There are still a few days left for you to donate to the NLG-NYC as a tax-deductible gift! Your contributions have made it possible for us to continue the work of defending protest and the right to dissent, providing critically needed legal support to social movements and the capacity to keep up with the increasing demands of the people for our support.
You’ve seen our green hats at protests and our phone number written on the hands and arms of protesters. Our Mass Defense Committee has been on the ground as legal observers for Occupy Wall Street (OWS) protests, monitoring police activity for misconduct, and recruiting lawyers to represent the hundreds of people arrested while exercising their First Amendment rights to speech, expression, and assembly. We have worked side-by-side with OWS activists and have responded with immediacy to the pressing legal issues, from the confiscation of generators by the Fire Department to Bloomberg’s military-style “eviction” to middle-of-the-night arraignments for arrested protesters. We’ve mobilized and provided training to hundreds of lawyers, legal workers, and law students to take on these challenges. Many people rely on us to have their backs in court when they step onto the streets in protest, angry with a system that holds property interests above human rights. Your donation makes it possible to do the important work.
Gifts of $100 and above are tax-deductible. Make checks payable to “National Lawyers Guild Foundation” and be sure to include “NYC Chapter” in the memo line to ensure your donation is directed to the NLG-NYC. Please send all checks to:
National Lawyers Guild – New York City Chapter
113 University Place, 8th Floor
New York, NY 10003
We are not currently able to process online, tax-deductible payments. However, donors who can make a donation without a tax-deduction, can donate online here: http://nlgnyc.org/contribute
We know, based upon our work with the 2004 Republican National Convention protests, a long-term commitment is needed and our Mass Defense Committee is organizing a campaign to deal with the many legal issues that continue to arise around OWS and beyond. At present, our efforts include:
- coordinating legal representation for more than 1,500 people arrested at OWS-related protests;
- expanding our hotline for people who have been arrested at protests, fielding calls at all hours of the day, and securing a larger office space to accommodate all of our volunteers.
Of course, our Chapter continues to be involved in many important efforts, including:
- Our Muslim Defense Committee provides legal observers, an emergency legal hotline, and know-your-rights trainings to Muslim, Arab and South Asian communities targeted by the government in New York and beyond;
- The Street Law Committee provides trainings on NYPD’s “Stop And Frisk” policies targeting people of color, especially youth; and,
- We continue the existing work needed to address issues of fundamental fairness in housing, immigration, the environment, labor and employment, G.I. rights, and international human rights.
Your donation will help us to do all of this and more. Thank you so much, and here’s to a New Year full of love and resistance.
Thank you,
National Lawyers Guild – NYC Chapter Executive Committee
Themocracy