NLG-MN chapter is proud to endorse two speaking engagements by Palestinian human rights activist Ala Jaradat on November 11th.  Please see the announcements below for particulars. 

A Report on the Conditions of Palestinian Political Prisoners, featuring human rights activist Ala Jaradat from Addameer

Wednesday, November 11th

12:00pm-2:00pm

Annette K. Levin Moot Court Room,

Hamline University School of Law

1536 Hewitt Avenue, Saint Paul, Minnesota, 55104

(campus map: http://www.hamline.edu/visitors/PDF/campus_map.pdf)

Open to the Public

Sponsored by the National Lawyers Guild-Hamline Student Chapter and the Hamline Chapter of the International Law Students Association

Israel’s Palestinian Prisoners - America’s Other Guantanamo

 Wednesday, Nov. 11th @ 7PM Blegen Hall Rm 150, West Bank, U of M

(for a map go to http://www1.umn.edu/twincities/maps/BlegH/BlegH-map.html)

A Report on the Conditions of Palestinian Political Prisoners featuring human rights activist Ala Jaradat from Addameer – Prisoners’ Support and Human Rights Association

The $3 billion dollars of annual U.S. aid to Israel helps fund Israeli prisons and detention centers where 8,100 Palestinian prisoners — including 60 women, 390 children, and 550 administrative detainees held without charge — are imprisoned in substandard conditions and subject to torture.

Human rights activist Ala Jaradat, the program manager of Addameer, the Palestinian prisoners rights organization in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah, and a former Palestinian political prisoner, will be sharing his experiences campaigning against political prosecution, for the rights of political detainees, actively working against the use of torture, arbitrary detention, the use of isolation, and other forms of political repression. Co-Sponsored by the Anti-War Committee and WAMM.  Endorsed by Al-Aqsa Institute and National Lawyers Guild Minnesota Chapter.

On Saturday October 10, Micah Ludecke, Hamline law school student member announced the launch of the NLG-MN chapter Mentorship program.  The program will pair interested law students and new attorneys with experienced attorneys and legal workers in order to support and foster the practice of progressive lawyering.  Please see the call to mentorship below. 

Hello, future mentor!

Attached are the cover letter and application form to apply to be a mentor.

Remember: all practicing and non-practicing attorneys and legal workers of Minnesota's progressive law community are eligible to be mentors: mentors do not need to be currently active NLG members.

PLEASE help give the brand new NLG MN Mentorship Program a strong start by sending in your mentor application as soon as possible, and by encouraging your friends and colleagues to volunteer, as well. The wider the range of mentors, the better the matches will be.
Remember: volunteering as a mentor is a GREAT way to share your knowledge and experience, as well as an opportunity to find volunteers and interns! Best of all, the time commitment is up to you!

The application deadline for 2009 is 10pm on October 23rd.

Many thanks in advance!

Abigail Cerra & Micah Ludeke
National Lawyers Guild MN
Mentorship Program

On October 10 2009, the NLG-MN chapter annual meeting will be held at William Mitchell College of Law 875 Summit Ave. Saint Paul, in the Kelly Board room from 10 am until noon.  The membership will consider proposed by-laws changes to reflect the more consensus based decisionmaking process that the organization uses.  All interested are welcome.  Membership is open to lawyers, legal workers and law students.  Members who are current on their dues will be eligible to vote. Membership forms will be available at the meeting.

Please see attached for proposed bylaw changes.

Hope to see you there.  Coffee and breakfast treats will be served.

NLG-MN Chapter is proud to announce the National Lawyers Guild Midwest Regional Conference hosted by the Hamline Law School Chapter.  The conference runs April 17-19 and will feature long-time people's lawyer/NLG-MN chapter member Ken Tilsen as keynote speaker.  Other NLG-MN members presenting workshops include past chapter president Peter Brown, Jordan Kushner, Michael Friedman, Abigail Cerra, CUAPB's Michelle Gross, current v.p. Rachel Bengston, treasurer Carla J. Magnuson and Coldsnap Legal Collective.

See this link for registration and ffi http://law.hamline.edu/nlgmidwestconference.html

April 18th 2009, 6pm to 10pm

William Mitchell College of Law

Ajamu Baraka, Director of US Human Rights Network, Keynote Speaker

Ajama Baraka, a veteran grassroots organizer for a variety of social justice issues, currently serves as Exec. Director of the US Human Rights Network, a network of over 250 human rights and social justice organizations committed to ending U.S. global impunity and "exceptionalism." Ajamu's  human rights work spans more than three decades with a number of national and international organizations including Amnesty International USA. Ajamu has taught political science at several universities, including Clark Atlanta University and Spelman College. In 1998, Ajamu was honored by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan as one of the 300 human rights defenders from around the world.

Honoring:

ACORN, Social Justice Award

Karen Northcott, Paul Marino Peoples' Lawyering Award

Reservations:  612-436-3664

or e-mail sjdtickets@nlgminnesota.org

Tickets $50, student/low income $15, table of 8 $350

* Criminal Defense Investigator Karen Northcott, CCDI was president of our chapter nearly 20 years ago.

A Ramsey County jury today acquitted two defendants on seven counts arising from last year's Republican National Convention in St. Paul. After a four day trial, the jury of six people found Ilana M. Radovsky not guilty of two counts of Unlawful Assembly, one count of False Name to a Police Officer, and one count of Fleeing a Police Officer on Foot. Gracia Logue-Sargeant was found not guilty of two counts of Unlawful Assembly and one count of Disorderly Conduct. Prior to deliberating, Judge Michael Fetsch, with the consent of the prosecutor, dismissed one count against each defendant of Parading without a Permit in violation of a St. Paul city ordinance. Despite eyewitness testimony from Minneapolis Police Sgt. Jeff Jindra that Ms. Logue-Sargeant was part of a disorderly demonstration and personally pulled a newspaper box into the street, the jury refused to convict Ms. Logue-Sargeant of Disorderly Conduct. "Some of the police testimony was simply not credible and the remaining police testimony did not establish that any crime occurred," said Bruce Nestor, attorney for Logue-Sargeant. "These two young women were simply trying to participate in the democratic process when they were swept up in a mass arrest by a military-style police operation," he said. Ted Dooley of St. Paul, MN, represented Illana Radovsky. Both Dooley and Nestor are attorneys with the Minnesota Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild. This verdict follows on the heels of the acquittal of seven defendants on unlawful assembly charges in a prior Ramsey County trial. Attorneys with the National Lawyers Guild urged St. Paul City Attorney John Choi to dismiss the remaining Unlawful Assembly charges being prosecuted by his office in light of the City's failure to obtain a conviction on any charges to date that have proceeded to trial. In addition, a second RNC related trial involving Sean McCoy is ongoing. Mr. McCoy originally faced four charges.

Let the litigation begin. Eight lawsuits have been filed in U.S. District Court claiming civil rights abuses by police officers during events surrounding the Republican National Convention (RNC) in September. The civil suits accuse officers of physical and sexual abuse, illegal searches and seizure of property, and wrongful detainment.“This is just the beginning,” says Ted Dooley, one of the attorneys handling the cases. “There’s going to be a lot of litigation, and it’s going to take a long time.”>More here.

Jan. 23, 2009 A Ramsey County Judge today threw out all charges in the first RNC related case to proceed to trial. The "Wall Street" seven consisted of seven persons arrested on September 1, 2008, for blocking the intersection of 9th and Wacouta in downtown St. Paul. They were charged with Obstructing Legal Process, Disorderly Conduct, Unlawful Assembly, and Blocking Traffic. All charges were thrown out after the City of St. Paul had presented the prosecution's case and the judge concluded there was insufficient evidence to support a conviction."This was the City of St. Paul's showcase trial -- the first RNC case to go to trial and one in which the City consolidated the trials of all seven defendants. Unfortunately for the City, however, it showcased how police had no basis for the vast majority of arrests made during the RNC," said defense counsel Jordan Kusher, an attorney with the National Lawyers Guild. "The judge in this case decided there wasn't even enough evidence to require the defendants to put on any evidence and allow the case to go to a jury," he said. Kushner and Ken Tilsen, another volunteer attorney from the National Lawyers Guild, represented the seven defendants. By granting the motion for a directed verdict,  Ramsey County Judge Michael Fetsch decided that no reasonable jury could find the defendants guilty even if all the testimony from police was accepted as true. The defendants did not have to present any defense and charges can not be re-filed in the future. To date, over 40% of the arrests reviewed by the City Attorney's office have been dismissed without formal charges even being filed. This was the first case to proceed to trial in a case where the City Attorney claimed there was sufficient evidence for a formal charge.  Although the St.

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Minneapolis. A six-member Hennepin County jury acquitted seven protesters, members of the Anti-War Committee (AWC), today in Hennepin County District Court. The seven defendants were charged with trespass after they refused to leave the corridor outside the National Guard recruitment office in Stadium Village, Minneapolis on March 27, 2008.
The AWC members were protesting the fifth anniversary of the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq. Attorneys from the National Lawyers Guild - Minnesota Chapter, Carla Magnuson, Ted Dooley, Geneva Finn and Gena Berglund represented the defendants, some of whom also represented themselves pro se. Demonstrators asserted a "claim of right" to be on the property based on international law and the First Amendment right to address government officials. Hennepin County Judge Mark Wernick presided over the trial.