The NLG-SFBA is making moves to prepare for the signals Trump and Barr are giving that we are entering a period of mass repression ala COINTELPRO style of the 1960s. From the designation of Black and anti-fascist activists as terrorists under the Joint Terrorism Task Force, to the call for fugitive task forces to track down activists, to threatening to withdraw federal funding (to strangle) “antifa” cities - cities that allow democratic protests, to the extrajudicial killing of Michael Reinoehl. 

On September 4, 2020, Attorney General William P. Barr has issued the following statement:

“Last Saturday, Aaron “Jay” Danielson was shot and killed amid the continuing violence in Portland.  Local authorities subsequently obtained an arrest warrant for Michael Forest Reinoehl, a self-described Antifa member suspected of the alleged murder.  Reinoehl fled to Washington State, where he was located yesterday by members of a fugitive task force led by the U.S. Marshals Service, the FBI, and state and local law enforcement partners.  When Reinoehl attempted to escape arrest and produced a firearm, he was shot and killed by law enforcement officers.  

The tracking down of Reinoehl — a dangerous fugitive, admitted Antifa member, and suspected murderer — is a significant accomplishment in the ongoing effort to restore law and order to Portland and other cities.  I applaud the outstanding cooperation among federal, state, and local law enforcement, particularly the fugitive task force team that located Reinoehl and prevented him from escaping justice. The streets of our cities are safer with this violent agitator removed, and the actions that led to his location are an unmistakable demonstration that the United States will be governed by law, not violent mobs.”

The Federal Defense Task for met to discuss the urgency to develop legal strategy for defense and to build a movement grounded in solidarity and care for another as we resist injustice and repression of righteous protests of them. If you are interested in getting more involved in this work, please email sara@nlgsf.org. 

For those interested in getting more involved in electoral work, we will have a section of the newsletter (see below) where we will post opportunities for NLG-SFBA members to get involved. Below is also an announcement for our annual membership meeting focused on what the NLG-SFBA can do to support voter protections and election defense. 

For those who celebrate, Happy Fall Equinox and Shana Tova.

Sara Kershnar, Interim Executive Director

October 17th, 2020, 11:00amPST - 3:00pmPST // 2:00pmEST -  6:00pmEST

(The first half of the symposium will be a panel discussion, and the second half will be break out sessions for NLG members to participate in interactive trainings and work groups towards engaging in voter know your rights and protection and election defense work)

NLG-SF is hosting a symposium to prepare attorneys, legal workers, and activists for defending the right to vote, the right to assemble and to free speech, the right to due process, the right to resist, and the right to a free and fair election this November. We see this time as a pivotal moment in history where we must challenge the rise of an authoritarian government, contest state repression, and build alternatives to sustain our communities. In this symposium we will discuss potential scenarios for the election and what we might expect to see from the white house, at the polls and on the streets. 

While the military has explicitly stated they will not back Trump in attempts to hold office beyond his term, law enforcement agencies have been steadfast in their commitment to defending his presidency. And with the designation of anti-fascism as terrorism and the violent repression that has ensued since, we must be prepared to defend the basic right to vote and those who rise up in protest whatever the result of the election. This preparation must include as many of us as possible, and employ as many tactics as we see fit. 

Thus we invite all of you as NLG members and members of our broader community and networks to come together to build shared understandings of this moment and equip ourselves with legal and political strategies to support resistance: from voter repression to authoritarianism. 

Our panelists will include a range of perspectives on these issues and there will also be the opportunity to participate in breakout sessions where we will strategize potential legal action. Please bring your ideas, and most of all, bring a willingness to participate in the practical work that comes out of this symposium for us to better defend and protect our communities and movements.

Moderators: Sara Kershnar, Interim NLG-SF Executive Director & Jay Kim, former NLG-SF Executive Director and Deputy Director of the East Bay Law Center

Registration coming!

From now until the election, we will be posting opportunities for NLG-SF members to get involved in electoral work - whether electoral defense or voter mobilization and protections. Please send action and organizing opportunities to sara@nlgsf.org.

CALLING LAW STUDENTS TO WORK THE POLLS:

We are a group of law school students working to mobilize young Americans to serve as poll workers in the upcoming election. The COVID crisis is exacerbating the shortage of poll workers, and we hope to encourage students to fill in the gap. 

Without enough poll workers to staff voting locations, we risk seeing the disastrous conditions of the Georgia and Wisconsin primaries all over again. More than half of all poll workers in the county are over sixty years old and at heightened risk for COVID-19. As a result of the poll worker shortage, only 5 out of the normal 182 polling places were open on primary day in Milwaukee. We encourage students who feel comfortable doing so to step in during these times. 

For more information, contact awolfson@jd21.law.harvard.edu.

Seeking:

1) An attorney to consult with and represent fourteen organizers who were arrested at Governor Newsom's house on Monday, July 27. The  #FreeThemAll14 recently published a report about their incarceration in Sacramento County Jail.  In arresting the organizers, CHP circumvented Sacramento County's emergency bail schedule, which should have resulted in a cite-and-release. CHP sought a bail increase for the misdemeanor charges, which led organizers to be incarcerated for 16 hours, during which they were denied food and water.

We are looking for attorneys who can assist organizers in filing a claim against CHP, as well as consult with them about the potential risks, strategy, and timing of a complaint. Organizers hope that their case can leverage media attention and lift up the demands for release of people from detention centers. Volunteer attorneys will join a legal team consisting of SFBA and Sacramento NLG members. Please contact srjhotline@nlgsf.org.

2) Seeking lawyers and legal workers willing to submit Public Record Acts requests for the Arab Resource and Organizing Center in support of their work to integrate Arab American Studies into ethnic studies curriculum both in San Francisco and statewide. Email sara@nlgsf.org if you are interested. 

3) Lawyers and law students willing to advise prisoners on the process of filing and drafting pro se claims. Please contact srjhotline@nlgsf.org.

September 17-present: Another COVID-19 Outbreak at Santa Rita Jail

In the week of September 7-13:

- 3 hotline callers reported being refused medical care.
- 2 hotline callers reported that grievances that they filed about a lack of care for their medical conditions – including a tooth abscess and opiate withdrawal – were summarily denied.
- One hotline caller reported food contamination.

In the week of September 14-20:

- 1 hotline caller reported that he was refused a COVID-19 test.
- 3 hotline callers reported grievances regarding medical care were denied or that they were denied access to grievance forms.
- 1 hotline caller reported food contamination.
- 2 hotline callers reported deputies failing to observe 6-foot social distancing and/or failing to wear masks and gloves.

On Monday, September 21, COVID-19 cases at Santa Rita Jail increased by 250 percent overnight after a new outbreak began on September 17. Early on Monday, the jail reported 10 new infections for a total of 14 new cases. This is the third significant outbreak in only two months.

Twelve out of the fourteen positive cases reported on September 21 were in Housing Unit 3B and 3C. Housing Unit 3E and 3F are currently designated for “yellow” prisoners with a known exposure to a COVID-19 positive person, suggesting that the virus has spread to the quarantined units via the movement of deputies and incarcerated workers between units. Prisoners have frequently reported that deputies, medical staff, and incarcerated workers move between housing units without changing their gloves. On September 22, a prisoner reported that quarantined prisoners in 3B and 3C were refused tests when they requested them a month ago.

The trajectory of previous outbreaks suggests that these numbers will increase. However, the jail’s consistently low testing rate makes it extremely difficult to determine each outbreak’s true magnitude. On each day in September, an average of 9% of the population had been tested in the past 7 days. An average of 7% of the population has been tested since this most recent outbreak began on September 17. And, despite the alarming increase in cases on September 21, the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office (ACSO) did not test any prisoners for COVID-19 that day.

The September 21 outbreak is the latest in a series of COVID-19 outbreaks that have raised serious questions about the Sheriff’s testing and recovery rates.

- Between July 15-17, COVID-19 cases increased from 7 to 103, peaking at 110 on July 24. On July 25, 26 people were reported “recovered” overnight even though the outbreak had only lasted 10 days. The following day, only 11 days into the outbreak, another 50 people were reported “recovered” overnight.
- On August 16, COVID-19 cases increased from 5 to 18 cases, peaking at 25 cases on August 25. On August 26, only 10 days into the outbreak, 16 people were reported “recovered” overnight.

Advocates suspect that a number of factors are leading to the repeated outbreaks.

No accountability for proper quarantine of Housing Units

On September 8, Housing Unit 9F was quarantined due to a prisoner presenting with symptoms. The quarantine – initially scheduled until September 22 – was lifted after only 1 day.

On September 19, Housing Unit 4F was quarantined due to a prisoner presenting with symptoms. The quarantine – initially scheduled until October 3 – was lifted on September 21 after only 4 days.

The jail delays testing of quarantined units so that COVID-19 symptoms resolve before testing.

On May 22, a prisoner reported:

“They knew I tested positive, so what they should have done right then and there is quarantine the whole section. But what they ended up doing was wait until I was done with my two week quarantine, then quarantined the pod and tested them after those two weeks. So by then, if you were sick, it was going to be out of your system. This was all to keep their numbers low.”

To view more testimonies from prisoners, please visit www.srjsolidarity.org.

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The Santa Rita Jail Hotline works directly with prisoners to determine how they were exposed to Covid-19 and whether the care they are receiving is adequate. The content of hotline calls can suggest a very different reality than what is being presented to the public. If you are interested to become a hotline worker, please fill out this form.

Coming Soon: Advanced LO Training

The NLG-SF will be offering an Advanced Legal Observer Training during the week of October 5 for Legal Observers who have attended at least 3 demonstrations. The Advanced Training aims to prepare Legal Observers to respond to the presence of right-wing counter-protesters and violence by both state and non-state actors. 

Please stay tuned for a registration form for this training! Please note that we will ask all participants to be signed up for secure communications via Signal and Protonmail. If you do not have a Protonmail email, you can create a free one HERE. 

Please contact demonstrations@nlgsf.org with questions.

On Friday, September 4th, five young activists from Antioch began a hunger strike and occupation in front of the Antioch Police Department to demand the termination of Officer Michael Mellone, who shot Luis Góngora Pat in San Francisco in 2016. They are also demanding the resignation of Steve Aiello, President of the Antioch Police Officers' Association; as well as the greater integration of community representatives into a local forum on police violence. 

The “6 Forced to Strike” have now maintained their occupation for seventeen consecutive nights. They were served with an eviction notice from Antioch PD on Monday, September 14, despite the fact that their occupation is not blocking any access points to and from the station. Community members and NLG-SF legal observers mobilized at the occupation site beginning that night.

At 3am on Tuesday, September 22, Antioch PD confiscated their tents. The occupiers refused to leave the site, and slept on the grass. No one was arrested. Members of the 6 Forced to Strike are concerned about ongoing surveillance and harassment by APD and have requested the presence of legal observers. 

Please contact demonstrations@nlgsf.org if you can assist with ongoing legal observation at the occupation site.

In light of Dawn Wooten’s brave whistleblowing last week about medical procedures, including hysterectomies, conducted without informed consent at the Irwin County Detention Center in GA, we are calling on you to support the years-long campaign to shut down that detention facility -- along with all immigrant prisons. The report of abhorrent treatment of individuals imprisoned at ICDC follows longstanding practices and patterns of disregard for humanity, lack of proper care, and abominable healthcare practices inflicted on Black and brown bodies for centuries in this country -- most recently at the hands of federal and government officials and private prison employees. This latest series of hysterectomies without informed consent is an act of genocide. Please join the work to #ShutDownIrwin, #FreeThemAll, #AbolishICE, and #AbolishPolice. 

Please sign and share this petition to shut Irwin County Detention Center down. 

Also, there is an opportunity to support Pauline Binam, a Cameroonian immigrant who was subjected to medical procedures without her informed consent. She is one of the women denouncing abuse at ICDC. Last week, as the news of abuse at ICDC went public, ICE tried to deport her. Thanks to the efforts of GLAHR, Cameroon American Council, South Georgia Immigrants Support Network, Mijente and others her deportation was stopped and Pauline was released. If you can consider donating, her support fund is here.

RESOURCES

NATURALIZATION WORKSHOP — Saturday, SEP. 26, 10am-4pm PT

As the abolishment of the Request for Fee Waiver in every Naturalization application draws near, Asian Pacific Islander Legal Outreach (APILO) is conducting a free Online Naturalization workshop on 9/26/20 online via Zoom. This is open to anyone who needs help with their N400 application as long as they have an internet connection and access to zoom. Registration is required.

This is open to anyone who needs help with their N400 application as long as they have an internet connection and access to zoom. Registration required. Call 415-567-6255 to register.

WEBINAR ON HIRING AND COMPLIANCE RE. FOREIGN AGRICULTURAL AND SKILLED TRADE WORKERS -- Thursday, SEP. 24, 12:30pm

This webinar will provide an overview about immigration and visa types for agricultural workers (H-2A) and skilled trades (H-2B). It will discuss changes brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, including agency accommodations of the Department of Labor (DOL), Department of State (DOS), United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

More information and registration.

SPANISH LANGUAGE INFORMATIONAL VIDEO ABOUT LOPCS OF UACS

Immigration Center for Women and Children in San Francisco is continuing to provide a remote Legal Orientation Program for Custodians (LOPC) of UACs in removal proceedings. They have released a Spanish informational video about the program and services offered through LOPC.

Comments due by 9/25/2020. DOJ/EOIR issued an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking that will dramatically alter the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) processes and remove due process safeguards with an aim of fast-tracking deportations. The proposed regulation Administrative Closure: Appellate Procedures and Decisional Finality in Immigration Proceedings invokes a host of harms including eliminating administrative closure for IJs and the BIA, ending the BIA and IJs’ sua sponte reopening authority, limiting BIA briefing extensions to a maximum of 14 days and requiring simultaneous briefing by DHS and respondents in all cases, and creating a “quality assurance” system through which IJs who don’t like a BIA decision can refer the case directly to the EOIR Director.

- CLINIC’s template comment is available here.
- AILA/AIC’s comment tool is available here.

Abolir a La Migra Serie Bilingue - Abolishing Prisons Bilingual Series -- SEP. 24 at 5pm and 10/8 at 5pm

Join leaders in Kern County and across the state for the educational series that will help break down the actors that are holding immigration detention intact in Kern County and across the nation. Learn from local organizers and formerly incarcerated leaders about ways in which you can join the fight to shut down Mesa Verde Detention Center to Free All people in custody AND stop detention expansion into the city of McFarland. Register here.

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Acompañe a líderes en el condado de Kern y de todo el estado para una serie educativa que compartirá información sobre los actores que están asegurando de la detención de inmigrantes que se quede en en el condado y que permanezca en la nación. Acompáñenos a aprender  más de los organizadores locales y de personas que han sobrevivido estos centros. También les compartiremos más sobre cómo puede unir se y apoyar los esfuerzos para cerrar Mesa Verde para siempre y librar a todxs las personas y también prevenir cualquier plan de expansión en la ciudad de McFarland. Se inscriba aquí

El Serie / Series Break Down:

Thursday Sept 24th 5pm-6:30pm

La detención de inmigrantes en el condado de Kern // Immigration Detention in Kern County

Aprenda sobre la resistencia dentro de la detencion Mesa Verde, en Bakersfield, y los esfuerzos en para la expansion de detention en McFarland.

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Learn about resistance within Mesa Verde in Bakersfield, and the attempts to expand detetion in McFarland. 

Thursday October 8th 5pm-6:30pm

Liberacion No Encarcelamiento // Liberation Not Incarceration 

Aprenda sobre los esfuerzos donde se pueden unir y apoyar y escuche mas sobre alternativas a detencion y nuestra vision para una communidad libre y saludable. 

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Learn about efforts you can join and support and hear more about alternatives to incarceration and our vision for free and healthy communities.  

Para mas informacion / For more information message: Sandy at svalenciano@ilrc.org 

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