National Lawyers Guild - New York City Chapter (NLG-NYC)

09/04/2024

11/22/2023

Please consider contributing to support past chapter President Carl Lipscombe’s full recovery!

Hi everyone! We're asking for your help in supporting our friend and comrade Carl Lipsco… Erica Smiley needs your support for Donate to help Carl walk again!

10/09/2023

https://nlginternational.org/2023/10/nlg-international-emphasizes-palestinian-right-to-resist-stands-in-solidarity-with-palestine/

The National Lawyers Guild emphasizes the legitimacy of the right of the Palestinian people to resist illegal military occupation, apartheid and ethnic cleansing, and urges the United States to st

09/14/2022

Dear friends,

I hope you will join us for our second annual Fall Ball!

This year, we will gather at the beautiful Elizabeth Street Garden, to celebrate the season and raise much needed funds for our chapter.
Food and refreshments provided.

Link to register: bit.ly/NLGNYCFallBall22

If you cannot attend, please consider donating a ticket or making a donation at CONTRIBUTE - NLG-NYC (nlgnyc.org) .

07/23/2022

At the inaugural Social Justice Summit! Today! 7/23/22

06/30/2022

From BLS-NLG

https://chng.it/MbkxyFNhkm
Sign the Petition
Stop Brooklyn Law School's Anti-Worker Activity!

Stop Brooklyn Law School's Anti-Worker Activity!

06/23/2022

July 13 , we examine the 𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐈𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐀𝐜𝐭 and how it can be used to reveal environmental degradation and animal abuse(rs). Congresswoman Dina Titus joins six orgs and journalists who describe their requests. 🆓 Register: https://FOIA-Use-Against-Animal-Abuse.eventbrite.com

06/23/2022

02/08/2022

Training & CLE

Hello! I'm Lorilei and I love to share my learnings on how to engage in trauma-informed and antiracist advocacy with others. I was an immigration attorney for more than 10 years, focused on representing migrants who were detained, had been released from detention, or were at risk of becoming detained.

It was hard work and I learned a lot about how to make the work more survivable for myself and the people in my communities. I'm thankful for the opportunity to share my strategies and frameworks with other advocates, as they seek to navigate the complexities of their work.

ACAT: A Trauma-Informed, Antiracist Approach to Legal Advocacy is for advocates in the field, who feel like their worlds are on fire but they're still showing up day in and day out to make their communities better and stronger. It's a reflection of my journey in the trenches as an advocate and as someone who finds immense joy in sharing learnings with others.

With thanks to the National Lawyers Guild - New York City Chapter (NLG-NYC), NLG-NYC chapter members can get free CLE credit. If you're not a member, you can purchase NY CLE credit from NLG-NYC, and they'll even throw in chapter membership for a year.

Get tickets here: https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/5359028

As a steward of equity, I strive to offer equitable pricing options to folx. I appreciate folx paying at the price they can afford. I also super appreciate you asking your employer to chip in at the employer rate before purchasing an Individual, NLG, or Equity rate.

After you purchase the ticket through Brown Paper Tickets (chosen because it is a fair trade company), you will be prompted to register for the Zoom event.

You will be prompted to register and/or purchase CLE credit from the NLG NYC through an external site. Apologies for subjecting you to multiple platforms and thank you for your patience!
Looking forward to seeing everyone on the 18th!

02/05/2022

This brilliant documentary opens nationwide today!

https://tickets.whowearemovie.com/?fbclid=IwAR0l7oUoLFtoY2O9CjkLJWw3JJ5tmVRVreCXLsaeZxBVzLNfhbDT8pWpcbI

Watch the trailer, find screenings & book tickets for Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America on the official site. In theaters January 14 2022 brought to you by Sony Pictures Classics. Directed by: Emily Kunstler, Sarah Kunstler.

10/15/2021

Dear friends and Guild members,

I hope you will join at the Fall Ball! A safe alternative to our annual Spring Fling.

This year, we will gather together to recognize the work or our chapter over the past year, raise funds and celebrate the season.

The venue, Nowadays, (pictured) has a beautiful, very large outdoor space that will be heated with fire pits, heat lamps and yurts!

Tickets are low cost to make the event more accessible.

Food will be catered by Purslane and there will be a cash bar.

Tickets are available for purchase at: bit.ly/NLGNYCFallBall

If you cannot attend, please consider donating a ticket or making a donation at https://nlgnyc.org/contribute/

Dear friends and Guild members, I hope you will join at the Fall Ball!   A safe alternative to our annual Spring Fling, sans honorees and journal ads. 

09/09/2021

https://www.facebook.com/mnn537/videos/2489201847890884/

09/05/2021

07/12/2021

https://nationallawyersguildnycchapter.wildapricot.org/event-4406636

Please join us for a book party for Moving The Bar, My Life as a Radical Lawyer, a memoir of Michael Ratner, former President of the National Lawyers Guild and The Center for Constitutional Rights. 

04/01/2021

http://hrlr.law.columbia.edu/hrlr-online/the-anatomy-of-a-federal-terrorism-prosecution-a-blueprint-for-repression-and-entrapment/

The Anatomy of a Federal Terrorism Prosecution: A Blueprint for Repression and Entrapment HRLR Online December 8, 2020 Download the PDF Collin Poirot is a practicing attorney in Brooklyn, New York, and holds a B.A. and B.S. from the University of Texas and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. Table of Co...

02/24/2021

Sign the demand letter by the Mississippi Workers Center for Human Rights and the Emmett Till Legacy Foundation to the District Attorney for the Fourth Circuit Court District of Mississippi, Dewayne Richardson, expressing urgency in reopening the case and investigating new evidence related to Emmett Till’s murder.

https://sign.moveon.org/petitions/charge-surviving-accomplice-in-65-year-old-emmett-till-open-murder-case-now-justiceforemmetttill

Emmett Till was murdered 65 years ago. At only 14 years old, he was kidnapped, brutally tortured, lynched and killed during a racially-motivated hate crime that ultimately helped launch the modern day civil rights movement. The past is not past​. The specter of this devastating crime remains ever-...

12/04/2020

10/30/2020

https://www.instagram.com/p/CG-i33pDaDb/?igshid=1e86k30ey93kz

10/14/2020

09/23/2020

https://www.nlg.org/nlg-statement-on-the-death-of-justice-ruth-bader-ginsburg/

The National Lawyers Guild (NLG) joins people across the country and throughout the world in mourning the death of U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Our commitment to human …

09/03/2020

https://gothamist.com/news/over-100-protesters-legal-observers-plan-sue-over-nypds-violent-mass-arrests-mott-haven

“The police commissioner and the mayor have been allowed to totally duck what they did in the Mott Haven kettle."

09/01/2020

https://gothamist.com/news/bronx-da-will-toss-more-300-summonses-issued-protesters-violating-de-blasios-curfew

This is the first New York City district attorney to reject charges related to Mayor de Blasio's curfew.

09/01/2020

Bronx DA Clark announces move to dismiss over 300 summonses for violating curfew in June 4 protest decrying the killing of George Floyd. Read more: https://on.nyc.gov/2QWSRlb

07/15/2020

The National Lawyers Guild, NYC Chapter issues the following statement on diploma privilege in lieu of the bar examination:

The NLG NYC is committed to anti-racism and disability justice, and for this reason we unambiguously support the granting of diploma privilege for all graduates of accredited law schools.

The bar exam has long served a singular purpose: restricting Black people and other marginalized groups from entering the legal profession. The bar exam and the American Bar Association, are deeply tied to racist and white supremacist systems.

The fact that the bar has a disparate impact on communities of color, especially Black communities, has been well documented since the LSAC explored the issue a full twenty-two years ago.

Abolishing the bar exam is a racial justice issue that is even more essential in the context of a global pandemic. Black and Brown communities are far more likely to be at risk of contracting COVID-19, but Black and Brown law graduates are still expected to study and work as if there is no health crisis impacting their communities.

Read the full statement here:
https://nlgnyc.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/NLG-NYC-Statement-on-Diploma-Privilege.pdf

07/09/2020

Please join us for a panel on federal repression of activists and lawyers, and anti-repression tools and strategies, Wednesday, July 15th at 4/7 EST.

This program will involve a discussion of current and historical federal harassment of both activists and lawyers working for social change; the unmet needs of both activists and lawyers in many parts of the US and how legal workers can bridge the gaps; and both ethical and practical advice on shiel...

07/08/2020

July 8, 2020

(NEW YORK, NY) - The Legal Aid Society, Brooklyn Defender Services, The Bronx Defenders, New York County Defender Services, Queens Defenders, Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem, and the National Lawyers Guild - NYC Chapter sent a letter today to the five NYC District Attorneys demanding that they dismiss and decline to prosecute all criminal cases arising from arrests related to or made during the recent protests for racial justice, as well as all criminal cases related to or arising from the enforcement of executive orders during the COVID-19 public health crisis, including all such matters that resulted in summonses, desk appearance tickets, and criminal arraignment.

Full Letter:https://nlgnyc.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/NLGNYC.Defender-Letter-to-DAs-re_-Protest-Cases.pdf

The letter states:
“Over the last few weeks, we have seen an inflection point in our reckoning with this country’s white supremacist history. The deaths of Black people killed at the hands of police officers have led to unprecedented calls for police accountability and a wholesale reimagining of the role of the police. In the midst of a health pandemic that has both highlighted and exacerbated the harms caused by centuries of institutionalized racism, New Yorkers have taken to the streets to protest not only recent instances of police brutality, but also a legacy of deep structural racism. In many instances, the New York City Police Department met these protests with the same violence and brutality that gave rise to them in the first place.

The blatant misconduct of NYPD officers in response to the protests was on full view in viral videos and documented through witness accounts, personal observations, and written testimony.

As the primary defenders and legal services providers for the city, and in partnership with volunteer attorneys from the NYC Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild, we write to demand that you dismiss and decline to prosecute all criminal cases arising from arrests related to or made during the recent protests for racial justice, including those that resulted in summonses, desk appearance tickets, and criminal arraignment….

07/06/2020

The National Lawyers Guild-NYC, the Bronx Defenders, and Neighborhood Defender Services of Harlem have partnered up and will be hosting a panel & training tomorrow called: "Pursuing Police Accountability." Please join us and circulate to your networks!

Tuesday, July 7th, 10-11:30
Join on Zoom: bit.ly/Police-Accountability-NYC
The session will be recorded.

Description:
This current moment calls for individual and collective action to stand up against police violence, brutality and misconduct. Many have been brutalized by the police and have been harmed in the fight for justice. Join us in a discussion around options available when pursuing police accountability-from filing a notice of claim to filing a civil rights lawsuit, to making a complaint to the Civilian Complaint Review Board or Internal Affairs and beyond. This panel of advocates, lawyers, and community members will discuss each of these processes, what to expect when you are navigating them, and how those affected by police brutality, violence and other misconduct can avail themselves of these options to hold the police to account.

Zoom is the leader in modern enterprise video communications, with an easy, reliable cloud platform for video and audio conferencing, chat, and webinars across mobile, desktop, and room systems. Zoom Rooms is the original software-based conference room solution used around the world in board, confer...

06/25/2020

Stop Talking before it's too late!

In response to more confirmed visits, calls, and intimidation of activists by federal and state law enforcement, we bring you this reminder that YOU DO NOT HAVE TO TALK TO COPS!

Image Description:
1. "Stop talking before it's too late." WWII-era image of a frightened woman. "You don't have to speak to law enforcement, and it's dangerous to do so without a lawyer."
2. Image of a child peeking out from behind a police officer at two other children conferring privately. "You don't have to answer questions about your beliefs, associations, or political activities!"
3. Image of a child, a "mom", and a "dad", listening to something through a closed door. "The Fourth Amendment protects your right to deny cops warrantless entry into your home. Do not open your door to lae enforcement. Ask "Do you have a warrant?" If not, communicate through the closed door."
4. WWII-era image of a person calling out to someone. "The Fifth amendment protects your right not to talk to law enforcement... but lying to a federal agent, even by accident, is a federal crime. If agents call or visit, say ONLY: 'Please give me your names, employer, and a phone number where my lawyer can reach you.' It's safest not to say anything else, at all."
5. Image of Terence Hallinan confronting the police officer he claimed beat his head open while he was trying to help a girl to safety away from the police during a sit-in at San Francisco State College, Calif., on May, 22, 1968. The sixth amendment protects your right to counsel. Once law enforcement knows you are represented they must stop questioning you, and may only contact you through your attorney. Call your lawyer or your local chapter of the National Lawyers Guild (nlg.org/chapters) to have an attorney notify law enforcement that you are represented.
6. Image of the National Lawyers Guild Logo, where the scales of justice are flanked by and constituted by the letters NLG. Be Safe. Protect yourself and your community. Exercise your rights to belief, association, and political activity; to deny law enforcement warrantless entry to your home; to remain silent; to a lawyer!