Kylah Clay (right) is a public defender in Boston. She represents protesters and activists through the Mass Defense Committee. She also helps workers organize independent unions through the Independent Organizing Network.
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Annie Guare (left) is an eviction defense attorney working on behalf of low-income tenants to prevent homelessness, curb unethical landlord practices, and increase access to affordable housing. She is … Read more>>
NUSL’s NLG Chapter began its semester themed around abolition by tabling to direct students to donate to mutual aid funds for those in Altadena impacted by the wildfire and for incarcerated fire fighters.
For the two lunch time tabling sessions NLG members brought in baked goods to incentivize donations and laid out an array of QR codes to easily direct … Read more>>
I.O.N. has been hard at work, building trainings and educational resources, supporting workers in different stages of the unionization and bargaining processes, and conducting research on the changing state of labor law and how best to organize around it.
– Trainings and Educational Resources: I.O.N. has built and offered training on filing unfair labor practices, defending against union-busting, invoking … Read more>>
MIRA is a coalition of organizations dedicated to advancing the rights of immigrants and refugees across New England. Founded in 1987, its more than 140 member organizations engage in a wide range of activities aimed to help those who arrived in Greater Boston from another country, with services ranging from on-the-ground assistance, to advocating for policies at the highest levels … Read more>>
NLG-MA members have formed a Resistance Committee to brainstorm, build, and act in resistance to rising facism. Our Committee has been meeting weekly since Inauguration Day. We are staying updated on Trump 2.0 attacks on our communities and neighbors, so we can direct NLG-MA resources to respond quickly to growing crises.
This week, about thirty NLG members trained with the … Read more>>
The 2025 NLG Annual Testimonial Dinner honorees have been announced! We are thrilled to inform you that this year the NLG-Mass Chapter will be honoring a group of outstanding legal professionals and activists. The Lawyer Award will be presented to Fair Work P.C. (employment law office in Boston) and Rachel Weber (criminal defense attorney, based in Hampshire and Franklin Counties, … Read more>>
On a snowy night in mid-January, the NLG-Mass Chapter held its first ever Game Night. Even though the event was on a Sunday evening, to our delight, around 25 NLG members and friends came and enthusiastically sat at long tables to engage in board games.
The games ranged from easy ones that took 10 minutes to finish to more complicated … Read more>>
by V. Chay
On Saturday, November 16, a Christian-Right forced-birth group, the Men’s March, staged a rally and march along Commonwealth Avenue in Boston from Planned Parenthood to Boston Common. Flyers encouraged participants to adopt a dress code of suits or clerical uniform. This group includes known members of far-right coalitions.
In response, a network of local groups and activists planned a … Read more>>
Well, it certainly has been a busy year for activists across the state, and that means it has been a busy year for our Mass Defense Committee! We worked in partnership with the NLG Legal Observer program and the Litigation Committee most closely this year to provide the holistic, wrap around social movement support that organizers have come to depend … Read more>>
The State’s Special Commission on Combatting Antisemitism held its first meeting on October 29, launching a process which may have profound implications for free speech, academic freedom, education, hate crimes designations, and all anti-racist struggles in the Commonwealth. Many Commission appointees represent or have ties to major Israel-aligned organizations in the State: The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), the Jewish Community Relations … Read more>>
The Litigation Committee spent 2024 engaged in the constant fight for systemic change, advancing a number of matters against law enforcement entities and large corporate entities.
Our action against BPD for their intransigence resulted in an award of legal fees from Judge Cowin. After almost three years of obstruction and obfuscation by Boston Police in acquiring records regarding BPD’s response, or lack … Read more>>
Eden Williams
Embarking on this year’s National Lawyers Guild 2024 #Law4ThePeople Convention was one of excitement and anticipation. Knowing we would be in the company of some of the Guild’s best legal professionals, scholars, and activists, made the trip worth the many hours travelled for the 200+ who ventured out from all over the U.S.A and other parts of the world. What to … Read more>>
Deb Wilmer & Eden Williams, Co-Chairs of NLG-Mass
Right now, the need for the Guild is greater than ever. Trump won, the right-wing has dominance in both houses of Congress and, of course, the Supreme Court. Although media pundits claim the working class has gone to the right, this is not so. Progressive ballot measures passed easily in several “red” … Read more>>
The NLG Independent Organizing Network (ION) was invited to be on a workers’ rights panel during the Anarchist Bookfair in mid-October, held at the Cambridge Community Center. Besides the ION’s representative, Dave Runkle, the panel had Rocky Prull (President of the Blue Bottle Independent Union which ION has helped), and Janet Shek (a co-chair of the New Seasons Labor Union). Both unions … Read more>>
Barb Dougan, Legal Director at CAIR-Massachusetts
On October 29, the Mass. Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD) issued a “probable cause” finding in a public accommodations case that CAIR-Massachusetts filed in 2022. The case concerned an appalling incident at a McDonald’s restaurant in Chicopee. When a Muslim woman ordered a fish sandwich for her 7-year-old son, McDonald’s employees stuffed it full … Read more>>
Rebecca Wood lived all over Virginia before relocating to Massachusetts. She graduated with a BSW from James Madison University and served in Americorps with Virginia State Parks. Her plans for graduate school were put on hold indefinitely when her daughter, Charlie, was delivered ten hours into her twenty sixth week of gestation.
Early on, Rebecca learned she’d have to advocate … Read more>>
Statement by Together for an Inclusive Massachusetts
As the Massachusetts Special Commission on Combatting Antisemitism gathers for its second monthly meeting on November 19th, organizations and individuals participating in the statewide alliance, Together for an Inclusive Massachusetts (TIM), continue to be concerned about the process and content of the Commission’s work.
A request for feedback from K-12 students on the … Read more>>
Nancy Murray, Alliance for Water Justice in Palestine
The Boston-based Alliance for Water Justice in Palestine has been active since 2013, when it emerged from the Boston Coalition for Palestinian Rights (BCPR) to campaign against the ‘Innovative Water Partnership’ that then-Governor Deval Patrick had formed with the State of Israel. In October 2015, we succeeded in getting the Water Partnership … Read more>>
By Anthony Moore Jr., MCI-Shirley
On days when I’ve worn myself out trying to untangle my various legal issues, I go to Leroy’s cell. Leroy is a 74-year-old man undergoing chemotherapy for his lung cancer, a consequence from his excessive smoking during the Vietnam War. The treatment usually leaves him fatigued and tired, but when he sees me, his … Read more>>
By Dirk Greineder, MCI-Norfolk
Massachusetts Prisoners are the most aged (1) and, even after the Mattis decision, have the highest percentage of Life Without Parole (LWOP) prisoners in the U. S. (3): Thé MA 2018 medical parole law was enacted to allow the DOC Commissioner to release terminally ill (life expectancy <18 months) and permanently incapacitated prisoners on parole … Read more>>
By Stanley Donald, Senior Law Clerk For Prisoners, MCI-Norfolk
There is no more common decency. It seems that the Department of Corrections has lost its way. There is nothing being done to rectify the after-effects from COVID in prison. Granting furloughs to prisoners would be a step to heal the mental anguish from the loss of a love one … Read more>>
By Shawn Fisher, OCCC-Bridgewater
“We cannot solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them.” – Albert Einstein
Michele Deitch, in a 2021 an article for the Brennan Center wrote, “The United States is an anomaly on the world stage are among the most opaque public institutions in our society. In contrast to our peer nations, … Read more>>
This September, Families for Justice as Healing and The National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls organized our fourth annual #FreeHer March in Massachusetts to uplift our collective demand to stop the planned $50 million women’s prison project. We are grateful for the support of NLG legal observers at the march. Movement lawyers are integral comrades in … Read more>>
