by Neil Berman

2011 was a year that saw building rage against the iniquities of the American economic system, to which I can only say more of that, I’m still not satisfied.  The  NLG Massachusetts Chapter has struggled to support dissent against the economic system while its own economic stresses have challenged its ability to provide that support.  In many ways, large and small, the Chapter continued to produce work all our members can be proud of.

This has been a year of change for the Chapter, which saw the beginning of the Litigation committee and the Mentorship Happy Hour, the growth of the Advisory committee, and the increased demands requiring the Mass Defense committee to expand and reorganize.  Ongoing projects included the Street Law Clinic and the Lawyers Referral Service – two of our longest-run and tremendously successful programs – and “NLG Presents…”.

Finances continued to be a concern for the Chapter and a priority throughout the year, with much of the work being done by the Finance committee out of sight, but felt in many ways.   Our Guild Circle and the Sustainers Programs continued to grow, as did  our membership.   In June, the Board of Directors dedicated their meeting to brainstorming new and ever more creative fundraising ideas.  Out of this meeting the following committees were formed:  Leftist Entrepreneurs, Entertainment, Will Party, and Speaker’s Bureau.  One fundraising event was already in the works when the June meeting occurred, a ‘Designer Circus,” which was held in September.  This event was a great success as both a fundraiser and as a social affair.

All student chapters saw increased membership this year, evidence that economic hard times serve as a great recruiting tool for the NLG.  The chapters which were begun last year at Roger Williams University School of Law in Rhode Island, and Western New England University School of Law in Springfield both grew in membership and were active on their campuses.  A new Chapter began at The University of Massachusetts School of Law in Dartmouth and we look forward to working with students in the southeastern part of the state in the future.

The Street Law Clinic project was very active this year.  NLG student chapters requested training in greater numbers than in recent years, and this resulted in more student participation in clinics.  The Foreclosure Prevention Clinic was requested often again this year as there was a continued need for help in this area.  Thanks to the work of Lipou Laliemthavisay and Deborah Roher, the “Consumer Law, Debt, and Bankruptcy Clinic” booklet was completed this year, and we are now able to offer a fully developed clinic.

As foreclosure resistance continued to grow throughout the Commonwealth, the Mass Defense committee was busy during the beginning of the year with various tenant organizations.  The Chapter fulfilled the demand for legal observers and legal representation at eviction blockades in the Boston area and Springfield.  While we were busy with these actions throughout the year, the demand increased once the Occupy Wall Street movement expanded to Boston.  To accommodate the Occupy Movement’s demands, the Mass Defense committee re-organized in October;   it now has seven task groups with coordinators prepared to act should anything occur at Dewey Square, site of Occupy Boston, as well as at sites which are springing up in other cities and, as I write this, are beginning to occupy college campuses as well.

This year, the Litigation Committee became a reality, filing its first lawsuit in August, a second suit in October, and began defending a client in a Summary Process eviction case in November.  The committee is evaluating several other possible lawsuits, and we hope this is the beginning of a sustained effort to litigate cases which would not be possible due to financial and political reasons, if not for the efforts of our Chapter.

The “NLG Presents…” Happy Hour program was consistently interesting this year.  The final program of the year and the first in its new home, the Red Hat on Bowdoin Street, was a panel discussion about the Occupy Boston legal working group and Mass Defense, and broke attendance records.  This year we added a new angle to the program; now “NLG Presents…” is rotated with Mentorship Happy Hour which provides an opportunity for our members to meet and work with law students, progressive lawyers starting in their own practices, and political activists.

In April, there was a regional conference organized  by the Roger Williams University School of Law NLG student chapter attended by over 75 people.   The keynote presentation by Lizzy Ratner and Philip Weiss, “Goldstone Report: From Gaza to Cairo” was well-attended and thought provoking.  A personal highlight was a presentation on ending the ‘War on Drugs’ presented by a former Assistant Attorney General and two retired state police troopers.

As always the high point of the year for the Chapter was our 30th annual testimonial dinner at the Colonnade on May 13th.  Our emcees, Astrid afKlinteberg and Howard Cooper, were delightful as ever, as we honored lawyers Emily
Yozell and Karen Blum, legal worker Chip Berlet, and student Liz Dedrick.  The dinner was a great success and ended with dancing and a musical interlude by the NLG Troubadures.

The Chapter Summer Retreat in July at Judy Somberg’s was an opportunity for the members to see how we operate, and many ideas were debated including meeting procedure, the use of technology to improve communications including the creation of a mailing list*, using social media and various ways of connecting with new, progressive lawyers.  While the retreat was a time to think deeply about the work of the Chapter, it also often dissolved into laughter and.

We look forward to 2012, as we see in our cloudy crystal ball the exciting ongoing 99% movement continuing to hold the 1% to account.

Neil Berman is Chair of the Mass Chapter and a solo practitioner in Somerville.

*altered after print

NLG HOLIDAY PARTY

We hope you will join us at this year’s NLG Holiday Party on Friday, December 9, 5:30pm.  We’ll be hosted again by Stern Shapiro Weissberg & Garin (90 Canal St., 5th Fl., Boston).  In addition to a very tasty spread, aged wine, and amazing company, the program will include a raffle drawing with exceptional prizes.  If you would like to buy raffle tickets (only $10/ticket!), please call the Guild office at 617-227-7335.

NLG NEW YEAR PARTY

Let’s welcome the new year in a Guild way and have our own special party!  In 2012, we will initiate an NLG New Year Party and hope that this new event will become another place for our members and friends to gather and socialize.  The kick off party will be on Wednesday, January 11. 2012, 6:00-10:00 pm, at Jillian’s of Boston (145 Ipswich St.).  And yes, we will also have pool tables on our disposal!

The following clinics and trainings were conducted for members of Boston area community organizations and agencies:

October 15: • Legal Observer training for Roger Williams School of Law in Bristol, RI, by Chris Williams.    • Legal Observer training for students of UMass Dartmouth School of Law, by Sky Swett.

October 18: Foreclosure Prevention clinic for employees at AIDS Action in Cambridge, by Neil Berman.

October 24: Legal Observer and Civil Disobedience trainings for Occupy Worcester in Worcester, by Beverly Chorbajian & Chris Williams.

October 27: Stop & Search training at Boston University School of Law, by Carl Williams.

October 29: Legal Observer trainings for Occupy Worcester, by Beverly Chorbajian.

November 2: Legal Observer training for law students at Boston University School of Law, by Urszula Masny-Latos.

November 7: Legal Observer and Civil Disobedience trainings for Occupy Springfield and housing activists in Springfield, by Melinda Drew & Jeff Feuer.

November 12: Legal Observer training for Occupy Movement activists in Brattleboro, Vermont, by Melinda Drew & Jeff Feuer.

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Congratulations to Chrissy Foot & her Family!

In August of this year, Chrissy Foot & David Grander welcomed their first child, Silas Henry  – “7 lbs and 19.7 in. of adorableness,” as Chrissy declared (and the Guild confirmed!).

We hope Silas Henry will follow his mother’s footsteps and join the Guild when he gets his first allowance.

We wish Silas and his parents a wonderful future, filled with advocacy and activism.

The best wishes to your new family!

by Jeff Feuer

The NLG Mass Defense Committee (MDC) had an extremely busy year in 2011.  Prior to the beginning of October and the beginning of the 99% movement, much of our work was focused on foreclosure defense/eviction blockade actions.  Groups like City Life/Vida Urbana, Chelsea Collaborative, Springfield No One Leaves Project all sought the Guild’s assistance in conducting trainings for Legal Observers and Civil Disobedience issues.  The MDC successfully defended activists arrested at a number of eviction blockades in the Greater Boston area, with criminal charges being dismissed or converted to civil infractions upon payment of a small fine.

Guild member Steven Toff (left) serves as an NLG Legal Observer during October mass arrests at Occupy Boston. Photo by Tess Scheflan.

That work included the defense of 24 people arrested on Friday, September 30, 2011, at a large Right to the City Rally, March and Demonstration at the Bank of America in Boston.  The many Guild Legal Observers at the march helped reassure the demonstrators that their rights would be protected and that they had real visible legal support on their side.  Once the march of several thousand people reached the Bank of America headquarters in Boston’s financial district, 24 demonstrators were arrested in an act of civil disobedience by blocking the entrances to the bank building.  All were charged with trespass and many of them spent long hours at the police stations suffering through the booking process until they were released on bail.  The following Tuesday, all of the arrestees appeared in Boston Municipal Court to be arraigned on the criminal charge of trespass and volunteer attorneys from the MDC were there to represent them.

Fortunately, we had a very sympathetic chief D.A. in the BMC (Susan Terry), who understood what the demonstration was about and that she was not dealing with “criminals.”  As a result, we negotiated a very favorable resolution for all of the arrestees – 18 of them had their criminal charge of trespass converted into a civil infraction for which they were found “responsible” and received a fine of ZERO dollars!  The remaining six arrestees (each of whom had fairly recent arrests on their record, mostly for protest related activities) also had their criminal charges converted into a civil infraction for which they were found “responsible,” but only paid a fine of $50 each!  That meant that none of the arrestees wound up with a criminal charge, the cases were completely disposed of on Tuesday and there were no restrictions placed on the arrestees participating in any future protest activities.  This was an extremely successful outcome for one of the largest demonstrations in downtown Boston in recent years.

Beginning in early October, the MDC’s attention turned toward Occupy Boston (OB), which had begun the same day as the Right to the City demonstration.  Early on, the Guild began to provide legal support to OB through the on-site OB Legal Working Group, with Guild members Carl Williams, Chris Williams, Urszula Masny-Latos, and Mary Lu Mendonca becoming part of that team.  Then, the mass arrest of 140+ OB participants galvanized the rest of the MDC into action.  One of those arrested was Urszula who, along with about 20 other volunteers, was serving as an NLG Legal Observer at the site (no other LO’s were arrested).  When the arrestees were arraigned over the following three days in the BMC, MDC attorneys were there to represent the demonstrators and to negotiate resolution to the cases.  Most of the demonstrators were offered a very reasonable deal by the DA’s office and/or the court — either dismissal of the charges pre-arraignment or conversion of the criminal charges into a civil infraction, both contingent on payment of $50 court costs or a fine.  The vast majority of the 140+ OB arrestees took this deal, but a committed group of 20 people rejected the offer and have chosen to challenge their arrests by proceeding to trial.  A group of MDC attorneys will be representing the OB defendants.

Rebecca Amdemariam, 3L at Suffolk Law School, on Legal Observer duty at Occupy Boston. Photo by Tim Plenk.

Following the arrests, the MDC held an organizing meeting to determine how best to structure Guild legal support for the Occupy Movement in Massachusetts.  At the meeting, the MDC created seven different task groups, each of which has its own Coordinator(s).  Astrid afKlinteberg is the Coordinator for the NLG Legal Hotline, in which volunteer lawyers staff and answer legal questions for the Guild office during out-of-office hours and weekends via call forwarding from the Guild’s main phone number, during the duration of Occupy Boston.  Jeff Feuer is the Coordinator for Arraignments, with the Guild supplying volunteer attorneys to cover arraignments for people arrested at political demonstrations.  Carl Williams and Chris Williams are the Coordinators for Occupy Boston Legal Team, which works with the OB Legal Working Group to provide Guild LO, CD and Know Your Rights training and legal advice to OB participants on-site.  Melinda Drew is the Coordinator for Legal Observers, and is responsible for coordinating training of new legal observers and notifying legal observer volunteers of requests from OB and other political groups for legal observers.  Lee Goldstein is the Coordinator for CD Training, and is responsible for coordinating trainings for OB participants and other political groups on the legal aspects of civil disobedience.   Susan Church and Benjie Hiller are the Coordinators for Criminal Defense Cases, coordinating the criminal defense of people arrested at OB and other political demonstrations.  Myong Joun is the Coordinator for Civil Cases, coordinating civil cases for personal injury, property and civil rights damages that may arise out of illegal or excessive force arrests during political demonstrations, and working on obtaining injunctive relief to prevent future mass arrests of OB and other political demonstrators.  Jeff Feuer is also serving as the overall Coordinator of the MDC.

An Occupy Boston activist dispaying a placard with the NLG number. Photo by Justin McIntosh.

Since then, the MDC has been going full-steam ahead on OB projects.  Working closely with the ACLU, Guild attorney Howard Cooper has headed a team of attorneys who have drafted a complaint for injunctive and declaratory relief to protect the First Amendment rights of OB participants and to forestall any future mass arrests.  The Guild office hotline has been in use 24 hours a day fielding legal questions from OB participants and arranging for legal representation for political demonstrators arrested subsequent to the mass arrests.  Guild attorneys have been present for every arraignment of demonstrators arrested in both Boston and Worcester.  The Criminal Defense group is currently planning its trial strategy for the 20 OB demonstrators who have chosen to go to trial, with the involvement of almost a dozen defense lawyers.  Information and evidence is being gathered to prepare civil lawsuits on behalf of individual protestors who were injured (including a broken wrist) during arrests and a class action on behalf of all the demonstrators who had personal property destroyed by the police during the October 11th mass arrests.  Guild members are conducting on-going training and education workshops on-site at OB about people’s legal rights, how to be a legal observer, and how to assert those rights.  In addition, Guild members are providing legal assistance and support in meetings between OB participants and city officials, the Boston Police Department, and the Greenway Conservancy.

Jeff Feuer is the Coordinator of the NLG Mass Chapter’s Mass Defense Committee.  He is a law partner at Goldstein & Feuer in Cambridge.

by David Kelston & Jeff Thorn

Over the last few years, our Chapter has had a number of discussions at Board meetings about more actively and systematically filing litigation that supports our goals.  This spring, we set up our Litigation Committee to do this, specifically to pursue local (e.g., Massachusetts) litigation challenging oppressive institutional practices.  We are off to a strong start.

In August, we filed, in conjunction with the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, a lawsuit in the Suffolk Superior Court challenging the Boston Police Department’s failure to release records under the state Freedom of Information Act (G.L. c.66, §10) concerning the activities of its “Boston Regional Intelligence Center” (BRIC).  While BRIC’s “mission” is to investigate criminal activity tied to suspected terrorism, and to share information on such activity with other police forces, its actual work appears to focus on surveillance (and chillingly) of lawful protest, including interrogating activists in custody.  Thus far – and solely as a result of the lawsuit – the BPD has turned over some documents (including certain contracts to share information with other police agencies) and has promised full compliance with the public records law, including by releasing video surveillance at, for example, Occupy Boston.

Our second lawsuit, a class action case against the Sheriff of Essex County, was filed in the Essex Superior Court in early October, and alleges that, in clear disregard of the law and a decision of the Supreme Judicial Court, the Sheriff continues to charge inmates fees for routine medical screening.  This lawsuit, filed in conjunction with Prisoners’ Legal Services, insists that our authorities follow the law themselves, and hopes to continue raising the issue that there are real costs, including financial costs, to our society’s extraordinary reliance on incarceration to address problems that, in many instances, should not even be considered criminal.

Next, we expect soon to file a lawsuit in which tenants who have been evicted from foreclosed homes by new owners challenge the owners’ title and thus right to foreclose.  While this problem – predatory lending practices, followed by borrower default, and followed by fraudulent title documents facilitating wrongful foreclosures – is being litigated in other cases, we do not believe it has yet been litigated from the prospective of the truly innocent tenant victims.

In another foreclosure case, the Litigation Committee has recently begun to defend a Summary Process case in the hope of confirming the new powers of tenants and owners of homes after foreclosure.  The Massachusetts Chapter lawyers are representing Kenyatte Davis, a tenant who had paid rent on time every month until his residence was foreclosed upon by Bank of America.  In its subsequent effort to evict Davis the new owner, Fannie Mae, has violated several state and federal tenant protection statutes.  Two violations of Massachusetts law have not been litigated before.  First, Fannie Mae was not deeded the property until two months after they had purchased the property at foreclosure sale.  Because their notice attempts occurred prior to getting title, they should fail to satisfy statutory notice requirements and the eviction should be denied. A favorable holding on this ground could open a new avenue for other owners and tenants to challenge foreclosure.  Second, M.G.L.c. 186A states that foreclosing owners “shall pay a fine” of at least $5000 for each illegal eviction attempt, but this provision has never been applied.  We hope to establish that the fine should be paid to tenants; that the fine may be paid for constructive eviction when the foreclosing owner provides misleading notice; and that multiple fines may be applied where eviction attempts occurred over the course of several months.  Upon receiving our initial filings Fannie Mae requested a dismissal of their eviction proceeding; needless to say, we refused.

Last (for now), members of our committee have been active in numerous matters, including possible litigation supporting Occupy Boston, and hope to continue that involvement for many months to come.

If you would like to be involved in the Committee work, please contact the Guild office at 617-227-7335 or e-mail David Kelston at dkelston@akzlaw.com.

David Kelston is a law partner at Adkins Kelston & Zavez in Boston, and serves on the Mass Chapter Board of Directors;  Jeff Thorn is an associate at Adkins Kelston & Zavez and a member of the NLG Litigation  Committee.

by Barbara Lee

Another exciting year has gone by and the NLG has been swept up in the whirlwind of social activism and economic justice embodied in the Occupy Movement.  Like the Occupy Movement, the Guild strongly believes in equality and helping the disenfranchised.  One way the Guild fulfills this mission is through our Lawyer Referral Service (LRS).
By the end of this year, the LRS will have referred nearly 3,000 clients to our panel of 70 Guild attorneys.  Many legal service organizations in Massachusetts, such as the Mass Bar Association and GBLS, refer cases to the LRS.  In kind, the LRS has helped refer nearly 550 clients to other Guild chapters or alternative legal service providers that can help clients meet their legal needs.

Attorneys on our panel practice nearly every area of law, allowing us to provide referrals in almost all cases.  We receive our largest volume of calls for family law, civil litigation, and tenant/landlord issues.  However, our service is limited geographically and we hope that more attorneys will join to help fulfill the need for this legal service in areas not currently covered such as the Cape, Southern Mass, Western Mass, and Central Mass.  We encourage everyone in private practice to join or invite your friends to join us in solidarity to work towards securing access to the legal system for everyone.

Since starting at the Guild this past summer, I’ve heard about many successful cases that LRS panel attorneys have handled.  Clients who are grateful for the passionate attorneys who help them often call the LRS when they need help with another legal situation.  In addition, members of the LRS panel have invited their friends to join shortly after joining because of all of the great referrals they receive.

The Guild chapter in New York also began their own referral service this year and used our referral service as their model.  With the inspiring abilities that LRS panel attorneys have, we are a shining example of what other Guild chapters can achieve if they think innovatively and have supportive members to back them up.

The LRS wouldn’t be where it is today without the dedicated work of our Board members – Neil Burns, Neil Berman, Josh Goldstein, Jeremy Robin, and Azizah Yasin.  The LRS has made significant changes in the past year including changes to dues contributions, additions to the website, and advertising through a grant from Google for Nonprofits.  We hope to continue growing and providing clients with improved services and remaining a self-sustaining project of the Guild.

A special thank you to all of the LRS attorneys on our panel.  Without your passion and dedication to helping clients fight back, we would not be able to achieve our mission.

Barbara Lee is the LRS Coordinator and Administrative Assistant for the Chapter.

by Sky Swett

The year of 2011 started strong with several Boston law schools participating in trainings.  In January, Boston University and Roger Williams University both had Stop and Search Clinics, Suffolk held a Workers’ Rights Clinic, Western New England University School of Law had both a Legal Observer Training and a Civil Disobedience Training, as did, Boston University School of Law.

As the spring progressed, various clinics were held:  Stop  & Search Clinics at Cambridge Cares About Aids Youth on Fire and in New Bedford at New Bedford Youth Build, and a Tenant/Landlord Dispute Clinic at Crossroads Shelter in East Boston; the Cardinal Medieros Shelter held an Immigration Law Clinic and The Workplace in Boston hosted a Workers’ Rights Clinic.  In May, St. Ambrose Family Shelter a Worker’s Rights Clinic was held and was described on one of the evaluation forms as fascinating.  May also saw a Stop & Search Clinic at the Boston Boys and Girls Club.  This clinic was attended by 40 young participants who were fascinated with the topic and shared several personal stories about locker searches.

The summer was quiet for clinics as law students took time to breath and collect themselves, but we used this quiet time to work on the project’s written materials.  We updated our Stop & Search booklet and created a new pamphlet for the Bankruptcy Law Clinic. August brought with it a flurry of activity.  The new school year got off to a busy start  with trainings in Stop and Search, Workers’ Rights, Tenant/Landlord Dispute, and at almost every school, Civil Disobedience.

Occupy Boston has been keeping us busy since it began on September 30th.  It would be a vast understatement to say that several Legal Observer Trainings have taken place this fall. The training whirlwind began at the Guild Office the night before the first march.  The meeting room on the first floor was packed and sweltering as over 30 eager participants were trained by Jeff Feuer, Carl Williams, and Urszula Masny-Latos. Since that night, there have been dozens of trainings for legal observers, from trainings at Harvard Law School, to impromptu trainings at South Station. The two newest Chapters at Roger Williams University and The University of Massachusetts School of Law in Dartmouth both held legal observer trainings in October.  In November, local attorneys, Melinda Drew and Jeff Feuer went to Vermont to train activists there in legal observing and civil disobedience.

There is also an exciting new development in our Street Law Clinic program.  Our office will be assisting the New York office in setting up their Street Law Clinic program.

Sky Swett in the SLC Coordinator and a 3rd year student at UMass Dartmouth School of Law.

The 2011 has been one of the most exciting years for the NLG students.  All the six Boston law schools have had active NLG chapters; students at the new chapters at Western New England University Law School in Springfield (WNEU), Roger Williams School of Law in Briston, RI, and UMass Dartmouth School of Law have continued their involvement and engagement in political activism in their regions.  For example, WNE has been working very closely with No One Leave campaign in Western Massachusetts advocating and fighting against evictions and foreclosures;  all schools have actively supported the Occupy Movement by receiving a training and then serving as legal observers at Occupy Boston rallies and marches.  In addition to the student reports in the November Mass Dissent, in November students at New England organized a panel on Boston Regional Intelligence Center (B.R.I.C.) and how the Center conducts domestic survaillance of local activists; the panelists, Susan Barney, Urszula Masny-Latos of the NLG, and Jeff Thorn of Adkins Kelston & Zavez discussed what’s known about B.R.I.C.’s methods and also updated the audience on the status of a lawsuit the NLG Litigation Committee and the ACLU filed last August challenging the surveilance and its secrecy.

Future plans include a mixer for all law school NLG chapters, panels, and continued participation in the Occupy Movement.

by Judy Somberg and Bonnie Tenneriello

Bonnie Tenneriello (center) introduces speakers at the Occupy Boston “NLG Presents...” Happy Hour. Photo by Barbara Lee

Not everyone drinks, but those attending the bi-monthly speaker series, “NLG Presents…” have found that the bar setting fosters informal and engaged conversation.  Recently transplanted from Kennedy’s Midtown to the Red Hat on Bowdoin Street in Boston, the speaker series alternates months with the NLG Mentorship Happy Hour.  Socializing, exchanging ideas, and building connections are the common agenda.

This past year, speakers have transported us to the frontlines of international struggles and brought us inside Massachusetts political movements.   We had a riveting talk and slide show on the Egyptian uprising from NLG member Carol Gray, who spent 10 months in Cairo studying international human rights law and then bought her camera to the barricades as Hosni Mubarak was toppled.  Ben Evans, Judith Liben, and Judy Somberg, having just returned from a 10-day Guild trip to Cuba, led a lively discussion about the current, complex reality of life in Cuba.   And Puerto Rican rights activist Michael Rodriguez shared the history of Puerto Rican political prisoners in the United States and discussed the campaign to parole the last prisoner, Oscar Lopez Rivera, alongside Puerto Rican civil rights litigator Judith Berkan, who gave an update on events in Puerto Rico.

Occupy Boston presenters (l.-r.) Carl Williams (NLG), Erica Bushell and Kat Johnson of Occupy Boston, and Jeff Feuer of the NLG Mass Defense committee. Photo by Urszula Masny-Latos.

The struggle for economic justice here in Massachusetts was on the table in April, as Andrei Joseph, a high school teacher and Mass Teacher Association leader, and Attorneys Shelley Kroll and Ira Sills of the law firm Segal Roitman, talked about the state of the labor movement and the legal climate for union organizing.  In November, a panel on “Occupy Boston: Legal Support and Legal Frontiers” was held with Erica Bushell and Cat Johnson of the Occupy Boston Legal Working Group and Guild Attorneys Carl Williams and Jeff Feuer.

Teatotalers, tea partiers, members and non-members alike are welcome.  All you need is an active mind.  Keep an eye open for speaker announcements over the coming year and forward them to friends and colleagues.  And please contact us through the Guild office if you want to propose a speaker or a topic.

Judy Somberg (solo practitioner in Cambridge) and Bonnie Tenneriello (Prisoners’ Legal Services) coordinate the “NLG Presents…” program.  Both are on the Board of Directors.

The audience in the packed room at the Red Hat cafe. Photos by Urszula Masny-Latos.

Last year, the Massachusetts Chapter launched a new outreach program, NLG Advisory Committee.  The goal of the committee is to closely connect the Guild with a wide range of community organizations  and effectively share and exchange information about issues important to marginalized communities.

In addition to several volunteering NLG members, the Committee consists of groups representing and fighting for the rights of  immigrants (Brazilian Immigrant Center and Student Immigrant Movement), tenants and victims of foreclosures and evictions (City Life/Vida Urbana),  prisoners (Community Church), workers (Boston Workers’ Alliance), Palestinians (Boycott Divestment & Sanction of Israel), and GLBT (Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition).  Meetings are held at the beginning of each quarter and always produce inspiring conversations and successful cooperation between the groups.

As Lydia Marie Edwards from the Brazilian Immigrant Center says:  “The Advisory committee’s importance goes without saying.  The committee provides a chance unlike any other coalition or campaign to connect organizations that otherwise would not be talking or working together.  Other campaigns or coalitions have running themes and in many cases similar missions or membership, but the NLG Advisory Committee, instead of repeating the coalitions work, actually chooses representatives from other social justice movements and has them sit together at one table. This table provides vital legal resources to organizations while at the same time allows organizations to discuss and compare organizing campaigns and techniques.  In many cases, it is through the coming together that organizations learn about ways to support one another, even if just through translation and spreading the word.”

Nothing else needs to be added.

Just released, here is a copy of Judge McIntyre’s decision on the Occupy Boston case that was heard in Suffolk Superior Court yesterday, November 16, 2011.

Click here to download the decision in PDF.

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If you would like to view the materials used for the Temporary Restraining Order that was granted, click here.