alter the school’s homogeneous string of white man portraits, helping re-contextualize the artwork in the law school and make it relevant to the needs of our time.

 

When the remaining attendees entered the courtroom hallway to pick up their lunches, they had the welcome of the artwork, with ambiance provided by the music of Nipsey Hussle’s FDT. Remaining brochures about the event accompanied each lunch box. As the main speaker exited with the esteemed Dean of the Law school , the students—with no prior planning—decided to escort them through the school hallway. Students trailed behind the prominent lawyers while the lyrics of Nipsey’s song captured our spirit:

“We the youth. We the people of this country. We got a voice too. We will be seen, and we will be heard.”

Eventually, the two officials and bodyguards entered the Dean’s corridor, beyond the reach of students. It was a funeral procession for old ideas and a broken world that the law students are committed to defying. What remained of the Federalist Society’s student members convened around the leftover food from the American Constitution Society’s talk that was concurrently held on pro bono work the world actually needs.

Filed Under: Blog, Featured Articles, Law Schools, University of Chicago

February 22, 2018 by Admin

NLG Chicago Condemns Edmund Burke Society’s Racist Rhetoric

On January 30th, the Edmund Burke Society at the University of Chicago Law School released an event promotion for an immigration debate to be held Tuesday, February 6th, at 7:30pm at Ida Noyes Hall on UChicago’s campus.

In promoting its “debate”, the organization trivialized the issue and mocked people who are directly impacted by immigration policy. The Society called immigrants “other nations’ wretched refuse”, “Chinese entrepreneurs pursuing Fortune’s cookie,” and posited that “no engineer is worth the drag of a freeloading cousin.” Even in representing an ostensibly pro-immigrant stance, the flier’s authors ask, “[W]ithout foreign labor and grit, who will build the wall?”

The Edmund Burke Society’s event promotion denigrates and dehumanizes immigrants everywhere. Instead of opening a meaningful dialogue, it legitimizes the racist and xenophobic ideals we have seen rise to power in the past year. As institutions of education, law schools should fuel inclusion and serious conversation, not host racist and demeaning rhetoric.

The National Lawyers’ Guild – Chicago Chapter stands with immigrants unconditionally. This abhorrent rhetoric is exactly what the NLG, in Chicago and across the nation, has fought against since its inception. We condemn the Edmund Burke Society’s rhetoric in the strongest terms possible and encourage our members to stand up against hateful speech wherever they encounter it.

Filed Under: Blog, Events, Featured Articles, Law Schools, University of Chicago

March 1, 2017 by Admin

Highlights from DisOrientation 2016

Dis-Orientation is an annual city-wide retreat for law students hosted by the National Lawyers Guild of Chicago. This year, Dis-Orientation was hosted by the Northwestern Law School NLG Chapter. The speakers included NLG Chicago activist and law professor Bernardine Dohrn, Juan F Perea of Loyola Law, Destiny Peery of Northwestern Law, and community organizer & recent law grad Quinn Kareem Rallins.

Prof Juan Perea introduced “the Epistemology of Ignorance” to a group of mostly 1st year law studentsat Dis-orientation, teaching them all the ways the constitution is pro-slavery. You can read Prof Perea’s law review article about the pro-slavery constitution here.

 

Bernardine Dohrn spoke about how lawyers & law students can support current social movements. Quinn Kareem Rallins discussed the question of whether change comes from the law or organizing people. He shared the story of using legal services at Boston Legal Aid to support organizing by Project No One Leaves in their fight against foreclosures.

Prof. Destiny Peery reminded us of the dangers of implicit bias in both teaching and the practice of law. The most important step in combating implicit bias is acknowledging it exists. You can take a test and explore your own biases here.

Finally, there was a panel of current law students shares their strategies for surviving & thriving in law school.

For more resources check out the Guerrilla Guides to Law Teaching.

 

Filed Under: Blog, Chicago-Kent, DePaul, Events, Featured Articles, John Marshall, Law Schools, Loyola, Northwestern University, University of Chicago

September 6, 2016 by Admin

NLG Chicago Dis-Orientation 2016 Sept 17

diso2016A

(Dis)Orientation Chicago 2016

Saturday, September 17 Lunch Served @ 12 PM, Event starts @ 1PM Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law
375 E. Chicago Ave, Chicago, IL 60611

RSVP HERE

(Dis)Orientation is an event for students to discuss surviving law school with our values and commitment to social justice intact. Come meet NLG law students, legal workers, and attorneys, while attending panels and trainings on how to become a people’s lawyer.

The NLG is dedicated to the need for basic change in the structure of our political and economic system. We seek to unite 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.

Our aim is to bring together all those who recognize the importance of safeguarding and extending the rights of workers, women, farmers, people with disabilities and people of color, upon whom the welfare of the entire nation depends; who seek actively to eliminate racism; who work to maintain and protect our civil rights and liberties in the face of persistent attacks upon them; and who look upon the law as an instrument for the protection of the people, rather than for their repression.

Free food will be provided, with a happy hour to follow!

diso2016B

Filed Under: Blog, Chicago-Kent, DePaul, Events, Featured Articles, John Marshall, Law Schools, Loyola, Next Gen, Northwestern University, University of Chicago

September 18, 2014 by Admin

(dis)Orientation 2014 — It’s Not You, It’s Law School!

diso2014

 

 

The National Lawyers Guild Chicago Chapter is proud to announce our 2014 city wide DisOrientation!!!
 
Saturday, October 4th @1:00 p.m.
Loyola University, Corboy Law Center, 25 E. Pearson

DisOrientation is an event for students to discuss surviving law school with our values and commitment to social justice intact. Come meet NLG law students, legal workers, and attorneys, while attending various panels and trainings on how to become a peoples lawyer.

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.

Our aim is to bring together all those who recognize the importance of safeguarding and extending the rights of workers, women, farmers, people with disabilities and people of color, upon whom the welfare of the entire nation depends; who seek actively to eliminate racism; who work to maintain and protect our civil rights and liberties in the face of persistent attacks upon them; and who look upon the law as an instrument for the protection of the people, rather than for their repression.

Schedule:
1-1:30 Lunch
1:30-2:15 Welcome
2:30-3:30 Student Panel
3:45-4:45 Attorney Panel
5-6 Legal Observer & Know Your Rights Trainings

Happy Hour to follow!
Clark Street Ale House
742 N Clark St, Chicago, IL 60654
6:30 p.m.

Filed Under: Blog, Chicago-Kent, DePaul, Events, Featured Articles, John Marshall, Law Schools, Loyola, Next Gen, University of Chicago

February 6, 2011 by Admin

Law School Sections Under Construction

We are currently working on each of the law school chapter’s section of the website.

When we are finished each law school will be able to post event updates and general information about their school, their board members, and their mission.

Visitors will be able to keep track of updates posted from NLG Chicago and each of the individual law school chapters.

Stay posted!

Filed Under: Blog, Chicago-Kent, DePaul, John Marshall, Loyola, University of Chicago

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