MDC attorneys Zach Lown and Jim Vita both represented activists that were arrested as part of this action. We are committed to supporting grassroots organizing efforts, policy initiatives, and litigation that promotes or moves toward abolition, including: the rights and organizing of prisoners, the de-funding and closure of prisons and redirection of prison and policing budgets into social and human services as well as re­-entry support; legalization of drug use and sex work; release of prisoners serving life without parole and other inhumane sentences, decreased use of solitary confinement, and efforts to prevent construction of new prisons.

When the FBI began investigating these activists in the late 1990s, the NLG provided lawyers, created the Know Your Rights resource Operation Backfire, and set up a national Green Scare hotline. All were represented by the MDC, and all had their charges dismissed. The Housing Committee works to advance the principle that housing is a human right. Next Generation Committee What was clear by the end of that week in court was that the people in our movement, activists and legal workers alike, could not be intimidated into submission, and we are happy to report that while not all cases have been disposed of, we are continuing to get favorable results for our clients. If you have any questions about a particular committee, please email [email protected]. Non-Discrimination Policy: The National Lawyers Guild, including its chapters, committees and projects, does not and shall not discriminate, on the basis of race, color, religion or creed, gender, gender expression, gender identity, age, national origin or ancestry, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, citizenship status, arrest or prison record, or military status, in any of its activities or operations.

Keep fighting and struggling and loving – and if you need our help always call (617) 431-6626. He illegally jailed defendants, raised bails to ensure people would be held in custody, and when longtime MDC volunteer Susan Church stood up against Judge Sinnott he took her into custody, and threatened her with contempt. Looking for assistance, resources, or ideas? It is critical to the struggles of our people that they know the MDC is there and has their back at a moments notice. Some past committees that are no longer active include: Committee for Democratic Communications On the day of the event the Boston Police Department made clear what side they were on when they ruthlessly attacked our people with sticks and pepper spray. Thirteen people were arrested. NPAP does not provide legal representation to victims of law enforcement misconduct. Racism affects how we do our work, and how we interact with each other, potential allies, and power structures. The DJC is also a way for lawyers, legal workers, and prisoners living with all kinds of disabilities to support each other. The ARC can make available ARC committee members to help guide and facilitate such conversations, remotely, or in person at a meeting. The Disability Justice Committee works to transform systems that privilege some types of body-minds over others. Though some committees may be more structured and/or have a designated chairperson, others will rely more on members to take initiative in helping develop the goals of the committee. The Mass Defense Committee (MDC) is a network of lawyers, legal workers, and law students providing legal support to political activists, protesters, and their movements for economic, social, and racial justice. Ultimately, over thirty people were arrested, and the MDC made sure that everyone who wanted an NLG lawyer had one. Students can join for $15. This level of activity is directly related to the activity of social movements in the streets, and the MDC Steering Committee wants to make sure that the MDC is the most useful resource for members as they go about their mass defense organizing in their communities and chapters. Home › Discussion › Mass Defense Committee This forum is empty. Guild members traveled to North Dakota to assist Water Protectors and Indigenous legal workers, eventually forming the Water Protector Legal Collective. The committee aims to provide legal support to grassroots movements organizing around self-determination, tenants' rights, foreclosure resistance, squatting/homesteading, homelessness rights, property redistribution, and other housing and land use issues. The Guild opposes aggressive and interventionist military policies, as well as abusive treatment of service members and veterans. Additions to the manual include sections on dealing with primary and secondary trauma while LOing, challenging the privileges we bring to this work that can negatively affect other NLG members/volunteers and the communities we’re in solidarity with, and performing this crucial role in dangerous situations involving violent white supremacists. See the Disability Resources list created by the committee! It serves as a liaison between the Guild and legal organizations that represent organized labor and workers. For more information visit the L&EC website at nlg-laboremploy-comm.org, as well as Facebook. MDC members met ahead of time with LGBTQ youth to provide legal training. In September of this year, a group of far-right organizations held a homophobic march in Boston. Jude Glaubman is always in court at a moments notice helping organize defense, and putting activists at ease with her years of experience, and unbounded compassion. The Mass Defense Committee (MDC) is a network of lawyers, legal workers, and law students providing legal support for political activists, protesters and movements for social change. Post was not sent - check your email addresses! The Anti-Racism Committee (ARC) strives to make the Guild into an effective anti-racist organization, holding it to the principles on which it was founded. They have also provided support to migrants they wind their way through the agonizingly slow and corrupt immigration bureaucracies of both countries. Volunteers are always needed for research and writing projects, and to help in counseling service members about their rights. As lawyers, law students, and legal activists, we seek to change U.S. foreign policy that threatens, rather than engages, or is based on a model of domination rather than respect. The Mass Defense Committee (MDC) of the New York City chapter of the NLG was created in the spring of 1968 in response to Vietnam war protests and arrests at Columbia University. Mass defense organizing across the country has been in full swing all year long, with no signs of slowing down in the future. We were proud this year, when a student in Central Massachusetts was being harassed and threatened by law enforcement for their political activities on campus, that the first people she called was the NLG. Incredible activists from the Never Again Coalition have been staging civil disobedience in opposition to repressive and racist immigration policy in the United States. It is not only the attorneys of the MDC that make this work possible. Email the ARC Co-Chairs at [email protected]. The cost of joining the Anti-Racism Committee is $12, which can be paid alongside your membership dues. The main communication tool of a committee is an email list which all committee members can interact on. From 2004 to the present, the MDC has provided Legal Observers during the monthly Critical Mass bike rides in Manhattan. The NLG IC plays an active role in international conferences, delegations and on-going projects that examine and seek to remedy conditions caused by illegal U.S. or corporate pracitices. The cost of joining the International Committee is $50 ($25 for students).

The EJC is a forum to discuss anything and all the work our members do around protecting the rights of individuals and movements to defend the environment. At one such action, thirteen activists were arrested at the Amazon building protesting cooperation between Amazon and ICE.