Terrorizing Dissenters at the RNC - National Lawyers Guild

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NATIONAL COMMITTEES, PROJECTS & TASK FORCES Guild Notes is published quarterly by the National Lawyers Guild Foundation 132 Nassau Street, Rm. 922 New York, NY 10038 Editor: Paige Cram Layout: Nicholas Coster Note: The views expressed in Guild Notes are those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the NLG officers or staff members. ANTIRACISM COMMITTEE Michael Flynn, RMFLYNN79@GMAIL.COM members: $15 ANTISEXISM COMMITTEE Kerry McLean, KERRYMCLEAN@GMAIL.COM Kayla Schmidt, KMS001@DRAKE.EDU $15 to join CORPORATIONS, THE CONSTITUTION, & HUMAN RIGHTS Ward Morehouse, WARD@CIPA-APEX.ORG CUBA SUBCOMMITTEE Art Heitzer (414) 273-1040 ext. 12, fax (414) 273-4859 606 W. Wisconsin Ave., Ste. 1706 Milwaukee, WI 53203 members: $10 DISABILITY RIGHTS COMMITTEE Aaron Frishberg, FRISHBERGA@AOL.COM members: $15 DRUG POLICY COMMITTEE Erica Smith, (504) 452-4096, EMSMITH2@LOYNO.EDU INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE Thom Cincotta, THOM_KARI@ME.COM members: $25 QUEER COMMITTEE Katy Clemens and Lynly Egyes, COCHAIRNLGQC@GMAIL.COM MASS DEFENSE COMMITTEE Carol Sobel, CAROLSOBEL@AOL.COM Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, (202) 530-5630, fax (202) 530-5634 MVH@JUSTICEONLINE.ORG members: $15 MILITARY LAW TASK FORCE Kathy Gilberd, (619) 463-2369 INFO@MLTF.INFO NATIONAL IMMIGRATION PROJECT fax (617) 227-5495 14 Beacon St #602, Boston, MA 02108 DAN@NATIONALIMMIGRATIONPROJECT.ORG Sliding scale dues (mail dues directly to the National Immigration Project) NATIONAL POLICE ACCOUNTABILITY PROJECT Tel. (617) 227-6015, fax (617) 227-6018 (sliding scale dues; contact the project for more information) NEXTGENERATION COMMITTEE Ashlee Albies, ASHLEE@ALBIESLAW.ORG Brenna Bell, BRENNA@TRYONFARM.ORG Copy Deadline: Spring 2009 Issue: February 11. Submissions can be emailed to nlgno@nlg.org. Subscriptions: Non-member individuals $20; institutions $75. LABOR & EMPLOYMENT COMMITTEE Dean Hubbard, (914) 395-2410 DHUBBARD@SLC.EDU Polly Halfkenny, (412) 471-8919 POLLY.HALFKENNY@RANKNFILE-UE.ORG members: $25 students: $15 LEGAL WORKERS COMMITTEE Susan Howard, NLGNYC@IGC.ORG THE NORTHWEST CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS CENTER HTTP://WWW.NWCRC.ORG PRISON LAW PROJECT Alissa Hull, PLP@NLG.ORG THE UNITED PEOPLE OF COLOR CAUCUS (TUPOCC) Tory Gavito and Zafar Shah TUPOCC@GMAIL.COM Dues and newsletter prices are annual amounts. For additional information call the NLG National Office at (212) 679-5100. Victory in NYC 4 Torture Scandal Arrest 5 RNC 6 DNC 9 Immigration Watch 10 Victory for Inaugural Protestors 11 Convention Coverage 14 Election Results 21 Committee and Chapter Updates 22 New Legal Observer Training Film 26 William Ayers at Georgetown 29 Notable 30 SS Dignity Interview 12
President’s Report The Guild Going Forward The election of Barack Obama as president is a momentous event in a nation built on the backs of slaves, a country with a pernicious history of institutionalized racism. Many of us from the National Lawyers Guild, which was born as an anti-racist organization, spent countless hours doing voter protection in cities throughout the country. During the Republican National Convention, a large team from the Guild did protester protection. The FBI-led Minneapolis Joint Terrorist Task Force sought to forestall lawful protest during the RNC, conducting preemptive searches, seizures and arrests. Preventive detention violates the Fourth Amendment, which requires that warrants be supported by probable cause. Throughout the week, St. Paul was a militarized zone. More than 800 people were arrested, some charged with “conspiracy to commit riot,” a rarely-used Marjorie Cohn statute that is so vague, it is probably unconstitutional. Demonstrators were protesting the vicious policies of the Bush administration. The last eight years have been a disaster for people in the United States and around the world. The Bush-Cheney gang launched two tragic, illegal and expensive wars against the people of Iraq and Afghanistan; conducted illegal bombings in Yemen, Somalia, Pakistan and Syria; engaged in systematic torture and abuse of prisoners; tried to suspend habeas corpus and keep prisoners at Guantánamo locked up forever without charges; and illegally spied on communications of people in the United States in an attempt to suppress dissent against the government’s illegal policies. Obama has promised to bring change in several key areas such as education, healthcare, climate change and the economy. But some of his positions are wrong and must be challenged by progressives. His enthusiasm for the war in Afghanistan and U.S. military attacks on Pakistan must be reversed. The amendments to FISA that weaken the standards for surveillance should be rescinded. Fortunately, Obama voted against the Military Commissions Act; he should now urge Congress to repeal it, and the PATRIOT Act as well. Obama opposed the Iraq war from the beginning and has pledged to bring the troops home. We must call for immediately bringing home—not redeploying—all U.S. troops and mercenaries, closing all U.S. military bases, and relinquishing all efforts to control Iraqi oil. The Guild has prepared and distributed a fact sheet about the illegality of the Iraq war and we are preparing one on Afghanistan as well. We have issued statements warning of the illegality and disastrous consequences of a war against Iran. Obama celebrated the recent Supreme Court decision upholding the right of habeas corpus for Guantánamo detainees. While Obama has rightly said he would close Guantánamo—which the Guild demanded several years ago—and try prisoners in U.S. courts, he has not agreed to close the secret CIA black sites. Immediately after he is sworn in, all detainees at both facilities should be released unless there is truly probable cause to believe they have committed a crime. Obama has opposed torture and extraordinary rendition. He should sign an executive order prohibiting extraordinary rendition, and the torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment of any prisoners in U.S. custody anywhere in the world, including in the United States. Obama said he would examine the evidence against high Bush officials and determine whether there is sufficient evidence to launch criminal investigations. But Obama, who is “a uniter, not a divider,” is not likely to order his attorney general to prosecute Bush, Cheney and company. We must push him to bring them to justice, as Charlotte Dennett vowed during her campaign for attorney general of Vermont. We are suffering the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Bush exacerbated the trend that Reagan began to deregulate and privatize the big financial institutions. Bush’s tax cuts for the rich and nearly-trillion dollar Iraq war have created a deficit that has aggravated the situation. Obama voted for the $700 billion bailout, a measure that is unlikely to help people who are losing their jobs, homes and retirement. But Obama has consistently advocated a more progressive income tax system that would “spread the wealth.” In spite of being tarred as a “socialist” by his opponents, Obama was elected by a 2 to 1 margin. We should encourage his socialist tendencies. Our Detroit convention was a rousing success. From the keynote addresses by Daniel Ellsberg and Grace Lee Boggs, to panels, workshops, and plenaries that will move our critical work forward, the state of the Guild is strong. • WINTER 2008 • GUILD NOTES • 3
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Terrorizing Dissenters at the RNC - National Lawyers Guild

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