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Call for Legal Observers
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CALL FOR LEGAL OBSERVERS
NOVEMBER 17-21, 2003 IN MIAMI, FL
A broad range of groups and individuals will gather in Miami, Florida in
mid-November to oppose the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) and
to express solidarity with people around the world struggling against
the abuse of power of global corporations at the expense of human rights
and democracy. The National Lawyers Guild (NLG) will support these
progressive efforts.
The NLG is a national group of lawyers, law students, legal workers and
jailhouse lawyers committed to the struggle for social justice since
1937. The NLG’s Legal Observer program is part of a system of legal
support designed to enable people to express their political views as
fully as possible, without unconstitutional disruption or interference
by the government and with the least possible consequences from the criminal justice system.
(The Legal Observers are also knownas “the people with the green hats"
at demonstrations.) Legal Observers observe and document the
activities of law enforcement in relation to the demonstrators.
For some time, NLG members have identified the growing frequency and
severity of unconstitutional efforts to silence political dissent. In
recent years, federal, state and local law enforcement associations, in
cooperation with government representatives, have ignited a war on the
right to assemble and free speech. Mass police presence and
unconstitutional tactics against mobilizations of activists in support
of human rights and against corporate globalization in Seattle,
Washington,D.C., San Francisco, Portland and other cities are among the
most visible of these violations around the country.
The (so-called) USA Patriot Act and other institutionalizations of the
government's treatment of political dissent as criminal has increased
the need for the NLG to offer legal support that includes a strong,
professionalized Legal Observer Program that demonstrators can rely on.
The NLG will also be providing Know Your Rights materials specific to
the protests against the FTAA in Miami, as well as materials designed
for use by Legal Observers. The NLG's Legal Observer Handbook is
available to download from our website at: www.nlg.org We will be
offering Legal Observer training programs and a briefing will be held just before the demonstrations begin so people from out of town may attend and participate.
The NLG has tightened up our Legal Observer Program, including the use of a more detailed application
form and requiring a confidentiality agreement with a declaration that
Legal Observers are not working on behalf of law enforcement. We will
also be credentialing Legal Observers with event-specific,
individualized badges and hats so demonstrators will be able to identify
who has been trained and has agreed to treat their information
appropriately.
These changes are designed to ensure that activists can trust and rely
upon NLG Legal Observers and to allow the NLG to continue to provide
effective legal assistance in protecting people’s right to protest.
With the heightened and documented disruption and infiltration occurring
in the movement, it is important for the NLG to take steps to ensure
that a Legal Observer badge means that you are prepared to
professionally and conscientiously carry out certain responsibilities
that we have to activists. To those with that level of commitment, we
welcome and thank you. We have a lot of work ahead of us.
For information on how to apply to be a legal observer, click here.
This call is available as a PDF file as well. |
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