Student Kivlighan de Montebello faces suspension after protesting for Palestine on campus, while some activists also raised concerns about the end of an Arabic language program
Kivlighan de Montebello speaks at a press conference about pro-Palestine repression at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Credit: Western Mass People’s Tribunal/YouTube
When Kivlighan de Montebello started as a freshman at the … Read more>>
On Wednesday, November 5, leaders from the MA FreeHer campaign, led by Families for Justice as Healing and the National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls, came to speak with NUSL students about their work resisting a 350 million women’s prison project in MA and their concurrent efforts to free women through existing (clemency, parole, diversion) and … Read more>>
On Oct. 29, 2025, Mark Stern testified at the State House on behalf of the NLG in support of a bill to create a first-in-the-nation Muslim commission. Mark joined legislators, educators, faith leaders, students, and advocates, all of whom called for stronger representation, protections, and recognition for Massachusetts Muslims.
The bill was previously filed by Sen. Jamie Eldridge and … Read more>>
NLG-Mass members and allies are invited to attend a series of panel discussions on the proposed building of a new prison for women and on mass incarceration and how to end it.
On Wednesday, November 5, from 11:45am – 1pm, the Northeastern School of Law Chapter of the NLG will host a panel on the new prison for women and the … Read more>>
Recently, in a major escalation of the local criminalization of dissent, a group of Palestine solidarity marchers were hit with felony charges of inciting a riot/promotion of anarchy. During a march at the beginning of October near the Boston Commons, a group of Boston police officers swarmed a young marcher they suspected of vandalism. This rapid escalated a rally and … Read more>>
Prisoners’ Legal Services of Massachusetts
In May, Prisoners’ Legal Services of Massachusetts (PLS) and co-counsel Hogan Lovells reached a proposed approximately $7 million settlement in Diggs v. Mici, a federal class action lawsuit challenging systematic violence and racial discrimination at Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center (SBCC). It is likely that the Court will grant final approval to the settlement in the … Read more>>
Prisoners’ Legal Services of Massachusetts
Governor Maura Healey’s administration recently announced a $360 million plan to renovate MCI-Framingham, framing it as an investment in rehabilitation and correctional innovation. While the stated intentions may sound progressive, this proposal represents a dangerous step backward for criminal justice reform in Massachusetts—and advocates are sounding the alarm.
What Incarcerated Women Actually FacePLS represents … Read more>>
Unfortunately, we put the address of the recent NLG summer retreat in our announcements, and the address was for my home. As we were gathering, two goons appeared on the sidewalk at the entry to my driveway, young guys with their faces fully hidden with keffiyeh-ish scarves and sunglasses and covering their clothing with orange safety vests. They stopped people … Read more>>
Last Friday, the Trump Administration privately sent a letter to Harvard University with a series of racist, reactionary, and unconstitutional demands attacking civil liberties, academic freedom, human rights, and racial justice. The letter explicitly calls on Harvard to defund and dissolve the Harvard Law School chapter of the National Lawyers Guild—along with several student groups supporting Palestinian rights—and punish our … Read more>>
Members of the Independent Organizing Network (“ION”), an initiative by the NLG-Massachusetts Chapter, have been hard at work the past several months researching and answering a key question facing the labor movement today:
• What happens if we lose the NLRA?
ION’s first volume of the Post-NLRA Project, Labor With or Without the NLRA, explores the potential implications of … Read more>>
For the more than 60 organizers and volunteers of the 2025 Community Encampment for Palestine, we want to extend our appreciation and thanks to the NLG-MA Legal Observers Chapter and especially the Legal Observers [LO] Samira Khadar, Taylor Kim, and one more LO. They provided constant and expert legal eyes and ears during the 2025 Community Encampment in Somerville on July … Read more>>
Barb Dougan
As has been previously reported in Mass Dissent, the legislature created the Special Commission on Combatting Antisemitism by way of a budget amendment in 2024, bypassing the usual legislative process and preventing any opportunity for public comment. The SCCA is tasked with making recommendations for new state laws and policies addressing antisemitism. The NLG has been part … Read more>>
The Resistance Committee has continued meeting through the summer months, and we are looking to expand into the fall. Our three subcommittees are working on Know Your Rights and Bystander Guides. We have tracked relevant lawsuits and set up state and federal legislative tracking for Guild issues. The Resistance Committee also coordinated training and staffed the Mass Defense hotline through … Read more>>
By Mark Stern
It is my belief that it is critical to alter the image of China presented by the Democratic and Republican parties in order to minimize war.
First, the notion that the US is democratic and China is autocratic is harmful when the reality it that one can argue China is more, albeit differently democratic than the US. … Read more>>
ION has made a lot of headway in 2025. On April 16th, we helped launch the Think Coffee Independent Union (TCIU) in New York City.
Then, on May Day (5/1) of this year, ION released Volume One of the “Post-NLRA Project” in collaboration with law students at UC Berkeley and Northeastern, which discusses the potential implications on both labor law … Read more>>
The Resistance Committee and its subcommittees continue to conduct important work to protect immigrants and undocumented people, the LGBTQ+ community, and our right to free speech. In just six months the Committee has seen its subcommittees blossom into their own entities, each taking on a range of tasks within their respective areas of law. The Committee hopes to see sustained … Read more>>
Chelsea Contrada reports: I was honored to attend the NLG Annual Testimonial Dinner this year. It was my second time attending and volunteering at this event and, as expected, it did not disappoint. Everything this year was as great as it was last year. Chico Fuego & the Gringos rocked the house; the honorees’ speeches where inspiriting and moving; … Read more>>
Nancy Murray, Alliance for Water Justice in Palestine
Water is a human right – but Israel has made it a weapon
As Israel expands its genocidal war on Gaza, displaces more than 40,000 residents of West Bank refugee camps, and steadily empties the 62 percent of the West Bank called Area C under the Oslo process, the Palestinian cause has … Read more>>
At the beginning of May, the Resistance Committee held its monthly meeting to discuss progress of its ongoing projects to support our communities. Over the past few weeks, a major focus of our work has been setting up our two main projects to support and connect with non-citizen community members in crisis. We also continue to collaborate with MIRA to … Read more>>
I am a Jew by birth, and I have never renounced or shied away from Judaism. I have not changed my name or its spelling, or converted to another religion. Half my family are Jews, including both of my children. And I love them all.
My heritage is important to me. I never met my grandparents and some of my … Read more>>
The National Lawyers Guild chapters of the undersigned law schools in the United States stand in solidarity with and affirm the statements of Harvard’s National Lawyers Guild (NLG) in response to the Department of Education’s letter instructing Harvard University to end its NLG chapter’s support and recognition of pro-Palestine organizations.
NLG chapters in law schools are integral to the project … Read more>>
On April 11, 2025, the Trump Administration privately sent a letter to Harvard University containing a series of racist and reactionary demands, including one that Harvard defund and dissolve the Harvard University Law School chapter of the National Lawyers Guild (HLS NLG), along with several other student groups supporting Palestinian rights. Students at HLS NLG shared this statement in response: https://www.nlg.org/statement-nlg-harvard/
The … Read more>>
Know Your Rights Flyering Drive on Boston Marathon weekend was a Big Success!
This month, on Saturday the 19th and Sunday the 20th, the NLG Resistance Committee organized a “Know Your Rights (KYR) Flyering Drive.” Twelve members of the Committee printed hundreds of NLG and MIRA fliers with immigration-related KYR and ICE detention information, and distributed them to local businesses … Read more>>
The Resistance Committee met on April 7 to hear reports from our newly formed subcommittees. Our Committee has been dedicated to expanding NLG-MA capacity to fight Trumpism since January. In recent weeks, our subcommittees have allowed us to tackle a range of pressing issues, incorporate new voices, and maintain momentum. Four of our five subcommittees met since our last meeting, so we … Read more>>
