NLG Convention 2008

The NLG 2008 Conference is right around the corner, starting 10/15 and ending 10/19. If you are interested in attending, visit nlg.org to reserve a place (and to receive a better rate, first become a member). If you'll need housing in Detroit, let post on the GoogleGroup as soon as possible, as housing is limited and there are deadlines. There are some terrific workshops and there are a number of excellent major panels this year, featuring many amazing speakers.

Labor Renewal: Fighting for the Future of Work
The panel will examine developing strategies within the labor movement that are generating opportunities for labor renewal, explore initiatives within AFL-CIO and Change To Win unions and discuss opportunities for building broader worker solidarity in the United States in the face of ongoing national and global attacks against organized labor. Invited speakers include Bill Fletcher, Cindy Estrada, and Sandy Pope.

Alternatives to Prison Proliferation
The development of the prison-industrial complex and the racism, classism, and other problems associated with it have been a major issue for the National Lawyers Guild and other progressive organizations. What are the alternatives to putting people in prison? This panel will feature three speakers on the following subjects: drug courts as an alternative, harm reduction, and strategies to shift spending to public services.

Legal and Political Strategies to Support the Liberation of Palestine
The nature of support for Palestine, and the movement to condemn Zionism as a form of racism, has been at the center of many NLG discussions. This panel seeks to build on that work, particularly in light of the 60 year anniversary of the Nakba, and propose concrete legal strategies for dismantling the Zionist occupation and ending the genocide. In addition, many NLG members are looking for concrete ways to support Palestine solidarity work. This panel helps provide strategies, such as legal support for a comprehensive boycott of Israel, expelling Israel from the United Nations and other measures in the international arena, litigating against Israel and Israeli officials for genocide, use of Israel’s human rights violations to aid asylum seekers in the U.S., addressing movement building in the U.S., dealing with internalized Zionism and prioritizing the voices of Palestinians, litigation in Israel’s courts by Palestinian organizations.

Transgender Constituency Panel
This panel will focus on the different legal and non-legal tactics that are being used around the country to help ensure that all people are able to have their legal documents reflect their gender identity. Depending on what state a person resides in or is born in, this can be accomplished through a court order, a legal change on a birth certificate or other measures. Most of these measures require some form of a surgical standard to allow for a legal change in gender. Lawyers, legal workers and organizers have been working in different ways to try and change standards that often create barriers for people to legally change their gender. From campaigns to change surgical standards required for gender changes on birth certificate to court room battles to obtain court orders changing a person’s gender, different strategies are being utilized all over the country to accomplish common goals. This panel will explore the successes and setbacks that have occurred as well as the pros and cons of the different tactics that lawyers, organizers and legal workers have used when assisting people and working to change policies around the legalization of gender.

Displacement and Occupation of Our Inner Cities: Understanding Post-Fascist Amerikkka
People living in inner-cities areas are being squeezed out. With “white flight” in reverse, poor people and people of color are forced out of desirable downtown city-areas. This panel will explore the ways that city and county governments are working with private developers, business interests, and the police to achieve these ends. The panel will also explore the legal tools attorneys and activists are using to combat these forces.

Hearing from the Arab, Muslim and Middle Eastern Communities of Metro Detroit
Metro Detroit has the largest Arab, Muslim and Middle Eastern population in the U.S. The 2008 NLG convention in Detroit provides a unique opportunity for Guild members to learn about the issues of concern to these communities and how we can support activists working to address those problems. Since 9/11 Middle Easterners have been heavily targeted by law enforcement agencies at all levels. These largely ineffective efforts have had devastating effects on these communities including secret detentions, disrupted families, frustration of religious obligations (e.g. annual contribution to Islamic charity) and weakening of social bonds. Speakers include activist lawyer Nabih Ayad, ADC National Board Member and the MI Advisory Board Chairman, Shahid Buttar of Muslim Advocates and the Pakistan Justice Coalition and others.

Eve Ensler, the American playwright, performer, feminist and activist best known for 'The Vagina Monologues', wrote the following about Sarah Palin

Drill, Drill, Drill
I am having Sarah Palin nightmares. I dreamt last night that she was a member of a club where they rode snowmobiles and wore the claws of drowned and starved polar bears around their necks. I have a particular thing for Polar Bears. Maybe it's their snowy whiteness or their bigness or the fact that they live in the arctic or that I have never seen one in person or touched one. Maybe it is the fact that they live so comfortably on ice. Whatever it is, I need the polar bears.

I don't like raging at women. I am a Feminist and have spent my life trying to build community, help empower women and stop violence against them. It is hard to write about Sarah Palin. This is why the Sarah Palin choice was all the more insidious and cynical. The people who made this choice count on the goodness and solidarity of Feminists.

But everything Sarah Palin believes in and practices is antithetical to Feminism which for me is part of one story -- connected to saving the earth, ending racism, empowering women, giving young girls options, opening our minds, deepening tolerance, and ending violence and war.

I believe that the McCain/Palin ticket is one of the most dangerous choices of my lifetime, and should this country chose those candidates the fall-out may be so great, the destruction so vast in so many areas that America may never recover. But what is equally disturbing is the impact that duo would have on the rest of the world. Unfortunately, this is not a joke. In my lifetime I have seen the clownish, the inept, the bizarre be elected to the presidency with regularity.

Sarah Palin does not believe in evolution. I take this as a metaphor. In her world and the world of Fundamentalists nothing changes or gets better or evolves. She does not believe in global warming. The melting of the arctic, the storms that are destroying our cities, the pollution and rise of cancers, are all part of God's plan. She is fighting to take the polar bears off the endangered species list. The earth, in Palin's view, is here to be taken and plundered. The wolves and the bears are here to be shot and plundered. The oil is here to be taken and plundered. Iraq is here to be taken and plundered. As she said herself of the Iraqi war, 'It was a task from God.'

Sarah Palin does not believe in abortion. She does not believe women who are raped and incested and ripped open against their will should have a right to determine whether they have their rapist's baby or not.

She obviously does not believe in sex education or birth control. I imagine her daughter was practicing abstinence and we know how many babies that makes.

Sarah Palin does not much believe in thinking. From what I gather she has tried to ban books from the library, has a tendency to dispense with people who think independently. She cannot tolerate an environment of ambiguity and difference. This is a woman who could and might very well be the next president of the United States. She would govern one of the most diverse populations on the earth.

Sarah believes in guns. She has her own custom Austrian hunting rifle. She has been known to kill 40 caribou at a clip. She has shot hundreds of wolves from the air.

Sarah believes in God. That is of course her right, her private right. But when God and Guns come together in the public sector, when war is declared in God's name, when the rights of women are denied in his name, that is the end of separation of church and state and the undoing of everything America has ever tried to be.

I write to my sisters. I write because I believe we hold this election in our hands. This vote is a vote that will determine the future not just of the U.S., but of the planet. It will determine whether we create policies to save the earth or make it forever uninhabitable for humans. It will determine whether we move towards dialogue and diplomacy in the world or whether we escalate violence through invasion, undermining and attack. It will determine whether we go for oil, strip mining, coal burning or invest our money in alternatives that will free us from dependency and destruction. It will determine if money gets spent on education and healthcare or whether we build more and more methods of killing. It will determine whether America is a free open tolerant society or a closed place of fear, fundamentalism and aggression.

If the Polar Bears don't move you to go and do everything in your power to get Obama elected then consider the chant that filled the hall after Palin spoke at the RNC, 'Drill Drill Drill.' I think of teeth when I think of drills. I think of rape. I think of destruction. I think of domination. I think of military exercises that force mindless repetition, emptying the brain of analysis, doubt, ambiguity or dissent. I think of pain.

Do we want a future of drilling? More holes in the ozone, in the floor of the sea, more holes in our thinking, in the trust between nations and peoples, more holes in the fabric of this precious thing we call life?

Eve Ensler
September 5, 2008

Resolution to the Resolution

The referendum is in. You can find the results to the right of the screen.

The votes indicate that location was not the deciding factor in students attending UB, but students would have preferred a city location to an Amherst one, and would have much preferred a BNMC location over other city locations. So according to students, they would have been roughly equally likely to attend UB regardless of location, but surmise that they would have had more benefit and enjoyment from their law school experience at a Downtown location.

Law school need not be a cold, institutional experience. It can and should be a vibrant and independent experience providing both academic and practical knowledge, and can and should interrelate with the larger legal community which would, in theory, benefit the school and community alike. The response from the student body was a resounding approval of these ideals.

Saturday. Keep it open.

Keep a clean slate this Saturday afternoon & evening, as a Buffalo mainstay & an up-and-coming event take precedent. The Whiskerino Pageant & the Progressive Pub Crawl are on the docket.

Next Saturday, April 19th, is the First Annual Mustache Pageant. Growers will be competing for "Mustache King" along with other prizes. Some of our region-renowned Roller Girls will be present to judge, and ultimately shave the mustaches. Hair will be auctioned off to the highest bidder. It takes place at Gordon's Pub (Delaware Ave--just south of Hertel). A $10 minimum donation is requested, with all proceeds going to Compass House. Please stop by if you can. The judging and pageant will take place around 7. Doors will open around 4. Keep in mind that a certain fellow Guildmember will be sporting a mustache he has dubbed "Thin Lizzy," which puts Adam Morrison (and only Adam Morrison) to shame.

& don't think that the party ends here! Ohhh, not by a long shot, Kemosabe. Wear comfortable shoes, 'cause it's gonna be a marathon.

The Progressive Pub Crawl continues its trek across Allentown. Some give it the moniker "Pub Stall" for its lack of mobility. But, when you look at the big picture, it has slowly crawled across the neighborhood lo these many months, one bar at a time. Check back for its as yet to be determined location. Good times, good drinks, good conversation, and a guarantee that Kirk will sing a sea shanty.

Law School Relocation Resolution Forum & Referendum

To date, no group of law students and/or faculty have had any involvement in the UB2020 process. Last week, the Student Bar Association passed a resolution expressing support for student involvement in the planning process. SBA members were reluctant to support resolutions supporting a move of the law school to within the city limits or to Downtown, at least until the student body has a chance to voice their opinion. There will be an opportunity to voice opinions on April 10th at 4 Pm in O'Brian 106, at a forum designed to hash out the issues related to the move. A referendum will be held April 16th & 17th (during SBA Executive Board elections) to determine that opinion. Current law students should most certainly vote on the E-Board elections, in addition to voting on the Law School Relocation Referendum.
The three apparent possible destinations would be Downtown (BNMC, CBD, etc.), South Campus (as part of a shift of UB's graduate programs to that campus), or to North Campus' Center for Tomorrow parking lot. It seems likely that O'Brian Hall is out, and will become home to undergraduate studies.
North Campus is the least accessible and least physically attractive option. As part of further development on North, it would simply be a part of an expanded campus which already has the appearance of a '60s Eastern Bloc factory complex. The only benefits North provides over South and Downtown relate to a discomfort some have with an urban setting. This would include safety, a lack of access to mall shopping and chain dining, a lack of bedroom communities etc. While this may disquiet some, most law students bemoan the fact that North Campus is so divided from the Metro community.
A move to South Campus, along with a move of the majority of graduate studies at UB, would also be a positive step. The law school would retain its ability to crosslist classes & continue to facilate dual degree programs. South Campus is objectively more attractive than North, is on the trainline, is home to a more mature group of students (save the residence halls), and is incorporated into an actual neighborhood, instead of being segregated by an arterial road. There is ample space on South to build upon, including space for on-campus apartments & townhouses dedicated to graduate students. Also, contrary to popular belief, there are some habitable houses in the Heights not adjacent to pseudo-frat houses, and armed robbery is not a daily occurrence.
A Downtown location would offer a more practical approach to the law, with proximity to courts, law offices and financial institutions, as well as volunteer & non-traditional progressive opportunities. It would create a tighter bond between the law school and the greater community. It would be more attractive to prospective students. By placing the school in a highway, busline, and rail accessible central location, it would decrease travel time & have less of a net negative effect on the environment. In addition, there are the benefits that would be seen by the city, compared to the benefits now gained by an already overdeveloped Amherst. The calls against such a move center on less connection with the greater university, the possibility of a more practical & less academic approach to legal education, and a perceived lack of housing, parking, and safety. The first point may well be true, the second would remain to be seen, and as for the third, well, Bob Shibley is a smart man & I'm sure he could put something together.
Again, there will be an opportunity to voice opinions on April 10th at 4 Pm in O'Brian 106, at a forum designed to hash out the issues related to the move, and the referendum will be held April 16th & 17th. Please attend the forum if you can and vote on the referendum. Be heard. Also, feel free to comment to this post.

Steve Marshall, UB JD Candidate '09

Legal Obervation Training

Legal Observation Training with Charlie Cobb on April 26th at 281 Grant St.

This Legal Observation training is designed to teach law students, lawyers and other interested individuals how to observe people expressing political views in a way that protects and ensures their constitutional rights. The Guild is known for its visible presence of legal observers at large marches and protests (Guild Legal Observers often wear a neon green hat). Charlie Cobb, former director of the WNY Peace Center, graduate of UB and current attorney at Cantor, Lukasik, Dolce and Panepinto, will lead this 2 hour training at the Massachusetts Ave. Project at 281 Grant St. Food and drink will be provided.

Mr. Cobb will cover legal observation at mass protests -- such as those that will take place at the Republican National Convention this summer-- and observation at smaller, more local events. If you are interested in attending, please RSVP to ublg@gmail.com.

Join the National Lawyers Guild

For 15 bucks, students can become a part of a national network of progressive public interest lawyers, law students and legal workers. Your membership gets you several great newsletters, email updates (if you wish), a very handy directory of all NLG members, and membership in the Buffalo city chapter

There is a sliding scale membership fees for attorneys and non-students. If you are an attorney, your fee gets you listed in the directory. Join online at www.nlg.org.

Meet & Greet a Hit!

It's true. The Meet & Greet was no one hit wonder. This year's event was bigger & better than the last's, as hard as that may be to believe. Turnout from lawyers, political figures, community members, and law students was simply tremendous. An anonymous bemulleted gentleman circulated through the room, adding an air of mystery that truly capped the evening. Plans for the 3rd annual Meet & Greet are already in the works, but as our defining event of the year, it demands a bigger space, more food, more drink, more mullets etc. We've set the bar high, but a new era for the Guild demands a new look for the Meet & Greet.

2d Annual Meet & Greet!

The UB Lawyers Guild is pleased to offer our second annual "Meet and Greet."

Please join us again for complimentary beer, wine and food, and for an opportunity to meet some of the area's most progressive community members.

Last year's event was a huge success, with over 100 students, attorneys, elected officials, legal workers and non-profit leaders in attendance.

The goals of the event are to connect students to non-profit organizations and political campaigns, foster a progressive legal community in Buffalo, and to build the National Lawyers Guild Buffalo Student & City Chapters.

[The SBA reminds law students to drink responsibly. The Lawyers Guild reminds law students to love like you've never been hurt & to dance like no one is watching.]