by Bonnie Tenneriello and Jeff Feuer, Chapter Co-Chairs
It’s a bad time in the USA to be poor, unemployed, lacking health care, or working in a non-union job. If you are an immigrant, especially of Middle Eastern descent, or in the army reserves, or have a loved one in the reserves, you face big troubles. But it’s a good time to be wealthy or to be a corporation you get to keep much more of your money these days and it’s a good time to be in the National Lawyers Guild. Rather than despair in the face of attacks on civil liberties and the rise of inequality, Guild lawyers are doing something about it. The challenges posed by the Bush and Romney administrations have brought out the best in Massachusetts Guild members, and the Massachusetts Chapter has helped to focus and coordinate their efforts.
Continuing a proud tradition, Guild members have been at the barricades from the beginning of the anti-Iraq war protests throughout New England and New York City. We trained and served as legal observers for demonstrations and provided pro bono legal representation to those arrested in the greater Boston area, as discussed in the article by Jason Smith inside. As part of the United for Justice with Peace coalition, we marched in New York City on an icy February 15, alongside hundreds of thousands of others, and in Boston on March 29. As the war continued, we participated in weekly vigils in our communities.
Massachusetts Guild members Marguerite Helen and Neil Burns geared up the NLG’s Military Law Task Force, which gives legal advice and aid to those in the military and helps counselors who staff the national GI Rights Hotline, which received over 21,000 calls last year.
The Massachusetts Chapter has also spearheaded efforts to safeguard the rights of immigrants through the New England Immigrant and Detainee Response Network, by gathering information and campaigning on behalf of students, visitors and workers from more than 25 countries who have been detained or imprisoned without cause or explanation under the INS "Special Registration" program or who have been put into deportation proceedings since 9/11. (See the article inside by John Pollock and Rob Stillwell) for a more complete description of the Chapter’s work in this area. Chapter members have also conducted numerous "Know Your Rights" and "9/11" educational workshops in conjunction with mosques, churches, and other local agencies within Muslim and immigrant communities, and provided legal representation to demonstrators arrested during the successful Justice for Janitors campaign in Boston.
Through the Street Law Clinic Project, Guild law students and lawyers have conducted dozens of free clinics on tenants’ rights, stop and search issues, workers’ rights, and civil disobedience to community organizations throughout Eastern Massachusetts (see David Conforto’s article).
Our members have testified in various public forums against Patriot Acts I and II, and in opposition to the deep budget cutbacks in legal and social services caused by the collapsing economy and the war. Our lawyer referral service continues to connect clients with Guild attorneys, through our new coordinator, Rob Stillwell (see his article).
Surely one of the high points this year in the struggle for legal equality was the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court’s stunning recognition of the equal right of gay and lesbian partners to marry. The Guild was present in this battle, presenting testimony in legislative hearings and joining an amicus brief submitted in the case by Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders, with the participation of Guild attorneys Jenn Bills and Barbara Dougan.
We have strong momentum going into the year ahead. With our own Mike Avery at the helm of the NLG nationally, and former Massachusetts Chair-for-life Judy Somberg starting a term as co-Regional Vice President, our ties to the national organization are growing. Our student membership is stronger that it has been in a long time, giving leadership to the defense of demonstrators and other projects and, for perhaps the first time ever, our overall membership has topped 300, well up from its usual 250.
We need to work hard to sustain this momentum for the challenges facing us in the coming months, including the upcoming Democratic National Convention, the continuing occupation of Iraq, and the specter of increased domestic repression under the Patriot Act. As you may know, Boston will host the Democratic Convention next July. Rob Doyle, Co-Chair Jeff Feuer, and Jonathan Shapiro are already working together with the ACLU to prepare for the reaction of the Boston Police Department, the Secret Service, the FBI and other law enforcement agencies to the expected tens of thousands of demonstrators who will descend upon the city. Executive Director Urszula Masny-Latos and Northeastern student Jonothan Foglia have been representing the Guild in meetings with other activist groups planning an alternative convention.
All of this crucial work is only possible with the continued involvement of Guild members like you, and many of you have been extremely generous in volunteering your time and donating your money. We have raised $9,000 through our new Guild Sustainer Program, in which a member pledges to donate $500.00 per year to support the Guild’s work. Guild Sustainers receive special mention in each issue of Mass Dissent, a free ad in our annual dinner program, free raffle tickets, and a special reception, which this year was hosted by Green St. Grill in Cambridge and featured newly inaugurated NLG president Mike Avery. We expect to extend invitations to other members to join the Sustainer Program in the coming year, in order to provide long-term financial stability for the Chapter.
We’ve also had success with obtaining small grants from a number of foundations, including the Unitarian Universalist Fund for a Just Society, Resist, and the Mass. Bar Foundation, due to the consistent efforts of our chief grant writer, Judy Somberg.
We look forward to your continuing support of the Mass. Chapter and invite you to attend our open monthly Board meetings, to join the Street Law Clinic Project, the Referral Service, the New England Immigrant and Detainee Response Network, the Mass Defense Committee, the DNC Planning Group, the Guild Sustainers Program or any of our other ongoing projects by calling Urszula at 617-227-7335.
Through the Guild, we sustain each other while we fight the good fight!
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