Guild contact email

Hey All,

The general contact info for the blog (and the Guild) is ublginfo@gmail.com (not ublg@gmail.com). A city chapter member tried contacting the campus chapter, to no avail. Can someone who knows how to change it change it?

Thanks, and hope to see y'all at the Scorpio Ball (10:30 p.m. Saturday Nov.7th 700 Main St.).

Anna

WEBSITE

Party People!

Hit up http://www.ublawyersguild.org/

It ain't pretty yet, but it gets the job done. Register for the Forum if you dare.

Happy Halloween weekend!

Funny Money

Who says progressivity (is that a word, by the way?) and business don't mix?  Ithaca, N.Y. certainly doesn't.  In fact, quite the opposite; they've gone and created their own money!  Well, more accurately, they've had their own money for almost twenty years.

Ithaca HOURS, as they're called, are worth $10 per HOUR, which is roughly the living wage in Tompkins County.  The system is premised on the assumption that anybody's time is just as valuable as anybody else's, but there's nothing to prevent professionals from charging several HOURS per hour of work.  (In fact, several Ithacan lawyers accept HOURS for their services!)

Paul Glover, the system's founder, explained that the idea for the currency came about because "we watched Federal dollars come to town, shake a few hands, then leave to buy rainforest lumber and fight wars."  (Quoted from here.)

Today, over 1200 individuals and businesses in the city accept HOURS.  I've personally paid for movie tickets and groceries with them when I was an undergraduate at Ithaca College, and there are a multitude of other things they're good for as well.  The HOURS system has significantly benefited local businesses and has really promoted a sense of community in the city.

This is a great example of what can happen when people decide to really work together for the benefit of their community, and there's absolutely no reason why a similar system couldn't work in Buffalo!  Maybe we could call our local currency "Bills".

Blogged with the Flock Browser

An update to the G20 post

After the sanctioned march that took place earlier in the day, the police force became increasingly violent towards onlookers who were primarily Pitt college students (as opposed to individuals who were present to protest). The G20 had already ended and there was not any apparent violence taking place on the Pitt campus. http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09270/1001203-482.stm This news story gives a very good description of the situation took place. I encourage you to check it out, as Legal Observers aren't really supposed to act as or communicate with members of the media. I will simply say that this article is accurate from what I experienced that night.

G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh

The G-20 summit in Pittsburgh, PA took place between September 24 and 25, 2009. President Barack Obama chaired the event, hosting leaders from 18 various countries throughout the world as well as the European Union. They discussed topics concerning the current global economic crisis, along with the newly discovered fact that Iran has secretly been building a nuclear facility. The nations concluded that Iran’s facility needs to be inspected immediately in order to maintain the nuclear peace plan that has been in effect between the nations.

While this conference was taking place, there were masses of protesters who spoke out against injustices currently going on throughout the world and the changes that they believe need to take place. The protesters discussed a variety of issues including environmental injustice, killings taking place in China, the unfair medical situation for the poor, and the abuse of Corporate America on the rest of the American citizens. There was a large military and police presence throughout the city of Pittsburgh to control the protesters and make sure that they were not doing anything illegal. In controlling the crowds, however, some of the actions taken by the police and military personnel can be considered unsanctioned. That is why the Legal Observers are present at these protests. The Legal Observer’s job is to uphold the protesters’ First Amendment Right to freedom of speech, and to make sure that the police and military do not infringe upon this right to free speech. By seeing the Legal Observers taking detailed notes at all of the events involving the police, as well as taking multiple pictures of them, the police are deterred from using force and violence to silence the protesters.

A group of Legal Observers from the Buffalo Lawyer’s Guild Chapter went to Pittsburgh, PA on September 25, 2009 and marched with the protesters in one of the largest protests since the Vietnam War. There were about three thousand protesters in the march, with an additional one thousand police and military personnel present throughout the city. Many of the police officers had been called in from various states, including Chicago and Arizona. About half of the police and military personnel purposefully hid their badge and identification numbers under their uniforms. This was likely so that they couldn’t be as easily identified if they were to infringe upon some of the protester’s rights by arresting them for stating their views. The police tried to appear intimidating by getting in the prepared position to fire their guns and lifting their tear gas canisters in preparation to fire on the crowd. Several of the policemen, who had police dogs for the purpose of crowd control, had their dogs un-muzzled. This is normally not done until the police are ready to release the dogs upon the crowd for being violent. On several of the streets there was already crime scene tape up as if the police were expecting a violent showdown to occur between them and the protesters in these locations. Besides minor incidents of the police shoving some of the protesters off of the sidewalk to keep them in the street, however, there were no arrests or police reactions to the crowd by firing tear gas or rubber bullets while we were marching with the group. They did have large busses ready to make mass arrests at some of the intersections, but none of them were used while we were present at the protest. It was definitely an interesting and rewarding experience, and many of the protesters came up to the Legal Observers and thanked us for protecting their rights.

Strike for Justice!!!

Who: The Coalition for Economic Justice and you!
What: Strike for Justice!
Why: To raise money for CEJ
Where: Kenmore Lanes
When: August 8, 2009 - 7pm!
How: Sign up alone $15 or with a team of four $50

Spring (actually summer) Cleaning

Happy summer, y'all! You may have noticed a couple small changes to the layout of this blog, most notably that the SBA resolution regarding the relocation of the Law School has disappeared from the front page. Rest assured, no actual content has been lost; I simply turned it into a normal blog post. In fact, it should appear directly below this one. Eventually it will migrate into the archives, but it will remain available for your reading pleasure.

In other news, the Guild's online home will most likely be getting an upgrade at the beginning of the 2009-10 school year. Exactly what features it has will depend on whether we can get off-campus hosting, but I don't anticipate that being a problem. Among the cooler planned features will be a discussion board, on which both law students and members of the Buffalo (and indeed, the world) community can discuss the law, society, culture, and whatever else suits your fancy. Look for a link here when it's up and running!

All that being said, if you're still reading this, get off the computer and go outside! You'll have plenty of time to sit and read our blog when you're snowed in during the winter!

Peace and Justice,
Paul "PFG" Fusco-Gessick '11

SBA Law School Location Resolution

WHEREAS the UB 2020 plan requires a massive expansion of the University at Buffalo, necessitating a relocation of various schools and departments within the university.

WHEREAS the students of the University at Buffalo Law School desire active participation in decisions made about the future location of the law school, as well as other student amenities such as housing, transportation, and safety.

WHEREAS creating a modern and well-sited campus will attract a wider range of students and new faculty to the University at Buffalo Law School, thereby raising the profile of the school and impacting how the school is ranked among other law schools.

WHEREAS affordable housing, safety, and access to goods and services play a prominent role in the quality of life for law students.

WHEREAS connection with the larger community enhances the educational experience for students through clinical opportunities, internships, externships, community services, as well as other networking opportunities.

WHEREAS the university and the community in which it is situated have a reciprocal relationship, each benefiting from and drawing upon the resources of the other.

WHEREAS the University at Buffalo has committed to achieving "climate neutrality." The law school recognizes that a large proportion of carbon emissions are the result of students commuting to the North Campus and supports endeavors for greener transportation as well as denser land uses requiring less travel.

WHEREAS the UB 2020 "one university, three campuses" plan necessitates connecting the North, South, and Downtown campus with an adequate transportation network. A negotiated agreement with the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority to make transportation easy and affordable will maintain and facilitate interdisciplinary work and dual degree programs.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE STUDENT BAR ASSOCIATION OF THE UNIVERSITY AT BUFFALO LAW SCHOOL to support student involvement in determining the future location of the law school.

Build American/Buy American Rally

Date: Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Time: 3:00pm - 5:00pm
Location: DELPHI FACILITY IN LOCKPORT, 200 Upper Mountain Road
City/Town: Lockport, NY

Big Ups!

Congratulations to UBLG'er Sean Mulligan '11, who was awarded a Thomas and Barbara Wolfe Human Rights Fellowship for this summer. Sean will be working with the International Food Policy Institute in DC and Uganda.

The Guild expects lots of pictures and interesting stories when he returns in the fall. Best of luck, Sean!

You can be active with the activists, or sleep-in with the sleepers...

This weekend the Guild had an overnight retreat in Lewiston, NY.

It was a pretty good time. We planned for next year, played games, and ate lots of snacks that Max generously brought for us.

If you haven't heard the Billy Bragg song quoted in the title of this post, you really should.

Event Tonight

Tonight at 6pm in Room 106 of O'Brian Hall, the
Buffalo Human Rights Center and the UB Lawyers Guild are sponsoring
an event titled, Does Slavery Still Exist? Human Trafficking in
Western NY.

Human trafficking, especially on the agricultural side
is one of America's largest problems, but is barely discussed in
the media. We will be discussing the history of human trafficking
in the US, current issues of human trafficking, and how human
trafficking affects Western NY, particularly in the agriculutral
arena. The event will feature speakers from Farmworker Legal
Services and International Institute's Human Trafficking
Department. We will also be showing a film at the beginning of the
event to introduce the audience to human trafficking. Food will be
provided, we hope to see you there!

Fair Share Tax Reform

NY State is in a financial crisis. The money has to come from somewhere - either the middle class and poor or the wealthy. We've already seen the state raise revenue for the general fund by seizing the SUNY tuition increase money - money that students with little or no income have borrowed and will be paying back for decades. UB Law students each made an $841.50 contribution to NY this semester alone.

Households making $20,000 per year and households making $1million per year are paying taxes at the same rate. $20,000 per year in the equivalent of a $9.61/hr - that's not a living wage in Buffalo (let alone downstate) even if your employer is providing health insurance. We basically have a flat income tax in NY, which is outrageously regressive. This has happened piecemeal over the last 40 years as the wealthy have seen their tax rates cut again and again.

That is why we need Fair Share Tax Reform. There is a rally Thursday, March 5.

Time: 4-5:30
Location: True Bethel Baptist Church (Buffalo, NY)
907 East Ferry Street
Buffalo, NY 14211

Join union members, community groups, non-profit organizations and more to speak out against the dangerous budget proposals now being considered in Albany.
For more info, call 716-855-1522 ext.1, or 716-748-5363