“An injury to one is an injury to all.” 

“I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own.” ~ Audre Lorde

As a new month begins, we are excited to announce an upcoming webinar/E-CLE series: Root Causes of Forced Migration. This series ties together the different realms of our work at the Guild as part of our commitment to developing an internationalist, anti-imperial lens and practice across our work. Root Causes of Forced Migration comprises three parts: 1) Neoliberalism, Imperialism, and Militarization; 2) Climate Change, Food Production, and Environmental Disaster; 3) Gender-Based Violence and Justice. (See below for more details.) 

The webinar series hopes to push beyond the complacency that has settled in since Biden’s election - going beyond discussions of citizenship into root causes the movement needed to transform them. Internationalism can also move us beyond the US-centricity of that complacency given the consistent imperialism and xenophobia of each administration regardless of their place on the democratic to republican spectrum. 

A full year into the pandemic, we remain steadfast in our commitment to holding grief and defending frontline communities, both here and abroad, in their struggles. In the US, all adults are anticipated to receive the first dose of the vaccine by May, yet other countries in the Third World have yet to receive any vaccine distribution at all. We lift up the connection between US imperialist antagonisms in the Pacific Rim, particularly the antagonism against API countries and targeting of Asian American communities here around COVID, despite many of those very countries being hit the hardest with vaccine inequity. 

With our commitment to developing an anti-imperialist and internationalist analysis to all of our work, we are excited to share ways to be involved in ongoing NLG work. Our newly relaunched International Committee will focus on the following in partnership with Third World liberation organizations: 1) Political prisoners and targeting of activists in the US and abroad; 2) Challenging Foreign Terrorist Organization lists and the targeting of those connected to them domestically; 3) Police and military collaboration against movements and activists in the US and abroad; 4) Interrupting in neoliberal responses from “progressives” that advance imperialist interests but project solidarity with movements on the ground (i.e. US interventions in Venezuela, Iran, Syria). (If you are interested in getting more involved with the International Committee, please email intlsolidarity@nlgsf.org). 

We also would like to uplift ongoing issues related to both International Solidarity and Environmental Justice in Haiti and Malaysia, including a litigation case regarding a human rights lawyer who is defending villagers against logging in their communities. (See below for more details.)

Internationalism is the only road to freedom at home and abroad.

—The NLG-SF Bay Area Team

Date: Wednesday, April 7
Time: 6:00-8:00PM

The NLG-SFBA is holding a new Basic Legal Observer Training which will be held TODAY, April 7, 2021 from 6-8pm. This training aims to expand our capacity to support demonstrations in the Bay Area, particularly those organized by communities on the front line of state repression during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. Legal Observers play a critical role by monitoring and documenting law enforcement activity and serve as the first point of contact by which arrestees can access the legal support offered by the National Lawyers Guild. Legal Observers are also increasingly needed during the ongoing eviction crisis in the Bay Area.

This training has been updated to reflect what NLG-SFBA Legal Observers have learned since the uprisings this summer. We invite Legal Observers to renew their training, especially if you have not participated in a demonstration in several months.

In addition to new trainee Legal Observers, we ask you to attend this training if:

• 1. You were previously trained as a Legal Observer but never volunteered at a demonstration;
• 2. You haven’t volunteered for at least 8 months, as we’ve revised some guidance based on learning in 2020;
• 3. You are an active Legal Observer in the South Bay, as we’re consolidating Bay Area-wide practices and need South Bay Legal Observers to be current on these.

Contact demonstrations@nlgsf.org with questions.

If you would like to be trained as a Legal Observer or renew your LO training, please register at the link below.

When: April 20, 2021 6-8pm
Register here: bit.ly/CPRApt2

Join us on Tuesday April 20, 2021 from 6pm-8pm as we explore Part Two of our California Public Records Act Requests for Activists, Legal Workers, and Movement Lawyers workshop. 

You've submitted your request for public records, now what? 

This training will cover what happens after you've drafted and submitted your California Public Records Act request.

Topics include;

• Agency deadlines
  
• Agencies fees
  
• Practical tips for when an agency doesn't produce what you'd like
  
• CPRA lawsuits basics

Training conducted by Abenicio Cisneros (Follow on Twitter @CPRAlawyer).

The NLG-SFBA  is organizing this training with two main goals in mind:

1) Per the request of movement partners as well as NLG projects and committees, and

2) To train up law students, new lawyers and lawyers interested in becoming more involved in movement lawyering in PRA submissions, follow-up and lawsuits to secure the information requested when withheld.

As such, we are requesting attendants to confirm to support at least one PRA submission for an NLG supported project or movement partner. You can find more information about that on the registration page.

The National Lawyers Guild of San Francisco Bay Area is seeking law student interns and work study placements for the remainder of Spring 2021 and Summer 2021 semester. Internships range from 5-35 hours per week. Contact Program Coordinator E Conner, at econner@nlgsf.org, if you are interested.

In your internship you will have the opportunity to work closely with attorneys and other legal professionals; develop writing samples; be exposed to a diverse range of legal workers, organizations, and law firms; gain hands on experience in the legal field; have access to professional development and political education; and develop an orientation to progressive movement lawyering.

We can offer:

• Pro bono hours (as per State Bar requirements)
  
• Credit-earning internships and externships
  
• Federally funded work-study

We have recently included a new internship opportunity, the Immigration Court Watch Data Analysis Internship.

You can find more information about our internship program below.

In recent years, international forced migration has dramatically increased due to varying factors caused by global capitalism, militarization, climate crises, and gender-based violence. This crisis will only continue to worsen without action.

This series will cover topics such as:

• Neoliberalism, Imperialism, and Militarization
  
• Climate Change, Food Production, and Environmental Disaster
  
• Gender Based Violence and Justice
   

Join the NLG-SFBA as we seek to confront this urgent issue by learning about historical and current root causes of the crises, current organizing efforts, and how we can all take action by bridging our struggles here and internationally! 

Schedule coming soon! Upcoming webinars expected for Spring-early Summer of 2021.

Root & Rebound is excited to share that we are hiring an In-Prison Programs Coordinator to help develop, facilitate, and enhance R&R’s in-prison reentry legal programs. This termed, full-time, non-exempt position is mostly remote, but does require weekly visits to our Oakland, CA office and, eventually monthly trips to Central California Women’s Facility (CCWF) in Chowchilla, CA, when it is safe to do so. This termed position will run ideally from late-April 2021 through April 30, 2022. We encourage all interested applicants to apply, especially those with direct experience navigating reentry from prison or jail. Please find more details and how to apply below.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 6, 2021

Contact: massdef@nlg.org

The National Lawyers Guild (NLG) demands that charges against demonstrators who participated in the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests be dropped immediately. During last spring and summer’s protests against police violence, more than 10,000 people were arrested and many are still facing legal consequences. Many legal experts have said that these cases are nothing more than an overreach on the part of the Department of Justice under former President Donald Trump, and should never have been filed in federal court. As such, the NLG is launching a petition requesting that President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and Attorney General Merrick Garland drop the charges against these protesters as a step toward condemning white supremacy and federal repression. 

While the NLG does not believe that substantial, systemic change can happen through existing channels of power, we also believe that people exercising their right to protest deserve to do so without facing lawsuits. The Trump administration made blatant attempts to silence and punish leftist and progressive movements, and the Biden administration has the power and duty to mitigate these harms.

We urge our members, affiliates, supporters, and anyone else who believes in racial justice to sign the following letters to Biden, Harris, and Garland. Once signatures have been collected, these letters—written by NLG Chicago Mass Defense Committee members Matthew McLaughlin and Sharlyn Grace, in collaboration with the national Mass Defense Steering Committee—will be sent to the Biden administration.

Please join us in our call to #DropTheCharges by signing the petition at bit.ly/DropTheChargesBLM and helping us spread the word on social media!

The Environmental Justice (EJ) committee of the NLG-SFBA launched in February 2021. The overarching goals of the EJ committee is to support the organizing of frontline communities in the Bay Area most impacted by poor environmental conditions and to fortify their efforts by providing legal defense and support including impact litigation, activist defense, legislative analysis, submission of public records acts, and consultation based on needs of the EJ movement. We also seek to be a political home for EJ minded lawyers, legal workers, and law students.

The next EJ committee meeting is Friday, April 16 at 12PM. Starting in May, the EJ Committee will meet monthly on the second Friday at noon.

If you’re interested in getting involved in the EJ Committee, please contact our EJ Committee Coordinator, Zsea at zsea@nlgsf.org. 

March 2, 2021 

Fanmi Lavalas salutes the Haitian people for the colossal February 28th demonstration. As is evident, our struggle is arriving at the crossroads of self-defense. Bravo to all the actors from civil society who have rejoined the struggle of the Haitian people. If, like Fanmi Lavalas, you had started to mobilize after the 2017 electoral coup d'etat, today we would not have a full blown and well entrenched dictatorship. The more all of us victims join in mobilizing together, the closer we will come to uproot the system. Hats off to all! 

Indeed, today’s reality clearly lays bare the truth. If there had not been a February 29, 2004 kidnapping coup d'etat, today we would not have a government of kidnappers that causes each and every Haitian citizen to go about with his or her own coffin. 

Yes, ever since the 2004 coup d'etat, the masses have never ceased to experience more and more suffering. Massacres, repression, misery, starvation, unemployment, bullets, tear gas, kidnapping . . . and more. The criminals have not stopped stealing the lands of the peasants. If we can’t go to school, can’t eat, can’t have decent housing, if we don’t have potable water to drink, if we don’t have security, if they are kidnapping us, it is a direct consequence of the 2004 kidnapping coup d'etat. 

The February 28th demonstration shows that we are reaching a juncture that will require self-defense. It is a sacred and legitimate right to defend oneself. It will be at this crossroads of our struggle that victory will come forth. No matter what, we must establish a transition with a Sali Piblik government--a government for the public’s safety. The solution is in the hands of we the people, we the majority, we who are the mightiest power. 

The dew of tyranny gleams until the sun of the majority population arises. 

Alone we are weak, 
Together we are strong, 
All together we are Lavalas 

For the Executive Committee, 
Dr. Maryse Narcisse 
Joel Edouard Vorbe 
Dr. Myrtho Julien 
Agronomist Anthony Dessources 

31 March 2021

Fifteen lawyers, including Michael Mansfield QC, over 40 organisations and nearly 70 individuals from six countries, signed the Open Letter distributed by Legal Action for Women, UK. This is an impressive number, especially considering the tight deadline.

Charles Hector, is representing eight community human rights defenders who have been opposing logging in their community since 2013 because of the grave threat caused to the environment and to the survival of the community that depends on it. 

The charge of contempt, which if proven could criminalise and disbar Mr Hector, arises from the false claim that a letter sent by him is in breach of an Interlocutory Injunction. Mr Hector and the eight defendants reject this claim as the letter was a legitimate request for information to enable the defendants to prepare for trial.  

Charles Hector is being represented by Mr Ramachelvam from Messrs Rama Rozi who was present in court on March 25, 2021.

The Malaysian Bar Council has applied to come into the case on 'Watching Brief' and was represented in court by Mr Ong Siew Wan.

See below for press coverage, as well as a statement from Forum Asia and Front Line Defenders, and a letter to the Malaysian authorities from Lawyers’ Rights Watch Canada.

Date: Tonight, Wednesday, April 7
Time: 6:30-8:30PM

Please join us for a powerful discussion about what it's going to take to end white supremacist violence against our API comrades and communities—and more specifically, the problem with a "hate crimes" framework. We will watch clips from Dr. Connie Wun's incredible segment that recently aired on Democracy Now and have special guest speakers.

We are so grateful to have these amazing organizers leading the conversation:

• Ny Nourn - Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Asian Law Caucus
• Laurel Chen - CCWP member, and part of campaign to free Elaine Wong
• Hien Nguyen - Asian Prisoner Support Committee

We also recommend reading this statement from Red Canary Song, which CCWP signed onto, if you haven't already!