Category | Blog

Week Against Mass Incarceration 2022

Please join the Northeastern School of Law Abolition Collective, Housing Justice Collective, and the National Lawyers Guild for a panel discussion during the Week Against Mass Incarceration on February 28th, from 5:30-7pm in DK 250. The year’s theme is Mass Incarceration and the Housing Crisis. Panelists will include community leaders and organizers from Justice 4 Housing, City Life/ Vida Urbana, … Read more>>

Harvard NLG Student Chapter Upcoming Events

The Harvard student chapter of NLG-Mass is hard at work this year on various projects and we will be sharing more on those as the details come in. For now, there are two events that you can look forward to that are listed below. Register Now!

Our Harvard student chapter is working along with Project LETS to facilitate a Bystander Read more>>

Cosecha’s fight for Drivers Licenses Finally Won!!

Cosecha’s long campaign and fight for the rights of Massachusetts residents who have yet completed the formal immigration process has come to an end. The House has passed a bill that makes it possible for those residents to get their own driver’s license. 

We have been supported Cosecha from the beginning of this campaign, providing legal support and legal observes … Read more>>

Update: How Active Members may join National Committees and Referral Directory

For members who may be interested in joining a National Committee, follow the link below to learn more:   https://www.nlg.org/joincommittees/   Also, if you may be interested in signing up for a national referral directory listing as a member, follow the link below to learn more:    https://www.nlg.org/referral-directory-signup/Read more>>

Starbucks Staff Stand Up for Unionization

Student member, Kylah Clay is one of a growing force of employees who are taking a stand for workers rights and fighting to mobilize workers to band together to unionize the workforce of Starbucks. Kylah and Ash O’Neill are two organizers and  leaders based out of an Allston Starbucks, one of the stores that has petitioned the NLRB for a union … Read more>>

How To Suppress Student Speech: The Harvard Law School Playbook

Amanda Chan, NLG member and former member of the NLG Harvard student chapter, has recently published an article taking on the culture of Harvard Law School’s censorship of student activism. In her article, Chan shines and focuses a spotlight upon the systems and methods that Harvard has created and utilized in order to suppress the voices and activism of the … Read more>>

Representing Radicals Webinar

On December 2, 2021, the Harvard Law School NLG chapter, the NLG National Office, and Harvard’s Institute to End Mass Incarceration (IEMI) co-sponsored a Zoom webinar on “Representing Radicals.”     The event began with opening remarks from Premal Dharia and Andrew Crespo of IEMI, who spoke about the Institute’s goal of building collective community power in the fight against mass… Read more>>

AMAZING VICTORY!  –  Update on the Anti-Tear Gas City Ordinances

Since the police murder of George Floyd, the NLG Litigation Committee has worked with progressive city councilors in Boston, Somerville, and Cambridge to have those cities adopt an ordinance which would severely restrict the use of so-called “non-lethal” chemical crowd control and kinetic impact weapons on demonstrations involving ten or more citizens. A model ordinance was drafted by NLG attorneys Jeff … Read more>>

June Happy Hour with Springfield-No One Leaves

On June 9, the NLG-Mass Chapter hosted its first in over a year Happy Hour with activists from Springfield-No One Leaves – Rose Webster Smith (Executive Director) and Bonnie Inserra (Homeowner Organizer).  Rose and Bonnie led a conversation about housing crisis in Massachusetts and the work the Springfield-No One Leaves is engaged in to address the current crisis and how … Read more>>

NLG Takes Action Against BPD For Violating Public Records Law

    PRESS RELEASE

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May 29, 2021

Contacts:

David Kelston – 617-838-6657, dkelston@akzlaw.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 AND THEIR OWN RULES & REGULATIONS

Boston, May 29, 2021 – On Friday, May 28, 2021, the National Lawyers Guild-Massachusetts Chapter (NLG) filed a lawsuit … Read more>>

Upcoming June NLG Happy Hour


NLG Happy Hour

Fighting the Eviction Epidemic

Wednesday, June 9, 2021

6:00-8:00 pm

Join us for a virtual discussion about the ongoing
housing crisis with
Rose Webster Smith and other
activists from
No One Leaves-Springfield, an
organization that fights evictions in Western Mass.

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81493790424

Click Here for the Event Flyer

 … Read more>>

Somerville City Council Passes Anti-Chemical Weapon Ordinance!

The following is taken from an email sent by Attorney Jeff Feuer to our membership:

Last night (Thursday, April 8th 2021) the Somerville City Council passed an ordinance which outright bans the use of tear gas, regulates the use of pepper spray, and severely restricts the use of other chemical crowd control weapons and kinetic impact projectiles (rubber bullets, … Read more>>

Anti-Chemical Weapon Ordinance Somerville Final Vote Update!

The following is an update on the Chemical Weapons Ordinance by Ben Ewen-Campen, Ward 3 City Councilor as posted to his Facebook page.

Tear Gas Ban PASSED out of committee! Final vote next Thursday. This Ordinance will ban tear gas outright, strictly regulate chemical & kinetic crowd control weapons (i.e. rubber bullets), and establish clear guidelines for pepper spray. Enormous… Read more>>

Street Law Clinic 2021 Update

For decades, comrades across the country and the world have been in the streets fighting against white supremacy and the imperialist, capitalist, and heteropatriarchal systems of oppression it breeds. Over the past year in particular, we have seen a spike in protests and other direct actions in response to racial and economic injustices perpetuated and sanctioned by the state. To … Read more>>

CITY OF BOSTON PASSES AN ORDINANCE TO RESTRICT THE USE OF CHEMICAL CROWD CONTROL WEAPONS BY BOSTON LAW ENFORCEMENT

PRESS RELEASE

_______________________________________________________________________________

Contacts:

Jeff Feuer  – 617-642-3111

 

CITY OF BOSTON PASSES AN ORDINANCE TO RESTRICT THE USE OF 

CHEMICAL CROWD CONTROL WEAPONS BY BOSTON LAW ENFORCEMENT

 

Boston, December 17, 2020  –  On December 16, 2020, the Boston City Council took an historic step forward by passing, with an 8 to 4 vote, an ordinance which restricts the use of … Read more>>

In Honor and Loving Memory of Attorney Brian Flynn

It’s with a heavy heart that we pay our respects and bid farewell to our friend and long-time member of the NLG-Mass Chapter, Brian Flynn.  Brian passed away on November 25, 2020 at the age of 62 when his battle with cancer came to an end.  His family and friends were at his side.  As a stalwart advocate for justice, as a… Read more>>

NLG-Mass Annual Dinner!

Last Friday, Oct. 23, the National Lawyers Guild-Massachusetts Chapter celebrated a year of hard work and achievements of our members – lawyers and law students – and of local activists who fight for the rights of the people and justice in the courts, classrooms, and on the streets of Massachusetts. While we were unable to meet in person, as we … Read more>>

Climate Change Activists Fined for Peaceful Protest

On September 24, 2020, member of the NLG-Mass Chapter Mass Defense Committe Attorney Jeff Feuer appeared in person in Roxbury District Court to represent ten climate change activists who had been arrested for hanging a huge CLIMATE JUSTICE NOW banner over the Citgo sign in Kenmore Square during a Red Sox game this summer. 

Despite the fact that this was … Read more>>

NLG-Mass Boston Denounces Boston Globe’s Smear of Mass Bail Fund

On August 6, 2020, the Boston Globe run a story title “Sex Offender Just Set Free by Mass Bail Fund” which was an attack against Massachusetts Bail Fund, an organization which prides itself in bringing some justice to poor people who suffer under our very unjust cash bail system. On August 7, 2020, the NLG-Mass Chapter wrote the following letter … Read more>>

NLG-Mass Stands Against Deployment of Feds in Boston!

Dear Mayor Walsh, District Attorney Rollins, Boston City Council, and all State and other local elected officials:

The National Lawyers Guild-Massachusetts is gravely concerned with the ongoing
situation in Portland, Oregon. As we write this letter, reports continue to roll in from
Portland, where unidentified federal agents have been arresting protestors without due process. According to reports, people have been … Read more>>

NLG-Mass LO’s at Lynn Anti-Police Brutality Protest

On Friday, June 26, 2020, at an anti-police brutality protest in Lynn, NLG Legal Observers were hard at work providing the forward facing, on-site support that we are proud to supply to organizers and protesters alike.

From left to right:  Katarina Ezikovich, Charley Gibson, Max Fowler, and Ren Workman… Read more>>

NLG Mass Defense Committee in Action

by Noah Meister

The COVID-19 crisis has created a Catch-22 for activists and organizers: the more dangerous the virus makes in-person actions, the more necessary they become. As a result of the pandemic, one of the first big concerns I noticed amongst activists in Massachusetts was a concern for people imprisoned or detained by the police, and the lack of … Read more>>

NLG-Mass Chapter Keeps Busy Through June

June has been a very busy month for the NLG-Mass Chapter. Despite the pandemic, our members have been working on many different front providing communities in Massachusetts with legal and political help.

Here’s a report from Jeff Feuer, member of the NLG Board, Mass Defense Committee, and Litigation Committee, on the NLG work he been involved in:

• Work together … Read more>>

Boston Ordinance – Chemical Weapons used by BPD

NLG Board member Jeff Feuer coordinated a group of NLG attorneys (including Board members Lee Goldstein and David Kelston) and attorneys from the Boston law firm Wilmer Hale in drafting a proposed Ordinance for the City of Boston that would severely restrict the use of tear gas, pepper spray, rubber bullets, flash-bang grenades, smoke bombs and other chemical and so-called “less lethal” weapons by… Read more>>

NLG-Mass Stands in Solidarity with Protesters of Police Brutality

The death of George Floyd has sparked protests against police brutality and the all too frequent loss of black people’s lives at the hands of police. The NLG-Mass Chapter stands in firm support and solidarity with all those who have taken to the streets to bring one, loud and unwavering voice in protest against police brutality and oppression!

Click Here Read more>>