Occupy Boston! the Guild Has Been Part of in Solidarity with the Movement
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Mass Dissent Massachusetts Chapter National Lawyers Guild 14 Beacon St., Boston, MA 02108 February 2012 www.nlgmass.org Vol. 35, No. 1 In This Edition Occupy Boston! The Guild has been part of in solidarity with the movement. Occupy Boston (OB) since its Una Spenser, Occupier and very first planning meeting on active blogger on the Daily Kos, Guild News page 3 Boston Common in September. provides a firsthand account of This month's Mass Dissent the night the Boston Police NLG Holiday & New Year’s showcases a range of perspec- “arrested” the OB kitchen sink. Parties tives on the movement. All of (Read more on www.dailykos. page 4 the stories reflect the common com/user/UnaSpenser) thread of self-determination and Is there some 1% corruption Occupy Boston - from the the Guild’s respect for OB. within the Occupy Movement? Observer’s Standpoint This month's writers are just Gregory Murphy, a member of page 5 a small sample of the many, the Financial Accountability many Guild members who have Working Group, deals with the The OB “Sinkgate” put in long hours training legal betrayal of OB by some of its page 6 observers and participants; legal founding members, and tells about observing at marches, arrests, how the group resolved this issue. When I Joined the Revolution... and rallies; staying overnight at Public defenders and Guild page 7 Dewey Square; occasionally, members Chris and Carl being arrested; visiting jail and Williams answer questions NLG Members’ Work with OB - police stations at all hours to bail about their personal involve- Interview with Carl & Chris protesters out; representing ment with OB, the Guild’s con- Williams Occupiers in criminal court; fil- nection to the movement, and page 8 ing for, and briefly receiving, an discuss how OB has made the injunction; establishing an NLG Guild stronger. Occupy Movement as Hotline to take phone calls with Chapter Board Member Revolution legal questions at all hours of the Makis Antzoulatos draws his- page 10 day, night, and holidays; prepar- torical parallels to the Occupy ing a mass defense strategy; and movement in Hoovervilles and NLG Mass Defense Committee page 11 so much more. We tip our Boston’s Tent City. He describes (bright green!) hats to all of you. the common power generated by In the following pages, a group of people just by existing BOARD MEETING Bradford Adams, a Guild stu- in a certain place. dent at Harvard Law School, This is history in the mak- February 21, 6:00 pm tells about his experience as a ing, and the Guild is proud to legal observer and as part of play an important role in and for 14 Beacon St., 1st Fl. OB’s Legal Working Group. He the Occupy Movement. Boston describes the spontaneity of - Stephanie Young - marches and the roles he took on Editor February 2012 Page 1 NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD Massachusetts Chapter, Inc. Join a Guild Committee 14 Beacon St., Suite 407 Boston, MA 02108 Street Law Clinic Project: The Street Law Clinic project provides tel.: 617-227-7335 • fax: 617-227-5495 workshops for Massachusetts organizations that address legal needs of [email protected] • [email protected] various communities. Legal education workshops on 4th Amendment www.nlgmass.org Rights (Stop & Search), Landlord/Tenant Disputes, Workers’ Rights, Civil Disobedience Defense, Bankruptcy Law, Foreclosure Prevention BOARD OF DIRECTORS Law, and Immigration Law are held at community organizations, youth centers, labor unions, shelters, and pre-release centers. If you are a Guild CHAIRPERSON attorney, law student, or legal worker interested in leading a workshop, Neil Berman, Common Sense Legal Counseling please contact the project at 617-723-4330 or [email protected]. TREASURERS Patricia Cantor Lawyer Referral Service Panel (LRS): Members of the panel provide legal Jeff Petrucelly, Petrucelly, Nadler & Norris services at reasonable rates. Referral Service Administrative/Oversight Committee members: Neil Berman, Neil Burns, Joshua Goldstein, Jeremy MEMBERS Robin, and Azizah Yasin. For more information, contact the Referral Service Laura Alfring, CPCS Youth Advocacy Dept. Makis Antzoulatos, CPCS Coordinator at 617-227-7008 or [email protected]. Thom Cincotta, Political Research Associates David Conforto, Conforto Law Group, P.C. Foreclosure Prevention Task Force: Created in June 2008, the Task Hillary Farber, UMass Dartmouth Force’s goal is threefold: (1) to draft and introduce policies that address Jeff Feuer, Goldstein & Feuer issues that homeowners and tenants of foreclosed houses face, (2) to pro- David Kelston, Adkins, Kelston & Zavez vide legal assistance to these homeowners and tenants, and (3) to con- Jonathan Messinger, solo practitioner duct legal clinics for them. If you are interested in working with the Task Halim Moris, Moris & O’Shea Force, please call the office at 617-227-7335. Gráinne O’Neill, Harvard Law School Josh Raisler Cohn, CPCS Judy Somberg, solo practitioner Mass Defense Committee: Consists of two sub-committees: (1) Bonnie Tenneriello, Prisoners’ Legal Services “Legal Observers” (students, lawyers, activists) who are trained to serve Jessica White, Prisoners’ Legal Services as legal observers at political demonstrations and (2) “Mass Defense Team” (criminal defense attorneys) who represent activists arrested for LAW STUDENT REPRESENTATIVES political activism. To get involved, please contact the office at 617-227- Jay Diaz & James Racine, Boston College Ryan Hidden, New England 7335. Molly Howe-Lembcke, Suffolk Lauren Marcous, WNEC Litigation Committee: Established in 2010, the Committee brings Matthew Schultz, Boston University civil lawsuits against large institutions (such as government agencies, Matthew Spurlock, Harvard law enforcement, banks, financial institutions, and/or large corporations) Sky Swett, UMass Dartmouth which engage in repressive or predatory actions that affect large numbers Yohana Valdez & Jessica Yamane, NUSL of people and that serve to perpetuate social, racial and/or economic Lindsay Vick, Roger Williams injustice or inequality. To get involved, please contact the Guild office. STAFF NLG National Immigration Project: Works to defend and extend the EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR human and civil rights of all immigrants, both documented and undocu- Urszula Masny-Latos mented. The Committee works in coalitions with community groups to LRS COORDINATOR/ADMIN. ASSIST. organize support for immigrant rights in the face of right-wing political Barbara Lee attacks. For more information contact the NLG National Immigration STREET LAW CLINIC COORDINATOR Project at 617-227-9727. Sky Swett NLG Military Law Task Force: Provides legal advice and assistance Mass Dissent (ISSN 0887-8536) is published to those in the military and to others, especially members of the GIRights monthly except January, May, July and August Hotline, who are counseling military personnel on their rights. It also by the National Lawyers Guild, Mass. Chapter, provides legal support and helps to find local legal referrals when need- 14 Beacon St., Suite 407, Boston, MA 02108. Second-class postage paid at Boston, MA. ed. For advice and information, GI’s can call 877-447-4487. To get POSTMASTER: Send address changes to involved, please contact Neil Berman ([email protected]) or Mass Dissent, NLG, 14 Beacon St., Suite 407, Boston, MA 02108. Marguerite Helen ([email protected]). February 2012 Mass Dissent Page 2 GUILD NEWS Room, 1st Fl.). At the meeting, we will conduct elec- NLG HAPPY HOURS We tions of the Chapter Board of Directors and Chapter hope you will join us this month for our monthly NLG Officers. We are accepting nominations for the Board Happy Hour. On the second Wednesday of each until March 6th. If you would like to serve on the Board month, we rotate “Mentorship” Happy Hour with “NLG or nominate another Guild member, please call the Presents...”. Please see the boxes below for details Guild office (617-227-7335) or go to our website about February and March events. If you have ques- (www.nlgmass.org). tions, please call the Guild office at 617-227-7335. We will also have a presentation given by our guest speakers on the status of Occupy Boston and the next phase of the movement. Rachel Plattus and Brian Kwoba have been active in Occupy Boston since day NLG ANNUAL MEETING This one and will give us their understanding of the future of year’s Chapter Annual Meeting will be held on Tuesday, the Occupy Movement. And yes, we’ll have tasty treats March 20, 5:30pm (14 Beacon St., Conference and great wine! Hope to see you there. Street Law Clinic Report The following clinics and trainings were conducted for Mentorship Happy Hour... members of Boston area community organizations and agencies: Careers in Criminal Defense Law December 16: Legal Observer training for Occupy An evening with Somerville, by Melinda Drew. LAURA ALFRING, MAKIS ANTZOULATOS, SAVE THE DATE SUSAN CHURCH, & HILLARY FARBER “NLG Presents...” Happy Hour Wednesday, February 8, 2012 Massachusetts’ New “Three Strikes” 6:00 - 8:00 pm Sentencing Laws Red Hat Cafe An evening with 9 Bowdoin St. (upper level), Boston BARB DOUGAN & TATUM PRITCHARD This month’s Mentorship Happy Hour is for law students and new lawyers who are inter- Wednesday, March 14, 2012, 6:00 - 8:00 pm ested in criminal defense. Guild attorneys Red Hat Cafe, 9 Bowdoin St., Boston who specialize in criminal defense law will As many states are easing prison overcrowding with poli- speak and answer questions: Laura Alfring cies that promote treatment and re-entry, Massachusetts is (CPCS Youth Advocacy Department), Makis set to move in the opposite direction with tougher “three Antzoulatos (public defender with CPCS), strikes” legislation. Barb Dougan (Families Against Mandatory Minimums) and Tatum Pritchard (Prisoners Susan Church (private practitioner), and Legal Services) will report on how we got to this point, how Hillary Farber (criminal law professor). activists - led by communities of color - organized against Join us! the bills, and (perhaps by March) what a final bill says.