National Lawyers Guild San Francisco Bay Area Chapter
558 Capp St | San Francisco, CA 94110 | www.nlgsf.org
p: 415 285-5067 | e: contact@nlgsf.org
 
NLG-SF Weekly Newsletter
 

Last weekend closed the National NLG Convention. We heard from many inspiring NLG members about the history and unique role of the NLG overtime and at this moment. NLG-SF chapter member and civil rights attorney Walter Riley had a powerful dialogue on the political moment with his son, performance artist and film director, Boots Riley.

Our chapter submitted a resolution on Grand Jury Resistance to create consistency in the orientation of the NLG in supporting people in non-cooperation with grand juries. A full list of resolutions and amendments can be found here, pro or con statements need to be sent to resolutions@nlg.org by this Friday, October 11, 2020.

There is a wide range of orientations to elections across NLG members. There is, however, unity on the desire to see Trump and his administration removed from office. There is also a widespread belief in the hard-won right to vote -- without barriers, fear of violence, poll taxes, or restrictions based on criminal records.. While we strive for fundamentally transformed social, political, and economic systems, we also fight for a democratic election to set the conditions on which we will struggle.

For some or even many in the NLG, voting is a form of harm reduction - reducing the harm the government does by picking candidates more inclined to be influenced by progressive demands. Angela Davis offers a useful assessment of the election that she also shared as part of her acceptance speech at this year’s National NLG Convention: 

“I don’t see this election as choosing a candidate who will be able to lead us in the right direction. It will be about choosing a candidate who can be most effectively pressured into allowing more space for the evolving anti-racist movement. Biden is very problematic in many ways…. But, I say but, Biden is far more likely to take mass demands seriously. Far more likely than the current occupant of the White House. So this coming November, the election will ask us not so much to vote for the best candidate, but to vote for or against ourselves. To vote for ourselves I think means that we will have to campaign for and vote for Biden.” 

It feels important in this moment, where so much is at stake, that we are clear what the battle is, who is against the people’s movement and who is for us. 

We need all of us: those building power and movements for survival and justice, those rising up against racist and classist power and systems, and those expressing their rage, fatigue and desperation through less strategic but entirely reasonable acts -- we must build united movements founded on principles of solidarity and collaboration

In our anxiety about this moment we may find fault and accuse those who are with us but whom we disagree with. That is human. But what will make it possible for us to win and to reclaim legacies of turning the tide towards liberation and humanity is our ability to bring the greatest number of people with us in that pursuit.

Sara Kershnar, Interim Executive Director
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Movement Defense
 


 
NLG-SF Voter ProtectionForum:
 

The National Lawyers Guild - San Francisco and National chapters - are hosting a forum 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 forum 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.


Panelists:

Kali Akuno, Cooperation Jackson and The Peoples Strike

Kimi Lee, Seed the Vote

Julia Marks, Advancing Justice

Ría Thompson-Washington, Center for Popular Democracy


Moderators: 

Sara Kershnar and Jay Kim, current and former Executive Directors of NLG-SF

*There were some issues with the link in prior email that have been resolved. Apologies, and we hope you will join us!*

*Once you register for this event you will receive a confirmation email with a zoom link for Part 1: Panel discussion. Then, all NLG members and partners will receive a link to Part 2: Work Group Break Out Sessions on the day of the event*
 
Register
 
Electoral News & Organizing
 

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

NLG-SF is supporting the poll monitoring efforts of Asian Americans Advancing Justice, by building a partnership in election defense and response legal work.

Volunteer with Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Asian Law Caucus (ALC) this November to protect voters in California's General Election. ALC has sent hundreds of volunteers to thousands of polling places across California, monitoring for voter harassment and disenfranchisement, access for voters with disabilities, and language support for limited-English speaking voters. ALC volunteers have encountered and fixed hundreds of issues that would have imperiled access to the ballot. 

In addition to helping voters in the field, observations recorded by ALC volunteers have directly supported efforts to improve election administration practices, including passing the most expansive language access law in the country. Ensuring that these updated practices are in place for vulnerable voters will be more challenging than ever in the face of the ongoing pandemic and associated changes to voting. The potential for confusion and disenfranchisement is very real.  

You need no experience! Volunteers are fully trained and equipped with a variety of resources. Measures will be in place to maintain the health and safety of all participants. Volunteers will fill out a checklist for each polling place visited and report problems through established procedures. Travel time can be substantial -- the need is greatest in the Central Valley. ALC works with volunteers to make sure their polling place assignments and related travel will work for them. Due to the ongoing pandemic, placements for volunteers without access to a car will be extremely limited.  
 
Sign-Up
 

More Opportunities To Get Involved: Poll Volunteering & Election Defense Opportunities 

- Protect Democracy is recruiting poll workers

- Join The Frontline - a new project from the Movement for Black Lives Electoral Justice Project and the Working Families Party: “The Frontline is a powerful coming together of people across differences.. to defeat white nationalism, protect our democracy, and demand that those in power advance a people’s agenda. You can be a poll worker in a neighborhood, a protestor for justice, a worker ready to strike, or you can connect others with needed and critical information— there is a role for you in the most important movement in a generation. Text “FRONTLINE” to 30403

- Become an Election Defender through Showing up for Racial Justice (SURJ)

- Protect the Results is building a large coalition to respond to any attempt to steal the election

- Reclaim our Vote works to combat voter suppression and you cansign up to volunteer here
 

Events:

Catalyst Action: Election Day and Beyond: Scenarios and Tools - Webinar
Oct 13, 2020 05:00 PM

This call will be to discuss different possibilities of a contested election and how we can start organizing now to protect the results.
 
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Every Vote Counts, Hosted by the United Democratic Club
Thursday, October 8th at 5:30 pm PST/8:30 pm EST 

A national virtual event with panelists from across the country weighing in on this very subject. We'll discuss what's on the line this election, where Democrats should be putting their time and their money, how voters in solid blue districts can virtually support protecting the vote in swing districts, and how we can prepare for a potential contested election. Admission is free, but make sure to RSVP below!
 
RSVP
 
Resources:

- Hold The Line: A Guide to Defending Democracy is a helpful guide for understanding some of the scenarios we need to be planning for in the case of a contested election

 - ACLU Know Your Rights information to counter voter intimidation is an essential resource for community defense against efforts by the right to suppress the vote, particularly the vote of communities of color

- 2020 Election Case Studies - from Catalyst Actions: Elections and Collective Liberation curriculum. To help you explore some of what we might be faced with and to provoke discussion about what that means for our organizing now through November
 
Request For Litigation
 

Seeking:

1) Attorneys to consult with members of the 6 Forced to Strike and the Brown Berets in Antioch.

On Friday, September 4th, youth organizers began a hunger strike and occupation on September 5 in front of the Antioch Police Department. They demand the termination of Officer Michael Mellone, who shot Luis Góngora Pat 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.

Even after the hunger strike ended, NLG-SF Legal Observers and members of community organizations who supported the hunger strikers have reported intimidation and harassment by Antioch and Oakland police – including being followed to their homes, receiving tickets, and having their vehicles impounded.

To date, 3 supporters of the occupation have seen their vehicles impounded. We are looking for attorneys who can consult with the individuals about their rights and possibly file motions in court to have the vehicles returned.

2) 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.
 
Santa Rita Jail Hotline
 

Link to Weekly SRJ Updates on conditions related to COVID based on calls to the hotline.

On Friday, October 2, the National Lawyers Guild – San Francisco Bay Area released an anonymous letter written by a group of attorneys and legal workers regarding conditions inside Santa Rita Jail during the COVID-19 pandemic. Addressed to the Alameda County Department of Public Health, Board of Supervisors, and County justice partners, the letter identifies 8 major issues at the jail, including inadequate sanitation and the violation of prisoners’ constitutional and statutory rights. The authors demand that ACDPH assume immediate control of medical care in Santa Rita and implement a new testing protocol at the jail.

On Tuesday, October 6, the NLG hosted a press conference  to announce the delivery of the demand letter to Alameda County Officials. The letter is hosted on the Santa Rita Jail Solidarity website, which continues to post testimonies directly from SRJ prisoners.

WATCH THE PRESS CONFERENCE 

Panelists:

- Idalia Vázquez, family member
- Siamak Fahimi, formerly incarcerated in Santa Rita Jail, jail support with Oakland Abolition & Solidarity
- Darby Aono, legal worker and creator of ACSO COVID-19 data tracker 
- John Lindsay-Poland, Decarcerate Alameda County, American Friends Service Committee
- Lina García Schmidt, Santa Rita Jail Hotline Coordinator

Moderator:

- Sara Kershnar, NLG-SF Executive Director

On October 5, Santa Rita Jail spoke with KTVU about its creation of a new COVID-19 Compliance Unit, which has been tasked with developing an internal auditing tool to monitor compliance with safety protocols, and conduct unannounced spot checks. KTVU also reported that during a spot check in August, Inspector Mike Brady with Sabot Consulting reported a “clean facility but a myriad of COVID-19 problems.” Advocates, who have consistently demanded unannounced spot checks by the Alameda County Department of Public Health, are concerned that an internal auditing tool will not be accountable to the public regarding its findings, nor enforce compliance with safety and sanitation standards. Santa Rita Jail prisoners have also reported that ACSO only cleans parts of the jail that are viewed by inspectors. This cleaning is done by inmate pod workers, who are unpaid.

- - -

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.
Watch Press Conference
 
Demonstrations Committee
 

Demonstrations in the Bay Area

On Friday, October 2, the Stop the Money Pipeline Coalition coordinated simultaneous demonstrations across the country to target JP Morgan Chase, Liberty Mutual, and BlackRock for funding the Line 3, Trans Mountain, and Keystone XL Pipelines. On the No Tar Sands Solidarity Day of Action, activists, Indigenous leaders, and community members aimed to demonstrate their solidarity with frontline, indigenous communities and to raise awareness of the financial institutions that are financing major extractive projects that harm the environment. Activists in San Francisco rallied at the BlackRock offices at 400 Howard Street.

Also on October 2, there was a rally and vigil at the KZV Armenian School to show solidarity for the people of Artsakh who have been bombed by the Turkish-backed Azeribaijani military. On September 27, Armenia declared martial law and Azerbaijan declared a state of war. Community members are concerned that, this summer, rightwing groups have left graffiti on the KZV Armenian School and set a fire in the Armenian church.

On Saturday, October 3, NLG-SFBA Legal Observers traveled to Petaluma to support Black Lives Matter – Petaluma as they marched from Putnam Plaza Park to demand justice for Breonna Taylor. A few police SUVs monitored the crowd throughout the evening, diverting traffic from the path of the march at a distance. There were no arrests.

Also on Saturday, October 3, community members in Sunnyvale organized We Will Not Be Silent, a march to condemn right-wing groups, hostile Sunnyvale residents, and Sunnyvale Police who attempted to intimidate protesters marching for Breonna Taylor the previous week, September 23. Organizers report that on September 23, counter-protesters shouted “All Lives Matter” and “Blue Lives Matter.” The march gathered downtown with several speakers, and marched through the downtown area streets before returning to the plaza to disperse. There were no arrests.

Advanced Legal Observer Training

The NLG-SF will be offering an Advanced Legal Observer Training on the evening of Wednesday, October 7 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.

If you are a Legal Observer who has attended at least 3 demonstrations, ideally within the past 2 years, please fill out this registration form to receive an invitation and Zoom link.

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 one at here.

Please contact demonstrations@nlgsf.org with questions.
 
Immigration Justice Program
 

On Tuesday, October 6, formerly-incarcerated folx, advocates, and allies acted in concert around California and the country to demand that Governor Newsom use his gubernatorial powers to: 

- Free people from state prisons, including through mass clemency and emergency release;
- Stop transfers from state and local custody to ICE and between California prisons;
- Stop the expansion of immigration detention in California;
- Hold the detention industry accountable.

In solidarity with all incarcerated persons, NLG-SFBA joined many other organizations and individuals in dropping banners and ‘renaming’ caging facilities throughout California -- jails, prisons, and ICE prisons -- after Governor Newsom and the legacy he is creating. Newsom claims to support public health, climate science, and racial justice as political issues while using his authority to directly harm those most impacted. In renaming the sites of incarceration, groups gave the Governor due credit where he has chosen to invest his efforts: COVID death sentence facilities. 


Governor Newsom claims to have banned the death penalty, but has presided over 68 executions by COVID in state prisons so far. His administration created and continues to facilitate the humanitarian disaster in California prisons. Most recently, COVID outbreaks at Folsom State Prison and Avenal State Prison threaten to replicate the ongoing crisis at San Quentin State Prison, which alone has claimed 27 lives thus far. 


Governor Newsom positions himself as opposing President Trump, yet continues to be complicit in enforcing federal immigration policy by turning incarcerated Californians over to ICE after finding them suitable for release. These transfers from state prisons to ICE, from one “hotspot” to another, are not required by law and threaten public health by actively spreading COVID from one enclosed location with inadequate pandemic practices and abhorrent healthcare to another. Instead, we support the demand for the release of people in cages to their loved ones and communities waiting to welcome them, where they can quarantine and distance properly, receive and give proper care, and join or rejoin their communities. 

 
Environmental Justice: Bayview

Thank you to everyone who signed our letter asking San Francisco leadership to reconsider approval of the India Basin megadevelopment due to the air pollution and gentrification it will cause, and the disproportionate impact it will have on residents of color. Public pressure, increased community organizing from our partners Greenaction, Bayview Hunters Point Mothers and Fathers Committee, and other groups, and the radioactivity testing scandal exposed by the SF Chronicle, have convinced several members of the Board of Supervisors to commit to holding a special public hearing on contamination in the area, possibly as early as November 10. We will continue to keep you updated with new developments. In the meantime, we have decided to postpone our Bay Area EJ Teach-In, scheduled for Oct. 8, until after the elections, given that many people are at full capacity right now.

 

If you are interested in learning more or getting involved in the Environmental Justice Committee within the NLG-SF, please contact Zsea Bowmani directly at zsea@nlgsf.org.
Read Article
 
Partner Actions & Events
 

Frontline healthcare workers across Alameda Health System (AHS) are coordinating a week of strikes and community events from October 7th to October 12th. Healthcare & hospital workers, patients, allies, and advocates demand accountability from the AHS Board of Trustees as workers experience negligence, insufficient staffing levels, inadequate access to supplies, and drastic lack of PPE and training.
 
More Info
 

Legal History: The Green Scare - Webinar

October 15, 2020
3:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. PDT

Lauren Regan, Executive Director & Senior Staff Attorney, and CLDC advisory board member and former political prisoner Daniel McGowan, will discuss the “Green Scare”—the largest federal prosecution of environmental and animal rights activists in the history of the U.S. Daniel was one of the Green Scare non-cooperating defendants and Lauren was one of the Green Scare criminal defense lawyers. They will explain and discuss the historic importance of these cases to resistance movements and current implications regarding State repression and frontline actions.
 

Abolir a La Migra Serie Bilingue -- ABOLISHING PRISONS BILINGUAL SERIES -

Thursday, October 8
5:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. PDT

Join leaders in Kern County and across the state for the third session in an 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

//

Acompañe a líderes en el condado de Kern y de todo el estado para la tercera sesión de 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 unirse 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.

Inscriba


El Serie // Series Break Down:

Thursday October 8th
5:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. PDT

Liberación No Encarcelamiento // Liberation Not Incarceration 

Aprenda sobre los esfuerzos donde se pueden unir y apoyar y escuche más sobre alternativas a detención y nuestra visión para una comunidad libre y saludable. 

//

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


Para más información // For more information message Sandy at svalenciano@ilrc.org 


Pagina en facebook // Event page on Facebook
 

SEEKING SAFETY: ASYLUM SEEKERS AND ATTORNEYS IN CONVERSATION -

Tuesday, October. 13,
5:00 p.m. - 6 p.m. PDT

The Advocates for Human Rights will offer the latest updates on immigrants’ rights and how their work continues during the pandemic and amidst rapid changes to the legal landscape. Volunteer attorneys and clients will speak about their experiences and answer questions.

 
The Freedom Side: The Peoples Tribunal and Congress
Hosted By the Movement for Black Lives
11AM PT / 1PM CT / 2PM ET on October 17th & 18th

Tribunals are moments of truth telling and moral reckoning. The Rising Majority tribunal comes at a time of critical crisis in our country. Wildfires are burning out of control. The postal service is being defunded ahead of a critical presidential election. Black folks are still dying at the hands of police. Indigenous water protectors are being arrested. Americans continue to lose their jobs and housing during a global pandemic. Immigrant detainees are being forced to have hysterectomies en masse. And a Supreme Court seat hangs in the balance.

The system is working exactly as it should — by failing us. So join us on October 17 and 18 to hold the system accountable.

In front of a panel of esteemed guest judges — including Angela Davis, Tom Goldtooth, Arundhati Roy, Raquel Willis, and Albert Woodfox —we will put the current system on trial, outlining all the ways in which it has harmed our communities. And then, together, we will envision the world we so desperately want and outline the steps we can take to create it. We invite you to bring your stories, your families, and your biggest, boldest visions for a just world.


Please RSVP below and text FREEDOMSIDE to 90975 to get updates.
 
RSVP
 
Jobs / Opportunites
 

The Tenderloin Housing Clinic is hiring an attorney and paralegal for its law office. 

 Here are links to the jobs posted directly on their website:

- Paralegal
- Staff Attorney
 
NLG Staff & Organization Updates
 

You can reach the following staff members for the specific things below and read more about us here:


Sara Kershnar, Interim ED, sara@nlgsf.org: Organizational and program questions, finance or fundraising, Committee support or organizational partnerships. 
Eliana Rubin, Program Director, eliana@nlgsf.org: Program questions and coordination, Committee coordination, cross-chapter capacity building, committee support
Brittany Henry, Membership Coordinator, membership@nlgsf.org: Membership renewal and sign-up questions, newsletter submissions, contact lists and website. 
April Newman, Immigration Justice Coordinator, migrantjustice@nlgsf.org: questions, actions or partnership on immigration and migrant justice. 
Lina Garcia-Schmidt, Demonstrations & Anti-Repression Coordinator, demonstrations@nlgsf.org and for Santa Rita Jail Hotline work, srjhotline@nlgsf.org: questions about and/or participation with Santa Rita Jail hotline to launch in early June.
 
Staff Bios

National Lawyers Guild - San Francisco Bay Area Chapter

558 Capp Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
United States


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