GN summer fall09 Digital.indd - National Lawyers Guild

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Guild Notes ▪ Summer/Fall 2009San Francisco planning for the futureby Carlos Villarreal, Marc-Tizoc Gonzalez, David Waggoner,and E. Teague BriscoeThe first half of 2009 has been eventful, featuring a rangeof activities from the San Francisco chapter. Perhaps mostimportant has been the realization of our multi-year aspirationto assess comprehensively the state of the chapter and planstrategically for the next decade. With the generous supportof the Kazan, McClain, Abrams, Fernandez, Lyons, Greenwood,Harley & Oberman Foundation and the San FranciscoFoundation, we hired veteran strategic planning consultantMike Wong. Thanks to the active support of the entire NLG-SF staff, executive board and other members of our strategicplanning committee, we are developing a member-informedand external stakeholder-relevant vision for how the NLG-SF can truly serve the social justice movement of the 21stcentury.Of course, doing is as important as planning, and 2009has featured noteworthy human rights activity. For example,the chapter signed onto a bar association amicus curiae briefagainst California Proposition 8, which amended the stateconstitution to discriminate against same-sex marriage,contravening the California Supreme Court’s 2008 decision,which held unconstitutional a similar initiative-instituted law.Also, the NLG-SF Committee Against Torture (C.A.T)has worked tirelessly to make accountable those Bush-eralawyers who abused their licenses to practice law to providelegal cover for heinous human rights violations. Expandingits focus beyond infamous torture memo author, John Yoo,the C.A.T. has led the chapter to file a State Bar of Californiacomplaint against Chevron registered in-house counsel WilliamHaynes and to protest Bush-era appointed Ninth CircuitJudge Jay Bybee. Beyond calling for the legal communityto acknowledge, investigate, repudiate and censure thosewho advised the Bush Administration on violating domesticand international law, the C.A.T. has worked with local andnational activists to educate the broader society on this issue(see article on page 8).The chapter has also continued expanding its membershipservices with a new MCLE committee, which hasalready coordinated a voir dire workshop with the NationalJury Project, designed and started a multi-part elimination ofbias workshop series and plans a mindful lawyering seminarand Alien Tort Claims Act class featuring the Chevron-instigatedmurders in Nigeria.Earlier in the year, the NLG-SF honored legendary legalservices lawyer, Steve Bingham, a past local Guild presidentwho worked in Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committeeon the Freedom Summer (1964) and assisted in the representationof Black Panther Party Field Marshal, George Jackson.The annual Testimonial Dinner featured numerous movementcomrades, who together painted a marvelous picture ofSteve’s persecution for providing legal access to an eminentpolitical prisoner, his sustaining family life and his ongoinglegal services work at Bay Area Legal Aid.Finally, in June the NLG-SF took up the issue of PresidentObama’s historic nomination of Second Circuit JudgeSonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court. Responding tothe neoconservative vitriol against and its taint of mainstreammedia coverage on the first Puerto Rican woman nominatedto the high court in U.S. history, the NLG-SF highlightedJudge Sotomayor’s undeniable judicial qualifications andcalled for the Senate to confirm her nomination.In the second half of 2009, the NLG-SF executive boardlooks forward to furthering a robust dialogue within the Guildon the merits of a multidimensional approach to social justiceand the coalitions and mutual accountability that we believeare necessary in the 21st century.¡Adelante pa’justicia (onward toward justice)! □MIKE CLYBURN NAMED PRESIDENTIAL MANAGEMENT FELLOWMike Clyburn, chair of the student chapter at Seattle University for the past two years, was recentlyawarded the prestigious Presidential Management Fellowship. The fellowship is part of a two-year trainingprogram, leading to a permanent position. Mike will work in the Community Planning and Development officeof the region 10 Housing and Urban Development office in Seattle.The purpose of the fellowship is to attract to the federal service outstanding men and women from a varietyof academic disciplines who have a clear commitment to excellence in the leadership and managementof public policies and programs. The NLG, especially his colleagues in Seattle, want to congratulate Mikeon this great achievement.▪ 22 ▪
Committee and Chapter UpdatesPhiladelphia hard at work and getting noticedby Andrew KelserEducating the VotersThe Elections Committee of thePhiladelphia Chapter created and distributeda voter guide for the MunicipalPrimary election held on May 19,2009. Voters often have little informationabout these local elections, whichinclude candidates for District Attorneyas well as Appellate, CommonPleas and Municipal Court seats andare not heavily covered by the media.The Chapter developed a survey withquestions about the candidates andcollected responses from members ofthe progressive legal community inPhiladelphia. Based on this data, theElections committee wrote “The ProgressiveVoter’s Guide to Candidatesfor Judge and District Attorney” anddistributed it to the survey participants,Philadelphia Chapter members, andlike-minded progressive organizationsand individuals.The guide was well-received andwas covered by several media outlets,including the renowned blog youngphillypolitics.com.Progressive-thinkingvoters thanked local Guild membersfor providing previously-unavailableelection information. In addition, theElections Committee received a greatdeal of helpful feedback that will beused to improve future versions of thevoter guide.Demonstrating to Oppose John YooThe day after the elections, thePhiladelphia National Lawyers Guild,working with several other progressiveorganizations and community-basedgroups, held a demonstration opposingJohn Yoo as a columnist for thePhiladelphia Inquirer. For the secondconsecutive day, we received mediaattention for a local Philadelphia Guildproject. Major local news outlets likethe Philadelphia Metro and Fox Newswere at the event; it is rare to get suchmajor media coverage for demonstrations.The Metro specifically called toget more background information onwhat the Philadelphia Guild Chapterdoes, and what the National LawyersGuild is about.Supporting Medical MarijuanaRecently, in early May, the Philadelphiachapter of the NLG met withrepresentatives from a Pennsylvaniacoalition supporting medical marijuanalegislation, Pennsylvanians for MedicalMarijuana (PA4MMJ). During themeeting, it became clear that PA4MMJwas very serious about working withthe Philadelphia chapter in order togarner support from the progressivelegal community. In mid-June, thePhiladelphia chapter issued a statementin support of HB 1393, a PAHouse Bill to enact a regulated medicalmarijuana program in the commonwealthof Pennsylvania. The statementpraised the bill, stating, “We pledgeour support to this important healthcare initiative. This proposal wouldallow seriously ill patients who findrelief from marijuana to use it withtheir doctor’s approval... It is time forPennsylvania to move ahead and endthe needless suffering of our fellowcitizens.” By the following day, thelocal chapter began receiving majormedia coverage.After learning of Guild support,Representative Mark Cohen, sponsorof HB 1393, commented publicly, “Itis certainly welcome to have any groupendorse House Bill 1393, especially agroup that rarely takes positions on statelegislation... Their doing so reinforcesmy view that dissatisfaction with ourexisting drug laws has been a factor inseparating intelligent, committed peoplefrom active political participation.” Ina press release issued by PA4MMJ,Derek Rosenzweig said, “It’s wonderfulto have such a prestigious group endorsethe Compassionate Use MedicalMarijuana Act. Attorneys see firsthandhow the law affects the lives of patientswho get arrested for their use of medicalmarijuana, and the NLG should bepraised for speaking out about the needto protect patients who use medicalmarijuana from arrest.” The PittsburghThe Philadelphia chapter issued a statement in supportof HB 1393, a PA House Bill to enact a regulatedmedical marijuana program.... By the following day,the local Guild chapter began receiving major mediacoverage.Examiner had an article about the Guildsupport for the bill on the front pageof their website, and since then othermedia outlets have commented on theGuild’s statement of support of HB1393.All of this tells us two importantthings: 1) Philadelphia now knowswhat the National Lawyers Guild isdoing, and 2) Our events are newsworthy.We hope that this means we willcontinue to get extensive coverage ofour activities. □▪ 23 ▪
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