Judy Somberg
The Massachusetts Commission on Combating Antisemitism issued its final report on December 1, 2025. The report (no longer available on the legislature’s website) says that its guiding principle is to combat antisemitism and hate “the Massachusetts way”. Having tightly controlled the testimony in front of it, the Commission essentially heard a one-sided story of immense and growing antisemitism … Read more>>
The National Lawyers Guild joins the International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL) in condemning in the strongest terms the joint attack by the United States and Israel on the Islamic Republic of Iran, launched on the morning of Saturday, February 28, 2026, amid the holy month of Ramadan.
These attacks constitute another example of the crime of aggression, … Read more>>
With the federal government calling anyone and everyone a “domestic terrorist”, it is imperative that our communities have a resource at their ready to deal with potential government interactions. That is why the National Lawyers Guild (NLG) is releasing an updated “Know Your Risks” (KYR) booklet for people across the U.S. This classic guide, last updated in 2015, informs readers of … Read more>>
In January 2026, the NLG-Massachusetts Chapter, together with co-counsel Zalkind Duncan and Bernstein LLP, filed a lawsuit in Hampshire Superior Court on behalf of Kivlighan de Montebello. de Montebello is a UMass Amherst student who was suspended for one year after peacefully protesting Raytheon at a campus career fair.
On September 29, 2025, de Montebello and fellow members of Students … Read more>>
AMHERST, January 27, 2026 — The National Lawyers Guild-Massachusetts Chapter and Zalkind Duncan and Bernstein LLP filed a lawsuit in Hampshire Superior Court on behalf of University of Massachusetts Amherst student Kivlighan de Montebello who was suspended after peacefully protesting Raytheon’s presence at a campus career fair last fall.
On September 29, 2025, de Montebello and fellow students gathered to … Read more>>
The National Lawyers Guild (NLG) and the NLG Minnesota Chapter mourn the killing of Renee Nicole Good at the hands of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and condemn the unchecked violence of ICE agents across the country.
To the people of Minneapolis. To the people of the Twin Cities. To the people of Minnesota.
Once again the eyes of the … Read more>>
On January 21, the Chapter held its Annual Meeting at which we conducted elections of the new Board of Directors and Chapter Officers and heard from representatives of our committees on the work they do – Jon Cubetus reported on the Litigation Committee, Josh Raisler Cohn – on the Mass Defense Committee, Urszula Masny-Latos – on the Legal Observer program, … Read more>>
Mark Stern
The Ruderman Family Foundation sued a Colorado media company and its owner under federal law, Section 1981, and two state laws, claiming Defendants discriminated against it by refusing to contract with it because of its race (Jew). The Defendants had done a pilot podcast for the Plaintiff, fully aware it was a Jewish entity and aware that it … Read more>>
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>>
