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National Lawyers Guild Calls On President Obama to Withdraw Nomination of Sharon Browne to the Legal Services Corporation
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEContact: Paige Cram, Communications Coordinator, communications@nlg.org, 212-679-5100, ext.15
The National Lawyers Guild (NLG) calls on President Obama to withdraw the nomination of Sharon Browne to the board of directors of the Legal Services Corporation (LSC). On December 17, Obama announced his intention to nominate Ms. Brown, a principal attorney and member of the senior management at the conservative Pacific Legal Foundation and a member of the Civil Rights Practice Group of the Federalist Society.
The Legal Services Corporation is the nation’s principal funder of civil legal aid for the poor. Established by Congress in 1974, it operates by providing grants to—and overseeing—independent nonprofit legal aid programs throughout the US. The LSC operates as a private, nonprofit corporation, with a board of directors composed of 11 members appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. By law, the board is bipartisan: no more than six members may be of the same political party.
The Pacific Legal Foundation, in contrast, describes itself as a "public interest legal organization that fights for limited government, property rights, individual rights and a balanced approach to environmental protection." At the PLF, Browne has authored briefs arguing against race-based school district assignment policies. She and the PLF have also been ardent supporters of Prop. 209, the 1996 ballot initiative that ended most affirmative action programs in California.
Not only does the PLF oppose much of what Legal Services stands for, but it has also directly opposed funding for Legal Services agencies. The PLF filed an amicus brief seven years ago in support of litigation challenging the legality of IOLTAs, or Interest on Lawyers Trust Accounts, which are an essential supplementary funding resource for Legal Services agencies around the country.
While this slot on the LSC Board cannot legally go to a Democrat and while the minority members are traditionally selected by the minority party’s congressional leadership, there is no legal bar and ample precedent for naming an independent rather than a member of the opposition party. At the very least, the president is obligated to nominate someone who believes in the importance of ensuring that the poor be afforded the legal services they need. We note, for example, that the recently-deceased former head of the Legal Services Corporation, William McAlpin, was a Republican who fought vigorously to strengthen it.
The National Lawyers Guild calls on President Obama to withdraw Sharon Browne's nomination and either appoint an independent or invite the Senate Minority Leader to offer a candidate who will seek to strengthen the Legal Services Corporation.
The National Lawyers Guild was founded in 1937 and is the oldest and largest public interest/human rights bar organization in the United States. Its headquarters are in New York and it has chapters in every state.
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National Lawyers Guild Releases Policy Paper on How Corporate Interests Influence State Terrorism Legislation
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEContact: Paige Cram, 212-679-5100 ext. 15
New York--The National Lawyers Guild has issued a policy paper showing the influence of model legislation drafted by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a conservative group of state legislators, on state legislation around the country.
Federal legislation passed in 2006, the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA), was largely drafted by ALEC and has drawn a great deal of attention and criticism from animal rights and environmental activists. The Act which purports to protect animal enterprises from so-called “eco-terrorists,” is a vague and unnecessarily broad law that has already been used to restrict First Amendment rights. The Guild’s policy paper, Beyond AETA: How Corporate-Crafted Legislation Brands Activists as Terrorists, explains that AETA is not unique in this respect. Similar bills have been introduced in several state legislatures over the last few years, and most of them stem from the model bill produced by ALEC.
ALEC’s model legislation:
- Suggests adding the phrase “politically motivated” to the definition of an “animal or ecological terrorist organization,” which clearly shows that the bill is designed to suppress speech based on its content.
- Defines illegal activity so broadly that anyone using the Internet or email to plan (or even express support for) an act of “animal or ecological terrorism” can be charged.
- Creates a “terrorist registry” – an online database open to the public which contains names, addresses and photos of everyone convicted of “animal or ecological terrorism.”
NLG Executive Director Heidi Boghosian said: “Although many states considered and outright rejected the ALEC bill soon after its release, there are still signs that parts of the legislation are being incorporated in some states’ laws that equate animal rights activists with domestic terrorism. The Guild remains vigilant in tracking the development of such overly-broad legislation.”
The National Lawyers Guild was founded in 1937 and is the oldest and largest public interest/human rights bar organization in the United States. Its headquarters are in New York and it has chapters in every state.
Read the policy paper at www.nlg.org.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Paige Cram, communications@nlg.org, 212-679-5100, ext. 15
New York--The National Lawyers Guild filed an amicus curiae (“friend of the court”) brief in the Supreme Court on November 27 in the case of Hammer v. John D. Ashcroft, et al., in support of death row inmates’ right to person-to-person meetings with reporters.
The Guild's brief focuses on the fact that the current Bureau of Prison’s (BOP) proscription of in-person communication is inappropriately based on the anticipation that the speech will be offensive to government officials and the public discourse. The BOP’s interest in preserving security within the penal system does not permit it to censor speech absent a legitimate concern to justify the restriction of this fundamental right to free speech and free association.
The general public has a right to hear, through the media, first-hand accounts of current conditions in prison, whether they reveal unsafe and abusive behavior or simply the banal realities of life on death row and what brought them there. In-person communication also affords the wrongly accused a forum to proclaim their innocence. Lack of direct access to the media decreases the chance that claims of innocence will be heard and investigated.
The NLG brief argues that in Hammer v. Ashcroft, the Supreme Court has the opportunity to uphold the fundamental right to free speech and to afford transparency to the penal system’s workings by reversing a recent trend of curtailing inmate’s rights. The brief notes, “This Court’s past decisions granting deference to corrections officials are premised upon a limited judicial role in policymaking. But the wisdom of the Constitution in leaving policy decisions to the more democratically responsive branches is undermined if this Court does not uphold First Amendment principles that ensure an informed public, able to serve as a meaningful check on those branches and the danger of policymaking based on prejudice rather than facts.”
The brief was authored by Professor Zachary Wolfe of the George Washington University and NLG Executive Director Heidi Boghosian.
The National Lawyers Guild was founded in 1937 and is the oldest and largest public interest/human rights bar organization in the United States. Its headquarters are in New York and it has chapters in every state.
View the full text of the amicus brief at www.nlg.org.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Paige Cram, Communications Coordinator, communications@nlg.org, 212-679-5100
Susan Scott, NLG International Committee, 415 669-1745, syscott@prodigy.net
New York—The National Lawyers Guild calls on President Obama and the U.S. Department of State not to recognize the elections in Honduras, which were conducted under the control of an illegitimate coup government.
In the week leading up to Sunday’s elections, several NLG members went to Honduras to document conditions there. Tanya Brannan and Kevin Breslin reported numerous repressive measures taken by military and police under command of the Coup government. “While CNN reports a 70% turnout at the elections, even the official Honduran electoral agency admits a mere 1.7 million Honduran voted yesterday,” said Brannan. “So even by the government’s own admission, some 70% of Hondurans voted not to legitimize the military coup. Can our government do any less?"
Yesterday, member Tanya Brannan stood outside the U.S. Embassy in Honduras in protest of the U.S. government’s apparent support of the election. The demonstration drew substantial attention from the Honduran national police, including their elite riot squad, the Cobras, who came out in force. As one bystander observed, “The U.S. government has brought out their helicopters and Honduran riot police to repress a handful of their own citizens trying to exercise their right to free speech. What are they afraid of?”
The National Lawyers Guild has been monitoring the situation in Honduras since the military removed the duly elected president, Manuel Zelaya, on June 28. A climate of fear, intimidation and the suppression of the most basic rights of free association and speech has resulted in the closure of media outlets that are opposed to the coup. There has been widespread militarization, along with assassination, detention, threats, rape, surveillance and harassment of the leadership and supporters of the coup resistance.
Having analyzed the legal and constitutional issues involved and sending delegations to Honduras, the NLG has verified that the election of November 29, 2009 was not free, fair or transparent, and the United States government should join the international community in refusing to recognize its legitimacy. It should speak out forcefully against the coup, close down all U.S. military operations in Honduras, and block all U.S. aid and trade that benefits the illegal coup and its supporters.
In August, the NLG sent a joint delegation to Honduras with the Association of American Jurists and International Association of Democratic Lawyers to meet with members of the Honduran Supreme Court and other government officials supporting the coup and leaders of the coup resistance and social movements. Their preliminary report, including an analysis of the constitutional issues, is available on the website of the NLG International Committee: http://www.nlginternational.org/com/main.php?cid=1.
The National Lawyers Guild was founded in 1937 and is the oldest and largest public interest/human rights bar organization in the United States. Its headquarters are in New York and it has chapters in every state.
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For Immediate Release
Contact: Paige Cram, 212-679-5100, ext. 15
New York. The National Lawyers Guild issues its continued support of longtime member and former veteran civil rights attorney Lynne Stewart, who was ordered to report to by 5pm to 500 Pearl Street in Manhattan. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit also ordered Judge John G. Koeltl to hold a hearing on December 2 on whether to increase the 28-month sentence he ordered in 2006.
Speaking about the prosecution of Ms. Stewart, National Lawyers Guild President David Gespass said, “We are proud that Lynne has been, is and continues to be a member of the National Lawyers Guild. Her long history of vigorous advocacy on behalf of the most unpopular of clients is an example to all of us and reflects a commitment to justice and due process that is too often only given lip service by the bar.”
Since Lynne Stewart's April 2002 indictment, the National Lawyers Guild has assisted her in launching a broad-based, national education campaign about the impact that her indictment would have on the Sixth Amendment right to an attorney.
NLG Executive Director Heidi Boghosian said, “With the upcoming trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and others, we remain concerned that defense lawyers will shrink from the obligations of vigorous, effective representation. The rule of law requires that everyone, without exception, be provided effective counsel and insuring that will ultimately enhance our liberty and safety.”
The National Lawyers Guild, founded in 1937, is headquartered in New York and has chapters in nearly every state. The Guild has a long history of representing individuals whom the government has deemed a threat to national security. The organization also helped expose illegal FBI and CIA surveillance, infiltration and disruption tactics, leading to enactment of the Freedom of Information Act and other limitations on federal investigative power.
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