The NLG’s 2024 #Law4ThePeople Convention will take place at the Hilton Birmingham Downtown at UAB, in Birmingham, AL on Wednesday, October 30 – Sunday, November 3, 2024! Join hundreds of legal professionals, scholars, and activists for five days of interactive CLEs, workshops, and panels by members of the oldest and most progressive public-interest bar association in the country.
This year, … Read more>>
The Litigation Committee maintains the fight on multiple fronts, thanks mostly to the work of our gallant committee members.
We are still waiting on a decision from Judge Colin after the hearing of our Motion for Attorney Fees in the Suffolk Superior Court. David Kelston and Jeff Petrucelly made well-crafted and supported arguments for NLG, aided by Jonathan Messinger and … Read more>>
by Jeff Feuer
As the slaughter of mainly women and children civilians in Gaza continues, repression of student protests calling for an immediate ceasefire, divestment from arms manufacturers, cutting of ties with the Israeli government, and other remedial measures has increased at Massachusetts colleges and universities, both public and private. Students have faced immediate suspensions from their school without being … Read more>>
Coordinating LOs at the Tufts encampment was often a question of risk management and vigilance. This was one of the longest campus lived-encampments, going from April 7th to May 3, 2024. It wasn’t uncommon to watch a high-tension situation for hours – or for that matter a low-tension situation – waiting to see if we should change the … Read more>>
In the early morning hours of April 27, 2024, the sun rose over Centennial Common at Northeastern University, throwing early morning light onto a scene that harkens back to the fateful hours leading up to the Kent State massacre over fifty years ago. Northeastern students had occupied Centennial Common with tents, chairs, plastic tables, and … Read more>>
As was reported at the NLG-Mass Chapter’s Annual Meeting in January, the NLG and the Massachusetts chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MA) created an ad hoc task force to address the needs of activists facing sanctions for supporting Palestinian human rights. The NLG had set up a Protest Legal Support Hotline in October, in response to the intense … Read more>>
What is CAIR-MA and what services does it provide?
Assalamu alaykum! Thank you for asking!
CAIR-MA is the Massachusetts chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization. We are a small but passionate non-profit dedicated to protecting the rights of Muslims in Massachusetts. In terms of our legal work, we provide … Read more>>
Q & A with I.O.N.’s Co-Founders: Tyler Daguerre, Dave Runkle, and Nick Adams
1. Will you please provide a brief summary of the mission/purpose of I.O.N.?
To support independent union organizing campaigns by developing comprehensive networks of legal support, educational resources, and trainings to empower workers to know their rights, efficiently navigate administrative and legal systems, and feel confident in … Read more>>
The relationship between MIT Scientists Against Genocide (SAGE) and the NLG started with care and trust.
The MIT populace, compared to its neighbors with law schools, did not have much experience with the National Lawyers Guild, let alone any familiarity with what Legal Observers do. However, after witnessing the raids at Emerson and Northeastern, students from … Read more>>
The past few months have been an amazing time for social justice movements and our Mass Defense Committee has been working overtime to provide needed legal support for activists.
We first want to acknowledge the high school, college and university students who are on the front lines. All across our state, as well as the rest of the country, student … Read more>>
The Litigation Committee has been ramping up the battle on a number of fronts, thanks to the work of our committee members.
On April 26, our pursuit of transparency from the Boston Police Department and BRIC resulted in the hearing of our Motion for Attorney Fees before Judge Cowin in the Suffolk Superior Court. David Kelston and Jeff Petrucelly made … Read more>>
Jane Romp (she/her) is the Administrative Coordinator for the NLG-Mass Chapter. Before joining NLG, Jane worked with Common Cause Massachusetts, the Foundation for Civic Leadership, and performed research on the impact of protest-based social movements for Oxford University. She is currently producing a documentary uplifting survivors of sexual violence while investigating the role of gender bias in the handling attorney … Read more>>
1. What motivated you to go to law school?
I was an anti-war, racial justice and political activist and in 1972 was part of a women’s prison collective that visited and supported the women incarcerated at the Framingham prison. We worked closely with Lawyers’ Guild lawyers who were part of a law … Read more>>
Speakers: Luca Falciola (author of “Up Against the Law”), Professor Randall Kennedy, Judy Somberg, and Roger Geller… Read more>>
“Government is the potent, the omnipresent teacher. For good or for ill, it teaches the whole people by its example […]. If the Government becomes a lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy.” These prescient and powerful words written in dissent almost 100 years ago by Justice Louis … Read more>>
College Disciplinary Hearings
Please click here for general information regarding campus activists’ rights and how to prepare for college disciplinary hearings.
Click here to watch the webinar.
National Lawyers Guild – Massachusetts Chapter… Read more>>
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***READ HERE THE DAILY FREE PRESS ARTICLE ON THE LAWSUIT FILED BY NLG-MASS AGAINST BPD AND BRIC.
Contacts
Chris DiOrio – 617-847-4343, pcdiorio@gmail.com
Urszula Masny-Latos – 617-308-0947, nlgmass-director@riseup.net
NLG-MASS CHAPTER FILES A LAWSUIT AGAINST BOSTON POLICE DEPARTMENT AND BRIC FOR VIOLATIONS OF PUBLIC RECORDS LAW
Boston, February 26, 2024 – Today, the National Lawyers Guild-Massachusetts Chapter (NLG) filed … Read more>>
Featured NLG representatives from Massachusetts and New York City, CAIR, and ACLU.
Held on Thursday, February 15, 2024
The Harvard Law School National Lawyers Guild Chapter held an event on campus, titled the “Palestine Exception: Free Speech and the Suppression of Pro-Palestinian Voices,” featuring attorneys from the ACLU, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), and the National Lawyers Guild-Massachusetts Chapter … Read more>>
1. When were you first introduced to the Guild?
I was first introduced to the Guild when I first entered law school. I was struggling with reconciling the desire I have for change and the way the law was structured. So much of first-year classes are taught in a manner that the “law is the law” no matter who it … Read more>>
1. When were you first introduced to the Guild?
I first found the Guild during law school orientation week. I saw the Suffolk Law chapter of the Guild (“NLGSU”) at the organization fair, spoke with one of the members, and was hooked!
2. Who/what encouraged you to join the Guild?
I have always been eager to utilize my privilege. When … Read more>>
1. When were you first introduced to the Guild?
I first learned about the Guild when I was applying to law schools. I was reaching out to current students at all sorts of different schools, and a NUSL student told me about it.
2. Who/what encouraged you to join the Guild?
I joined NLG because it seemed like a group … Read more>>
As a result of our latest (and third) lawsuit against the Boston Police Department under the Massachusetts Freedom of Information Act, we recently received a list of every complaint against BPD officers from 2011 to present. Each complaint provides the officer’s name, the date and description of the complaint, and the disposition.
Thanks to five undergraduate students from Harvard College, … Read more>>
by Josh Raisler-Cohn and Jeff Feuer
Over the last 12 months the volunteer lawyers and law students of our Mass Defense Committee (MDC) have once again risen to meet the needs of the on-going movements for racial, economic, gender, and climate justice. We continued our longstanding work across the state providing trainings, supplying trained Legal Observers™, representing people in court, … Read more>>
