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
 
 

Last night, we launched our three-part CLE series on the Root Causes of Forced Migration. With over 500 registrants, this first panel on Neoliberalism, Imperialism, and Militarization brought together attorneys and community organizers for a powerful conversation on the United States’ role in driving forced migration and how the dynamics of white supremacy, xenophobia and militarization intersect at the border and within refugee immigrant experiences. 

We heard from an amazing panel of speakers, including Pierre Labossiere of Haiti Action Committee, Azadeh Shahshahani of Project South, Dévora González of SOA Watch, and Rhonda Ramiro of BAYAN-USA. This powerful panel was moderated by immigration lawyer and NLG-SFBA Immigration Committee member Amanda Miller and Savannah Landau, NLG-SFBA program coordinator. Thank you to all who attended! 

After a strong kickoff, we look ahead to the next two in the series and hope to see many of you at our upcoming webinars, Climate Change, Food Production, & Environmental Disaster and Gender-Based Violence & Justice. (Please see below for registration information!)

This past May Day on Saturday, May 1, we uplifted the call to occupy vacant buildings and houses in the Bay Area from housing justice activists, organizers, and housed and unhoused community members. We supported this call as we believe that human rights must be regarded as more sacred than property interests. As our Right to Shelter Committee states, “the NLG-SFBA recognizes the struggle for the self-determination of homeless and marginally-housed people and low-income tenants to secure shelter and basic resources as one of the most pressing struggles in the Bay Area and nationally.”

In solidarity with people who are homeless, marginally-housed and low-income tenants, we are preparing to launch a new eviction defense rapid response network in June. We welcome Legal Observers of the NLG-SFBA and housing justice activists, organizers, and marginally-housed community members to join us! (If you are interested in participating, please email econner@nlgsf.org). 

We encourage you to visit our newly relaunched website, where you can find resources related to COVID-19, check out our upcoming events, view and download free Know Your Rights materials for distribution, and find out more about our programs, our committees, our partner-led initiatives, our political and legal education offerings and more ways to be involved. 

—The NLG-SF Bay Area Team
 
Upcoming NLG and Partner Alerts 
 
Root Causes of Forced Migration: Climate Change, Food Production, & Environmental Disaster (Part 2)
 

DATE: Wednesday, May 26th
TIME: 6:00PM - 8:00PM PT

This panel of attorneys and community organizers will discuss how climate change is driving forced migration by endangering food production and increasing environmental disasters that are making locations across the world unlivable, and how grassroots movements are fighting against these incredible forces.

Moderators: E Conner, NLG-SFBA Program Coordinator & Osman Yasin, NLG-SFBA intern and law student

Speakers:

  • José Artiga, SHARE El Salvador Foundation

  • Kali Akuno, Cooperation Jackson

  • Others TBA!

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!

This panel is endorsed by these amazing organizations:

Stay tuned for webinar 3: Gender-Based Violence & Justice.

Register below!
 
Register Now
 
 
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
 
NLG-SFBA & Law Office of B.C. McComas LLP Dual Internship
 

The National Lawyers Guild: San Francisco Bay Area Chapter partners with one of our member attorneys, Brian McComas to offer a stipend dual internship. This internship will have the intern split time between their work supporting the Santa Rita Jail hotline as well as other NLG programs and committees and working under Brian McComas’ direct supervision at his criminal defense practice. 

Interns will get experience meaningfully contributing to pre-litigation preparation on current cases and get concrete experience in trial preparation. In addition, they will have the opportunity to work directly with people who are incarcerated at Santa Rita Jail on advocating for their basic civil and human rights and on campaigns to pressure public officials and agencies to shift conditions of inhumane treatment, civil and constitutional rights violations and mass incarceration. 

The breakdown of hours is: 

  • Case work on criminal defense trials: 10 hours per a week under supervision of Brian McComas
  • SRJ Hotline coverage, advocacy & campaign work: 20-25 hours per a week
  • Additional NLG project work: 5-10 hours per a week

A starting stipend of $2000 is offered for the duration of the summer internship. 
If you’re interested or have any questions, please contact E Conner at econner@nlgsf.org.
 
NLG Leonard I. Weinglass Memorial Fellowship 2021: Announcement & Application Instructions

Leonard I. Weinglass (1933-2011) was a criminal defense attorney and constitutional law advocate. Over the course of his career, he represented political activists, government opponents, and criminal defendants— including Angela Davis, the Cuban Five, the Chicago Seven, the Pentagon Papers, and the death row appeals of Mumia Abu-Jamal—in a half century of politically significant cases. He was a longtime Guild member and served as Chair of the NLG International Committee.

Thanks to a generous bequest from the Weinglass estate, the NLG Foundation has established a fellowship for recent law graduates. Each year, one fellow will receive a stipend to work for the NLG on a specific civil rights or civil liberties project. Previous fellows have developed projects to assist with parole and sponsorship for LGBTQ+ migrants, reunite American citizen-children with undocumented parents who have been deported to their country of origin, support community bond funds, fight a new maximum security prison planned for construction on a former coal mining site, and develop an environmental justice legal defense and action plan.

Eligibility

The Weinglass Fellowship is open to all NLG members who have graduated from law school in the past five years. Applicants must be current in their NLG dues.* Applicants must develop a project with the sponsorship of an NLG entity, which includes NLG Chapters/Regions, Committees, Projects,** and the NLG National Office. The sponsoring entity agrees to collaborate with the fellow to create a project and to offer (or assist to help locate) a working space for the Fellow over the course of their project.

Award

One Fellow will be chosen annually and receive a $4,250 award to work on a 10-week project that is in line with the mission of the NLG and the career of Leonard Weinglass. The Fellow will also receive free registration for one year to the NLG Law for the People Convention, and will be highlighted on the Guild website, social media sites, and Guild Notes.

Application

To apply for the NLG Leonard I. Weinglass Memorial Fellowship, email the following materials to Director of Research and Education Traci Yoder at traci@nlg.org by Monday May 17, 2021:

  • Cover letter describing your previous experience and reasons you are applying
  • Current resume (no more than 3 pages)
  • Essay between 1,000-1,500 words describing your proposed project
  • Contact information for two references
  • Letter from the NLG entity who will be sponsoring your project

Selection and Notification

The Fellowship winner will be chosen by a committee composed of NLG Foundation Board members, NLG National Executive Committee members, and representatives from the NLG National Office. The committee will review the applications with an eye toward projects that meet the fellowship criteria, address a relevant and timely issue, and further the NLG’s mission of people’s lawyering and placing human rights over property interests. The fellowship recipient will be notified in June.
 
 
NLG Committee & Program Updates
 
Demonstrations Committee:

Demonstrations in the Bay Area

On Tuesday, April 27, one Legal Observer traveled to Daly City for a vigil for Roger Allen, a Black San Francisco resident who was shot by Daly City police on April 7. There were no incidents.

On Wednesday, April 28, the Demonstrations Hotline supported the SJU Equity Coalition in a day of action at the San José Unified School District headquarters. The coalition is demanding that SJU remove Cops from campuses, agendize the Derrick Sanderlin Resolution, and fund mental health programs and better ethnic studies programs. There were no incidents.

On Friday, April 30, two Legal Observers traveled to Brentwood for a protest to demand justice for Adam Toledo and Nayeli, a victim of police brutality by Brentwood PD. LOs noted a threatening environment with Brentwood PD observing the rally, which was harassed by aggressive bystanders and passersby. There were no incidents despite the tense atmosphere.

On Saturday, May 1, Legal Observers mobilized for May Day actions in Oakland, where a car caravan traveled to West Oakland to support the occupation of an unoccupied building; and in San José, where one Legal Observer supported a rally in the park. There were no incidents at either action.

Also on Saturday, May 1, eight Legal Observers mobilized for an autonomous action to abolish the police, in downtown Oakland. Oakland PD were present and encircled the crowd. No munitions were used. Legal Observers noted five arrests, although the media has reported seven arrests total.

Santa Rita Jail Hotline & Solidarity:

The Santa Rita Jail Hotline is hosting a Hotline Worker training on Friday, May 7 at 5:30pm.

People in Santa Rita Jail need our continued support and access to a confidential hotline. The US Department of Justice recently concluded an investigation of the Alameda County Sheriff's Office which found that ACSO is in violation of federal law and the civil rights of incarcerated people. County lawyers have already contested the investigation – but calls to the SRJ Hotline tell us something different. One caller asked us to please share widely his belief that the amount of people with mental health issues is closer to 100 percent because the jail environment is inherently abusive and traumatizing even to people who had no mental health challenges upon booking. This more nuanced understanding of prisoners' experiences, as well as the ability to support prisoner self-organizing, is made possible by partnership between hotline workers and hotline callers.

Please contact srjhotline@nlgsf.org with questions or to receive the Zoom link.

You can also fill out the volunteer form to receive more information about further trainings later this summer if you are unable to attend the training on Friday.
 
Migrant Justice:
Photo Credit: SF Poster Syndicate

The Immigration Committee will continue to fight against tech/state surveillance and move towards building the bridge between migrant justice, abolition, and international solidarity.

The Public Advocacy and Education subcommittee plans to reach out to Law Students Against ICE and NLG student chapters who are fighting to hold legal research databases, LexisNexis and Westlaw, accountable for selling information to ICE that have put undocumented community members in danger. The subcommittee looks to have active members from either or both of these collectives attend our next meeting to inform them on the current status of the campaign and how this Chapter can uplift/platform their calls for accountability. If you are an active member of Law Students Against ICE and/or an NLG student chapter, please contact migrantjustice@nlgsf.org.

The Decriminalization, Decarceration, and Abolition work group will create an outreach list of individual organizers, legal workers, collectives, and organizations who are currently working towards abolition in the immigration justice movement. They hope to recruit people into their subcommittee and/or have them attend a meeting in order to inform where their efforts are most needed and how they can apply them. With the upcoming Shut ‘Em Down Demo happening on August 21st to September 9th, the call for a building abolition movement across realms of incarceration is growing and the subcommittee intends to join it.

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 Know Your Rights group continues to adapt the KYR Training Session for young people and we aim to have it finalized by the end of May, for more young people and our partner organizations that work with youth, to utilize as demonstrations continue and state repression reacts. The Cops off Campus group will work on 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.)

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, May 18th at 3pm.

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

Great news for environmental justice in Bayview Hunters Point! After months of community objections and recent outrage over its plans to rush through its evaluation process and give permits to cement plants that have operated and polluted for years without valid permits in BVHP, yesterday the Bay Area Air Quality Management District met with community advocates and agreed to abide by its own environmental justice guidelines. The agency, which is responsible for regulating air pollution, agreed to community demands to issue notice of a new 30-day public comment period, and will include a formal workshop where public comments will be taken and considered. BAAQMD also offered to provide translation as needed by residents who don't speak English as their first language. Many thanks to EJ Committee member Michaela Anang for helping our community partner Greenaction draft a comment objecting to the agency’s initial failure to provide public notice of a comment period or hold a public hearing. We still need help to review the permit applications and submit comments in the upcoming weeks. Please reach out if interested.

We are looking for folks to help develop the content and identify speakers for the second session of the webinar series Root Causes of Forced Migration, which focuses on Climate Change, Food Production, and Environmental Disaster. Please let us know if you are interested in helping.

Our next EJ Committee meeting is May 13 at 12 PST. There’s no commitment to join and all all NLG members are invited to attend our meetings and sign up for our mailing list. As a reminder, the EJ Committee meets 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
 
Partner Action Alerts
 
 
Partner Events
 
Writing the Third World with Harsha Walia and Mizue Aizeki
 

DATE: Wednesday, May 5
TIME: 5 - 6 PM PT

Join Center for Political Education for a discussion of Harsha Walia’s new book, Border & Rule: Global Migration, Capitalism, and the Rise of Racist Nationalism.

Harsha will be joined in conversation by Mizue Aizeki, Interim Executive Director of Immigrant Defense Project. Harsha and Mizue will discuss how economic and political forces in the US and across the globe have shaped the current international system of migrant and border policing. They will also talk about what the crises of displacement and criminalization mean for Left organizing today.

This conversation is the first event of CPE’s Writing the Third World series that puts scholars and movement leaders in conversation about a recent work of scholarship on internationalist struggles for liberation and self-determination.

***Accessibility Information***
Spanish interpretation and English-language live captioning will be available. 
 
Webinar Registration
 
AFT 2121 Save CIty College: Week of Action!
 

DATE: Saturday, May 8
TIME: 11 AM PT
Location: San Francisco City Hall

To support the ongoing fight for CCSF students, faculty and staff, join a caravan and march on Saturday, May 8 to demand funding for CCSF and an end to the proposed layoffs of 60% of CCSF's faculty.

  • Starting at San Francisco City Hall at 11 am (PDT)
  • Organized by American Federation of Teachers 2121
 
RSVP Now
 
Free City! The Fight for San Francisco's City College and Education for All
 

DATE: Thursday, May 13
TIME: 5:00 - 6:30 PM PT

Why is City College of SF fighting for its life – again?

CCSF is facing drastic cuts and layoffs just years after organizers pulled the school through an accreditation crisis and won free tuition. Join us to draw lessons from the #FreeCity campaign that can help us further liberatory education at CCSF and beyond. Featuring Marcy Rein, Mickey Ellinger, and Vicki Legion, co-authors of “Free City!”; Jason Ferreira, SFSU; EK, CCSF Collective; and Beatriz Herrera, AFT 2121.

Co-sponsors: Center for Political Education (CPE) & PM Press.

***Accessibility Information***
Spanish interpretation and English-language live captioning will be available. 
 
Register Now
 
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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