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
 
 

Yesterday, April 13th, we had a small but significant victory on behalf of one of the callers of the NLG-SFBA Santa Rita Jail Hotline. Through the advocacy of NLG lawyers and allied medical providers and in partnership with his public defender, Santa Rita Jail Hotline advocates were able to secure an order for the immediate transport of a prisoner to urgent care for a spinal injury that is causing excruciating and immobilizing pain. This rarely happens and it is the direct result of the work of the Santa Rita Jail Hotline. Though a small victory on the road to prisoner rights and ultimately abolition, a reduction in suffering in favor of human rights is significant and counting our victories along the way is important. 

Over a year into the pandemic, we continue to see the devastating effects of COVID-19 on our incarcerated community in prisons, jails, and detention centers. The Santa Rita Jail Hotline was conceived in response to the pandemic, which has exacerbated the already poor conditions inside the Alameda County Santa Rita Jail, and made it more difficult for prisoners to obtain information about their rights. 

Coordinated by our dedicated staff member, Lina Garcia-Schmidt, the hotline consists of community member, legal worker, and attorney volunteers who answer calls, correspond with, and advocate for prisoners. We are preparing to expand the scope of the hotline to  meet broader needs of those inside SRJ, as well as expand over time to other Bay Area County jails, to increase efforts to build power and influence to change conditions inside of the jail and towards ending mass incarceration.

To do so we need more NLG members and movement partners to get involved in coordination of, coverage for and mobilizing in response to issues exposed by the hotline. (See below for flyer with link to sign-up to get involved.)

On another front of our work, The Right To Shelter committee is hosting a listening session this Friday to build out a new Eviction Defense Legal Support effort to provide legal observer, hotline coverage and attorney representation for eviction defense efforts against people who are unhoused and tenants. (See below for more details.)

As we think about our ever-expanding work, we also extend an invitation to law students to intern with NLG-SFBA this summer. Over the past year we have hosted over a dozen interns with a diversity of interests and experiences, all of whom express deep gratitude and enthusiasm for the relationships they have built and skills learned (and not found in law school or through their other internship experience). 

Many important and exciting projects are on the horizon; in addition to the Santa Rita Jail Hotline, we are also continuing to build out our #MeTooBehindBars work in solidarity with queer, transgender, and gender non-conforming people incarcerated in California women’s prisons. In the realm of our Litigation Program work, we are hoping to expand our capacity to submit Public Records Act requests on behalf of movement partners through a law student-led PRA clinic. (Learn more about our internship opportunities here and below.)

The first panel of our upcoming webinar/E-CLE series, Root Causes of Forced Migration, is scheduled for May 4th! The series will tie  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 registration details.)

We hope that more of our members will get involved in this and other exciting work below!

—The NLG-SF Bay Area Team
 
Upcoming NLG and Partner Alerts 
 
 
Right To Shelter Committee: Eviction Defense Listening Session
 

Are you an attorney, legal worker, housing/houseless organizer, or organization interested in helping build a robust network of legal support for those targeted for evictions and sweeps? Are you interested in supporting communities seeking housing justice and resisting displacement in the Bay Area? 

Join us, Friday April 16th for the Right to Shelter Committee’s Eviction Defense Listening Session. 

We will hear from housing justice and houseless community organizers and movement attorneys and legal workers supporting them. This information will be used to develop our Eviction Defense Legal Observer training in early May. The Legal Observers we train at this training will support the development of the Rapid Response Eviction Defense Legal Support Network. If you are interested in attending the listening session or supporting/joining the Right to Shelter Committee please contact E Conner, Programs Coordinator at econner@nlgsf.org.
 
California Public Records Act Requests for Activists, Legal Workers, and Movement Lawyers Part Two: What Now?
 

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.
 
Register Now
 
Root Causes of Forced Migration: Neoliberalism, Imperialism, and Militarization (Part 1)
 

This panel of attorneys and community organizers will discuss the root causes of forced migration and the United States’ role in these causes. We also touch upon the dynamics of white supremacy, xenophobia, and militarization that manifest at the border and within the refugee immigrant experience in the USA. More details coming soon!

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!

Stay tuned for webinars 2 & 3: Climate Change, Food Production, & Environmental Disaster and Gender-Based Violence & Justice
 
Register Now
 
 Root Causes of Forced Migration: 3-Part Webinar Series
 

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 for Part 2 & 3 coming soon! Upcoming webinars expected for Spring-early Summer of 2021.
 
NLG-SFBA Spring/Summer 2021 Internships
 

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.
 
NLG-SFBA Internship Information
 
Questionnaire for Sex Worker Legal Support Project

The National Lawyers Guild, S.F. Bay Area chapter on behalf of Bay Area Workers Support is creating an Attorney Referral Network for Sex Workers. This referral list will be a means to connect sex workers with movement legal aid and attorneys friendly to sex workers and informed to the specific legal challenges that sex workers face.

If you, or someone you know would like to be apart of this referral network please fill out the webform linked below.
Survey Link
 
Call for NLG Faculty and Scholars!

In 2015, the NLG launched the NLG Scholars page to help students, activists, and the media find NLG speakers in specific geographical areas who are experts on various legal topics. Many of our NLG members–both in law schools and beyond–have established themselves in their different fields. Guild members regularly write, present, and speak to media on behalf of themselves and the NLG. With this wealth of expertise and knowledge among NLG members, we wanted to make it easier for our membership and the public to access their work!

We are expanding our scholar network, and looking for law professors, researchers, practitioners, writers, and experts to join us. For those interested in being added to this page as a resource for our members and the public, please send the following information to traci@nlg.org:

  • Picture (preferably 250+ DPI)
  • Bio (300 words max)
  • Links to any articles/websites
  • Areas of Expertise
  • Contact info (email and/or phone)

Reminder that this is open to current Guild members only. You can contact NLG Director of Research and Education Traci Yoder at traci@nlg.org if you need to check your membership status, update your current bio/picture, or have any other questions. 
 
NLG Committee & Program Updates
 
Demonstrations Committee:

Legal Observer Training

On Wednesday, April 7, the NLG-SFBA hosted a Basic Legal Observer Training. This training was intended to bring on new Legal Observers, as well as serve as a Part 1 to an upcoming Legal Observer training that is focused specifically on eviction defense. This supplemental training is being developed in response to the fact that the NLG-SFBA has received many calls for encampment defense and eviction defense. As a reminder, you do not have to be a legal professional to become a Legal Observer or join the developing Eviction Legal Defense Network, which is crystallizing around the needs and concerns of a wide variety of people and which is designed to defend a diversity of tactics during the ongoing eviction crisis in the Bay Area. We encourage people who are working in solidarity with unhoused people to take part in both the Basic Legal Observer Training and the follow-up training.

If you were unable to attend in person but would like to be trained as a Legal Observer, please email demonstrations@nlgsf.org for the video link. Please note that we ask for confirmation that you have watched the video, as well as confirmation from two references provided by you that you are not affiliated with law enforcement or any prosecutorial entity.

If you are interested in the eviction defense training or want to get involved with the Right to Shelter Committee, please email E Conner (econner@nlgsf.org). 

Demonstrations in the Bay Area

On Friday, April 9, one Legal Observer traveled to San Francisco for a rally and street mural event organized by Diablo Rising Tide. Protesters rallied at the offices of Wells Fargo and Blackrock, two supporters of the Enbridge Line 3 expansion. There were no incidents.

On Saturday, April 10, five Legal Observers traveled to Dolores Park for Defund SFPD now, a community event hosted by Defund SFPD. There were no incidents.

On Sunday, April 11, four Legal Observers supported Save City College of San Francisco March, hosted by the CCSF Student Coalition. Speakers shared poetry, dance, and music, and speakers commented on the school to prison to deportation pipeline. Protesters marched to Dolores Park and there were no incidents.
Santa Rita Jail Hotline & Solidarity:

On Friday, April 2, an individual in a women’s unit took their own life. This is the second suicide in Santa Rita Jail in 2021. The first suicide occurred in February in an intake unit. Prior to the beginning of the pandemic, in October 2019, a KTVU investigation reported that at least 17 people had committed suicide since 2014 – most of them people who were held in isolation. ACSO maintains tight control over information about these deaths; the jail has issued no statements nor any further information regarding the death on April 9 and advocates ultimately discovered the information through a joint status report written by attorneys in Babu v. Ahern, a class-action lawsuit regarding mental health care in the jail.

Advocates raised the issue in a Friday, April 9 conference call at Santa Rita Jail with Supervisor Richard Valle, jail commanders, and medical provider Wellpath. When questioned further about protocol for caring for people with mental illness during the extremely isolating 14-day quarantine period, Supervisor Valle responded that “we have a difference of opinion about what is a COVID-related issue."

Supervisor Valle’s bi-weekly conference calls at the jail were created ostensibly to offer more transparency to advocates about the jail’s COVID-19 protocols. One year into the pandemic, COVID-19 is now being used as a blanket excuse, not only to deploy further restrictions and further surveillance against incarcerated people but to avoid transparency and accountability regarding the mental health impacts of prolonged isolation. To the state, psychological torture of incarcerated people is now justified through the science of infection control.

During the pandemic, Santa Rita Jail deputies are working mandatory overtime, yet incarcerated people are forced to beg just to get fresh air. And while men can occasionally go out to the big yard, which has exercise equipment, most women in Santa Rita Jail have never seen the big yard. Women recreate in a small yard which has little to no exercise equipment.

If you would like to get trained to work on the hotline, please fill out our volunteer form. If you are an attorney or law student who would like to participate in the hotline by advising hotline volunteers, drafting legal memos, or working with prisoner callers, please contact srjhotline@nlgsf.org.
 
Migrant Justice:
Photo Credit: SF Poster Syndicate

The Immigration Justice Committee continues to carve a path they plan to take in their organizing and advocacy efforts.

The Public Advocacy and Education work group have decided to investigate the profitable relationship between surveillance technology and ICE in order to create informative materials that elaborate on why these contracts create fear and limit the freedom of people who are undocumented. They also plan to collaborate with other committees, anti-surveillance advocates, and NLG law students in order to support and bridge a broader movement against state-surveillance. Along with that, they will also be participating in the planning for our upcoming webinar series on the Root Causes of Forced Migration.

The Immigration Court Accountability work group discussed how we will utilize the immigration court observation program (ICOP) and the importance of maintaining community pressure on the immigration system under the Biden administration. Members of the working group expressed little faith that this new administration will create any fundamental change but are concerned that public attention will wane due to the progressive aesthetics of the Democratic party. The administration has already shown to defend harmful rules in immigration courts that were maintained under the previous administration, revealing that no movement will happen unless it’s from the people.

The Decriminalization, Decarceration, and Abolition work group met and discussed recent events, campaigns, and calls to actions that are surrounding the detention centers across the nation in order to determine what route and strategies they will be able to take. They were also able to identify a huge rift forming in the immigration abolition movement between immigration lawyers and activists regarding the closing of detention centers, the relocation of migrants in even farther detention centers, and the insufficient social systems (i.e. foster care) in this country that children will end up facing when they are freed. This group plans to collaborate with organizations and/or individuals who are currently working towards these efforts in order to build their capacity, bridge this gap, and move towards the abolition of these oppressive systems in order to create something life-affirming and sufficient for all.

If you are a lawyer, legal worker, law student, jailhouse lawyer, and/or immigration advocate interested in joining our Immigration Justice Committee, please contact: migrantjustice@nlgsf.org.

Immigration Resources

The ILRC has created an Immigration Preparedness Toolkit for those who are looking to assess their immigration options, learn how to create an action plan, and develop a strategy that works for them. 

Download their immigration toolkit here. You can also download the Spanish version of the Toolkit here.
Youth Caucus:

The youth caucus continues to move towards their tasks and goals for this month, as protests begin to rise and state violence continues. The KYR group members are preparing to attend their first Digital Security training and have begun to work on adapting the KYR training sessions for young people. The Cops off Campus group will continue their collaboration with local community organizations, and plan a town hall in order for community members to share their concerns on the presence of officers remaining on campus and discuss how the school budget could be reoriented towards more useful resources (i.e. mental health counselors, ethnic studies curriculum). We are also planning to connect young people who attend the town hall to the various training sessions we are launching for youth, so that they can be equipped and feel prepared. The work group will also begin to construct a #MeToo pamphlet that will inform young people on how to identify abuse on campus and in juvenile detention.

For more information on the NLG-SFBA Youth Caucus:

Age Requirement: 14-24 years old

School Requirements: None

We formed 2 work groups within the Youth Caucus focused on different areas of youth organizing.

Work Groups:

  • Know Your Rights Group: This group will focus on creating materials to educate young people on their rights and how best to protect themselves either on campus or at a protest.
  • Cops Off Campus Group: This group will focus on building campaign efforts to get cops off school campuses, as well as educating youth on alternative practices and resources for harm reduction (i.e. mental health, peer liaisons, etc.)

Youth are expected to attend and participate in both General Youth Caucus meetings and work group meetings. They will be compensated with a gift card for their efforts. If they are not able to attend due to personal and/or urgent matters but are committed to being a part of the Youth Caucus, we will still compensate them. We just ask for them to notify us of their absence.

Our standing meetings will be on the first and third Tuesday of each month at 3pm on Zoom. Our next meeting will be on Tuesday, April 20th at 3pm.

If you are interested in joining or supporting our Youth Caucus please contact our Program Coordinator, Savannah, here: savannah@nlgsf.org.
 
Environmental Justice
 

Help us get accountability and environmental justice for the residents of Bayview Hunters Point and Treasure Island by attending the People’s Earth Day Rally in San Francisco on April 22 at noon. Led by grassroots group Greenaction for Health & Environmental Justice and a number of allies, this socially-distanced rally calls upon SF leadership to immediately halt excavation of the contaminated Shipyard Superfund Site and conduct full retesting, safe cleanup, and removal of all radioactive and toxic waste there and in similarly contaminated Treasure Island.

As a reminder, the next EJ committee meeting is this 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. 
 
International Solidarity
 

Protest the attacks on Dayvid Bacelar, coordinator of the United Federation of Oil Workers in Sao Francisco do Conde, Bahia, Brazil

Please sign on and support this time-sensitive statement in solidarity with Brazilian labor leader Dayvid Bacelar. 

This open letter and sign-on statement is initiated by the National Lawyers Guild International Committee, the National Lawyers Guild Labor and Employment Committee and the International Association of Democratic Lawyers.

We welcome all signatures from legal and human rights organizations, lawyers, legal workers, law students and labor rights advocates.

PLEASE SIGN BEFORE WEDNESDAY, APRIL 14 at 9 AM Pacific Time (11:59 PM Eastern time) FOR INITIAL PUBLICATION/DISTRIBUTION.

We will welcome additional signatures after that time as well. If you experience any difficulties or concerns signing on with the form below, please send your signature to international@nlg.org.

******
We express our disapproval of the persecution that Petrobras has been carrying out against Dayvid Bacelar, current Coordinator at the Unified Federation of Oil Workers - FUP, in São Francisco do Conde, Bahia.

The workers had been on strike at a refinery known as RLAM a part of Petrobras which is being sold to the sovereign fund of the United Arab Emirates. Mr. Bacelar was given a suspension from his job for taking part in the strike. This suspension of a Union leader is a threat to this important union and contrary to the rights of management under Brazilian labor law.

The union movement has been enduring successive attacks since the 2016 coup that led Michel Temer to the presidency. The government's interest in weakening workers' representation and marginalizing union actions is clear.

Workers did not expect any improvement in workers' rights advocates' relations during the current government, but the scenario of oppression against Dayvid Bacelar, is comparable to the horrific period of the military dictatorship. Union action is a legitimate right of all workers. Workers will not be silenced.

Dayvid Bacelar and the union workers are fighting to improve the lives of all and in the face of deteriorating conditions brought on by Petrobras’ being sold off to private entities.

We call on Petrobras and all other institutions concerned to respect labor rights, end the attacks on Dayvid Bacelar, lift the suspension and end the attacks on the labor movement.
 
Sign-On Letter
 
Partner Action Alerts
 
 
NLG Staff & Organization Updates
 
     NLGSF Staff  - Contact Info

You can reach the following staff members for the specific things below:

  • Sara, Executive Director, sara@nlgsf.org: Organizational and program questions, finance or fundraising, Committee support or organizational partnerships.
  • Laurel, Membership Coordinator, membership@nlgsf.org: Membership renewal and sign-up questions, newsletter submissions, contact lists and website.
  • Lina, Demonstrations & Anti-Repression Coordinator, demonstrations@nlgsf.org; for Santa Rita Jail Hotline work, srjhotline@nlgsf.org: questions about and/or participation with Santa Rita Jail hotline.
  • Savannah, Coordinator of Immigration Justice & other Projects, savannah@nlgsf.org.
  • E, Coordinator of Programs & Committees, econner@nlgsf.org

National Lawyers Guild - San Francisco Bay Area Chapter

558 Capp Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
United States


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