As we send out this newsletter, people’s access to abortion and reproductive health is being cut off throughout the country. At the same time the Supreme Court has curtailed workers rights and opened up even more access to guns. Our work in the NLG is only going to be more needed in the coming months and years.

Please see our May Newsletter for our statement on reproductive justice. We are working with the National Office to provide a list of resources.

We are pleased to announce that we have a new executive director for the SF Bay Area Chapter of the NLG:  Camilo Perez Bustillo!  

Camilo is a long time NLG member, an international human rights lawyer and co-chair of the NLG Task Force of the Americas. He has been actively engaged in immigration justice, especially at the border and founding member of several border watch organizations.

“The traditions of the oppressed teach us that the state of emergency in which we live, is not the exception, but the rule”
-Walter Benjamin, Theses on the Philosophy of History (1940)

I’m honored to be joining the staff of the San Francisco Bay Area chapter as Executive Director. I’ve been active in the NLG since I was a law student at Northeastern in Boston, as a civil rights lawyer in defense of the rights of immigrant and linguistic minority students throughout the U.S, as a law professor in the U.S and internationally (Mexico, Taiwan), and as a human rights scholar and activist based in Mexico and at the U.S-Mexico border. In each of these contexts the NLG has made crucial, often historic contributions as a partner and source of powerful expressions of solidarity, within the framework of the deeper processes of social justice and liberation which give these struggles meaning.

I am committed to doing everything I can to contribute to, help consolidate, and support our chapter’s exemplary ongoing work in contexts such as resistance to racist police violence and against state repression and fascism, the defense of the right to shelter, the rights of incarcerated people, immigrant rights, and in solidarity with liberation struggles in Palestine, the Philippines, and Haiti.

All of this has an intensified significance for me, in the wake of the historic victory in presidential elections on June 19, for the first time, of a center-left unity coalition in Colombia, as a child of Colombian immigrants who were forced to flee our homeland because of political violence there in the 1940’s. This period unleashed a continuous history of US-backed state and paramilitary terror that has resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths and forced disappearances, and millions of people forcibly displaced- mostly families of African descent and indigenous origin- in the world’s longest internal conflict. I hope we will be able to help bring to bear the best of the NLG’s commitment and spirit of solidarity to the difficult tasks that lie ahead for Colombia’s first people’s government, beginning with its inauguration in Bogotá on August 7.

It is also especially meaningful for me to join you at a historical moment when the convergent crises of state, structural, and systemic violence inherent to the intertwined evils of neoliberal capitalism, militarism and neo-colonialism, white supremacy, and patriarchy are driving the natural world and the human species ever faster towards destruction and extermination. It is a distinct privilege thus to be able to stand and join hands with each of you in our shared struggle for love, humanity, and collective survival, here in the Bay Area, nationally, and throughout the world. Venceremos!!

We had a very successful membership meeting on June 28.  Over 50 people attended.  We will be sending out extensive notes in the next week. One big take away: Membership!  Membership! We need more membership engagement on all levels  Active and nascent committees alike are in need of members to step up to become committee chairs. We have a lot of work to do!

Thanks so much to the membership meeting committee and the staff for getting this very important meeting together!

If you’re interested in joining, forming, or reforming a committee or would like to help organize the next membership meeting please email membership@nlgsf.org.

The Mass Defense Committee is forming a national political prisoner committee. For those who are interested please email massdefense@nlg.org 

The Mass Incarceration Committee (MIC) is recruiting members to join our Defense Committee formed in solidarity with Jailhouse Lawyers Speak, the national prisoner group which led the prison strikes of 2018 during their Shut ‘Em Down demonstrations.

We are looking for legal workers and law students who can show up in mutual aid and respond to the leadership of prisoner activists in their fight for liberation. All are welcome, but a preference for folks located in Virginia, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Missouri, South Carolina, North Carolina, Maryland, Texas, Washington State, Oregon, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, New York, California, and Colorado.

Volunteers will be asked to commit to: 

• Offer up to 8 hours a month for a few months beginning in August
• Attendance of an information session with MIC leadership and attorneys 
• Sign a confidentiality agreement
• Work in a team collaboratively
• Support attorneys with research, writing, and other logistical support

Please direct inquiries to Jenipher Jones, lead counsel for the JLS International Law Project at micjlsnlg@gmail.com 

Do you have an idea for #Law4thePeople 2022 programming? Send us your best proposals by June 30, 2022 and share your webinar with the rest of the NLG! Proposals can be submitted using this form, or by clicking the button below.

For examples of the kinds of programming we've hosted in the past, head over to our Vimeo channel, where you can find recordings of past panels, workshops, and webinars.

The full explanation of programming parameters, requirements, and other technical details can be found at the top of the proposal form. If you have any questions about programming or the selection process, please email Traci Yoder at traci@nlg.org.

We're looking forward to reviewing your submissions!

National Immigration Project of the NLGThis is the first call for 2022 resolutions, amendments, and candidates for national office. 

As a democratic organization, the work and focus of the NLG is decided by our members. Each year, we hold plenaries in which members discuss programmatic priorities, often in the form of resolutions. We also update our governing documents, our Bylaws and Constitution, and elect new officers to serve on the NLG National Executive Committee (NEC).

All governance matters will be handled during the NLG Governance Plenaries on October 22-23, 2022. The plenaries will be virtual and open to all current NLG members. All voting will take place online after the plenaries. 

All information about elections and submitting proposals for resolutions or amendments can be found at the link below.

As a reminder, NLG will not have a consolidated #Law4thePeople Convention. Instead, programming will be spread throughout the year. This does not impact the governance timeline.

If you have any questions, please email the Resolutions Committee at resolutions@nlg.org.

We'd like to remind you of our initiative designed to promote ongoing political education for NLG members! As a part of our commitment to learning and growing together, we invite you to join us in reading Becoming Abolitionists: Police, Protests, and the Pursuit of Freedom by Derecka Purnell as part of an NLG-wide reading group.

We're asking NLG local chapters and national committees to read the book and host discussion events, with the goal of strengthening our community and collective knowledge. As an abolitionist legal organization, it's important that we continue learning to meet the demands of the current political moment. We hope you join us in this collaborative effort!

The National Office is providing a list of guided reading questions, based on Derecka's own discussion questions. These questions can be found on our website as well as at the bottom of this email.

We hope you join us for these urgent and necessary conversations around an engaging, inspiring, and beautifully written book. You can learn more about the book and find a local bookseller at the link provided here.

If you’re interested in helping to organize a reading group with the NLG-SFBA chapter please email membership@nlgsf.org 

Our updated Know Your Rights booklet is a more comprehensive version of our classic pamphlet, with more information for protesters at higher risk of being targeted by law enforcement. This resource is best to use in advance of an action or demonstration, to give you the kinds of information that will help you know your rights and risks. Because it is much longer than the original version, it may take longer to read.

This booklet was created by the National Lawyers Guild, in collaboration with the National Police Accountability Project, National Immigration Project of the NLG, and the Know Your Rights Camp, with material from the NLG Disability Justice Committee, NLG Mass Defense Committee, and NLG law student members.

Dr. Mutulu Shakur, diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, is fighting for his life. He is 71 years old and has been in prison for almost 40 years. Yet despite overwhelming support for his release, including religious figures, congresspeople and members of civil society, the Federal Bureau of Prisons refuses to free him.

This CLE is the second session of the MLTF’s Advocacy & Activism Through Military Law training program. Other trainings will be available in the near future, and you can find out more on the MLTF Training Program page, and/or join our low-volume mailing list.

Day/Time: Live via Zoom on July 13, 2022, at 10 am PT/1 pm ET. A recorded version of the presentation will be available for viewing a few days after that.

Topic/Background: This presentation will examine the ethics rules that govern the practice of military law by civilian attorneys, including: (1) relevant provisions of the Manual for Court-Martial, (2) DOD and branch-specific regulations, (3) a discussion of the Model Rules of Professional Conduct, and (4) a discussion of some of the ethical and moral issues that are not addressed by the rules.

A good chunk of the presentation will involve some problem-solving of some hypothetical situations, based on common situations encountered by lawyers in this field.

While this program is a continuing legal education seminar for attorneys, others with interest in the subject (including GI Rights counselors and servicemember advocates) are welcome to attend.

For More Information Visit: https://nlgmltf.org/practicing-military-law-as-a-civilian-an-ethics-cle-presentation/ 

Calling all would be writers and journalists!

We are looking for members to  contribute to the NLG-SFBA newsletter. We welcome your participation, articles, and feedback!

Please email membership@nlgsf.org to get involved in the Newsletter Committee. 

Calling all immigration lawyers, legal workers and law students interested in restarting the Bay Area NLG’s Immigrant Justice Committee’s  Immigration Court Observation Program (ICOP).  

We will have a Zoom meeting on Tuesday, July 12 from 5 – 6 pm to discuss scheduling a Planning Meeting to discuss both the feasibility and needs for restarting the program. 

ICOP was designed to organize members of the community to observe and monitor immigration court proceedings for fairness by  collecting and analyzing contemporaneous data from immigration court proceedings.  

The data will be used to hold EOIR accountable and support immigrants with their cases in court. The National Lawyers Guild’s Immigration Court Observation Program (ICOP) involves attending immigration court proceedings (in person or remote depending on COVID and court protocols) to increase transparency and accountability.

At the Zoom meeting on July 12th we will focus on:

• Selecting a date for the First Planning Meeting
• Selecting a venue and/or format for the First Planning Meeting
• Develop a tentative agenda for the meeting.

If you’re interested in joining the ICOP meeting please email membership@nlgsf.org for more information.

Our fellows become involved with substantive legal activities, which involve co-counseled litigation with prominent law firms, including client contact, case investigation, discovery, negotiations, amicus briefs, appeals, and trial practice. Non-litigation activities include legal services to community development groups, legislative and public policy advocacy, and public education on important civil rights matters.

We are now accepting nominations for the next NLG Student National Vice President (SNVP)!

The SNVP serves for a 2-year term on the national board of directors, called the National Executive Committee. This is a fantastic opportunity to take on a leadership position within the Guild, meet and work with experienced lawyers and legal workers, and have a role in shaping this organization! More details of the position can be found in the attached document.

Please email a short candidate statement to traci@nlg.org if you are interested! These statements should discuss your role in the Guild and why you are interested in running for SNVP. Please send your candidate statements no later than October 23, 2022.

Qualified candidates must currently be law students and must be paid members of the NLG.

When: July 14-July 16th 
Where: St. Louis, Mo and virtually 

Lawyering for Liberation: Defending Black Lives, Building Black Power is a hybrid in-person and virtual conference for lawyers, legal workers and organizers. Lawyering for Liberation will build on the 2015 Law for Black Lives conference held in NYC. The conference will be an opportunity for us to collectively strategize about how movement lawyers can support radical movement in this critical moment.

Law for Black Lives is a national community of radical lawyers and legal workers committed to transforming the law and building the power of organizing to defend, protect and advance Black Liberation across the globe.