In OKC today we held a protest of the FBI raids and harassment. We got a permit from the city to do it on one of the corners where the federal building is, which happens to be diagonally across from the Murrah bombing memorial and museum.

But security guards from the federal building, and the cops they called, forced us, on threat of arrest on federal charges, to go to another corner. We went to the Murrah corner, primarily because street construction in that whole area limited the choices and it had the most room so that we didn’t block other pedestrian traffic. Anyway, in very short order, we were asked by a museum representative to leave that corner, and since technically our permit said the NW corner, and because it’s the Murrah memorial and they have some legitimate grounds for paranoia, we moved to our third and final corner. Our NLG attorney is investigating the feds’ right to prevent us protesting on ‘their’ sidewalk outside the security barricades, so stay tuned.

We had 12 come out on pretty short notice — actually not bad for OKC. But we plan to do another on 10/5 with speakers and hopefully press coverage (though that is very hard to get here).

The attached pictures show one of us, a man holding a “Veteran for Peace” sign (John Walters), being the last hold out on the original corner, as law enforcement gave him the final notice to leave before arresting him. He at that point complied and joined us on corner 3.

stop_fbi_raids

(click image for more photos)

The organizers denounce the attacks on free speech, freedom of association, and the right to dissent that these actions represent. The raids and summonses reflect escalating hostility toward individuals and groups working in solidarity with the Palestinian and Colombian people and are blatantly political attacks on peaceful activists and an abuse of prosecutorial discretion.

The OKC action, one of many across the country in the days following the raids, will take place on Thursday, September 30 from 4:30 – 5:30 pm at the corner of NW 6th St. and Harvey. While no activists or groups in Oklahoma were the subject of the raids, the organizers say that they are concerned such events anywhere serve to intimidate peace organizers and suppress the right to dissent everywhere.

“The National Lawyers Guild is working to provide legal support to activists who are the subjects of these raids,” said James M. Branum of NLG. “We have set up a a national hotline for U.S. activists who get contacted by the FBI. Callers will be referred to NLG defense attorneys in their area.”

A national network to address and counter the harassment has been created and will plan future actions across the country and seek legislative changes to end the practice. Oklahoma activists will be part of that effort.

Info:

Press release from National Lawyers Guild:

http://nlgok.org/2010/09/29/nlg-press-release-on-fbi-raids/

Resources to protect dissent:

http://nlgok.org/protect-dissent/

*New York*–The National Lawyers Guild (NLG) and its Mass Defense Committee provides legal defense and educational resources to activists, including those subjected to the September 24 raids and grand jury subpoenas in Michigan, Minnesota and Illinois. The Guild denounces the attacks on free speech, freedom of association, and the right to dissent that these actions represent. The raids and summonses reflect escalating hostility toward individuals and groups working in solidarity with the Palestinian and Colombian people and are blatantly political attacks on peaceful activists.

National Lawyers Guild lawyers, in their continuing efforts to protect the right to dissent, are coordinating defense of these activists. The NLG offers several resources for activists who are subject to similarly aggressive and politically motivated breaches of their rights.

*NLG Hotline: 888-NLG-ECOL (888-654-3265)*

-A hotline for U.S. activists who have been contacted by the FBI. Callers are matched with NLG defense attorneys in their states who have experience dealing with similar cases.

*Know Your Rights Brochure*: www.nlg.org/resources/know-your-rights

-A two-page brochure that summarizes the rights of citizens when they are contacted or stopped by the police or federal authorities. Available in English, Spanish, Chinese, Arabic, Farsi and Punjabi.

*Operation Backfire:* www.nlg.org/publications/operation-backfire

-A booklet that discusses government attacks on activists and subsequent prosecutions. Available for free download.

The National Lawyers Guild recommends that activists consult and make use of these resources. The Guild advises anyone visited by the FBI to assert your right not to answer any questions, to get the card of the FBI agent and state that you will have an attorney contact the agent on your behalf.

What: Solidarity March in Support of Bradley Manning
When: Thursday, August 12, 8pm
Where: Corner of NE 16th and Lincoln to Oklahoma State Capitol

This Thursday, August 12, Oklahomans will show support for and solidarity with Pfc. Bradley Manning, accused of leaking documents about the Afghanistan War, with a march at dusk near the state capitol. The Army intelligence analyst, originally from Cresent, Oklahoma, is being held in the brig at Quantico Marine Corps Base in Virginia.

The action is being organized locally by the Oklahoma Center for Conscience, with support from the Oklahoma Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild.

Private First Class Bradley Manning, a 22-year-old intelligence analyst stationed in Iraq, stands accused of disclosing a classified video depicting American troops in Iraq shooting civilians from an Apache helicopter in 2007. Eleven people were killed, including two Reuters employees, and two children were critically injured. No charges have been filed against the soldiers who did the killing.

News sources have also speculated about Manning’s involvement in the leak of over 90,000 secret documents (collectively known as the Afghanistan “war logs”) made public by WikiLeaks, a website that publishes leaked material anonymously.

James M. Branum, an attorney that works with OCC on military law cases, calls the Pentagon’s treatment of Manning “extreme” and designed to set up the case “as an example of the punishment waiting for others who would consider exposing violations of military regs and international law.”

“We are saying that exposing war crimes is not a crime,” he said.

The whistleblower behind the Vietnam era’s Pentagon Papers, Daniel Ellsberg, has called Mr. Manning a hero. ”I admire the courage of Bradley Manning for sacrificing himself to make the public aware of the futility of the war in Afghanistan,” says Ellsberg.

“Blowing the whistle on war crimes is not a crime,” says former Marine Corporal Jeff Paterson of Courage to Resist, a group teaming up with the Bradley Manning Support Network to raise funds for Manning’s defense.

More info:

http://www.bradleymanning.org/

http://www.couragetoresist.org/x/content/blogcategory/64/122/

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/search/node/Bradley%20Manning

WHAT: A peaceful demonstration against OU’s “CIA Officer in Residence Program”

WHEN: Demonstration from 3-4 p.m., with all participants encouraged to
then attend the scheduled “meet and greet” event with Mr. Don Hughes
(CIA officer in residence) from 4-5 p.m.

WHERE: Demonstration will happen in front of Hester Hall, the “meet
and greet” will happen in Hester Hall 160

WHY: To demonstrate against a known terrorist organization (the CIA)
being allowed to speak on campus at OU, given its long-standing
history of torture and political assassinations

FOR MORE INFORMATION: contact the Oklahoma chapter of the National Lawyers Guild, 405-46-OKNLG

GUIDELINES FOR PARTICIPANTS: Please bring signs and banners to the
public demonstration outside of Hester Hall, but do not bring in any
kind of weapons or illegal drugs. Following the demonstration, those
who wish to do so are encouraged to go in Hester Hall to attend the
“meet and greet” event and express your concerns directly to attendees
and Mr. Hughes himself

BACKGROUND: In the fall of 2010, The University of Oklahoma announced
that Don Hughes was going to be posted on campus as the new “CIA
Officer in Residence.” (see
http://oudaily.com/news/2009/sep/16/new-cia-officer-residence-provides-practical-knowl/
)

According to the CIA, this program seeks “to broaden understanding of
national security intelligence and missions in an academic setting.”
Mr. Hughes told the OU student newspaper that he hopes to “give some
students a bit of a different picture about how bureaucracies work and
the tough decisions that you have to make. The work I’ll do is a
little more practical, a little bit less theoretical.”

One would presume that this would not include discussion of the CIA’s
long history of engaging in torture, political assassinations, and the
undermining of democratically elected governments around the world.

We the people of Oklahoma, have a duty and the right to make sure the
truth is heard. We must let those in power know that the CIA is not
welcome at OU.

For more information on OU CIA Officer in Residence Program:
http://www.ou.edu/content/dam/International/SIAS/Events/Don%20Hughes.pdf
http://www.kgou.org/community.php?id=19708

For recent information on the CIA’s torture programs:

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/Investigation/story?id=1322866
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/cia-secret-prison-found/story?id=9115978
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/15/AR2009031502724.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8006597.stm

Two CLE seminars will be presented during the conference.

• Military law and war resisters – James Branum
• immigration consequences of war resistance – John Wheat Gibson

At least 3 hours CLE should be available for each, for a total of 6.

The conference hours are from 9 AM to 5 PM on Oct. 10 and from 9 AM to Noon on Oct. 11. The location is Under the Hood Cafe, an alternative space for soldiers from nearby Ft. Hood and the hub of war resistance in the area.

Under the Hood is located at 17 S. College St., Killeen, TX [Map]

Anyone is welcome. Donations requested.

We met again on 7/19, and continued plans to hold a couple of workshops on civil rights for activists in September. We will be doing outreach at law schools as the academic years starts up, and hoping to get some volunteers to staff tables and distribute literature on campuses.

We’ve done some good outreach on Facebook, where many of us have become active this past year, and will create a page there for the group.

If you are an attorney, legal worker, or law student, please feel welcome to attend our next meeting:

Sunday, August 23; 5 pm
Irma’s Burgers, 1120 N Classen Dr (just north of St. Anthony’s Hospital)

Grandfield OK teacher lost job after teaching The Laramie Project

On Friday, March 20, two members of NLG Oklahoma visited Grandfield after hearing that the Westboro Baptist Church, a Kansas based anti-gay group, was planning to demonstrate at the high school. They intended to join a counter-demonstration led by a handful of local students.

As it turned out, WBC did not appear, but a few Oklahomans who wanted to show support for Taylor and the students, did, including the wife of an active-duty GI who served two tours in Iraq.

NLG-OK members James Branum and Rena Guay met with Taylor, about 10 students and a parent, to learn first hand about what has been going on in the small rural town. It was a sad but not entirely unique or surprising story of intolerance of dissenting points of view.

Branum, an attorney based in Lawton, discussed with the group what rights the students were entitled to, and how to handle abridgments of those rights. NLG-OK has agreed to provide legal support for any students that encounter harassment.

We’ll be organizing a fundraising pledge drive for donations dedicated to legal support should it become necessary. We will continue to monitor the situation going forward, and will report here any developments that we can share.

Here are some of the non-local news stories that have been published about this incident:

USA Today
The Oklahoman
Truthdig
Feministing
RH Reality Check

Oklahoma soldier’s choice offers a lesson was published Sunday January 25.

Daniel Sandate was released from Ft. Sill on January 20 and is now living in the Oklahoma City area, where he is working with the Oklahoma Center for Conscience.

Another chapter member interviewed Sandate about his experience in the Army. The interview video can be viewed in four parts on YouTube.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

We would love for some young Oklahoma progressive to take advantage of it, then return to the state and use your new knowledge and skill to fight for justice and equality here.

** PLEASE FORWARD **

Dear Friends, Colleagues and Troublemakers,

A year ago this week, I saw an email with this “Tuition-Free Law
School for Activists” title. It seemed to have my name on it. I
applied and ended up being one of four chosen in the first year of
this scholarship program. They aim to give away 20 full “free rides”
through 3 years of law school to the best activists who apply for it.

Having moved to DC in August and just having completed my first
semester, I can say that this is a really special school and I’d love
to see some of you reading this (or those you know) take advantage of
this amazing opportunity. I’d especially like to assure that the
scholarship recipients are the most radical, dedicated, grassroots
activists who are committed to spending their lives in the trenches
continuing to do great work, but with the extra tool of having that
“Esq.” after your name.

WHY THIS SCHOOL ROCKS: The scholarship is associated with the
University of the District of Columbia’s law school. The law school
used to be the private Antioch School of Law. Now that it has merged
with UDC and has become the nation’s only federal law school, it is
still founded, administered and taught by impressive social justice
activists.

Among other excuses for not pursuing a law degree in the 12 years
since my undergrad were that I couldn’t afford to go into debt and
have to sell my soul to pay it off, and that I didn’t want to feel
like I was in a corporate firm clone factory. UDC is completely
different.

It’s an institution that reflects my activist values and there’s no
soul-selling required.

UDC is the nation’s 3rd smallest law school (about 250 students
enrolled, across all 3 years). It’s very diverse by age, race and more
(more on this below). They’ll probably kill me for writing this, but
UDC is also easier to get into than many other law schools.

Please share this with opportunity with others you know who may be interested.

DEADLINES: If you haven’t taken the LSAT yet, you may have just missed
the deadline to register for the February LSAT by the time you see
this. Deadline to register by phone is Jan 16th. If you miss this
(like I did, because I saw it too late), don’t panic. While they want
you to apply to the school (application is due March 15th) having
taken the February LSAT, they’ll let you take it in June and get back
to them with your score. You’ll need to write and get permission for
this. See

http://www.lsac.org/LSAT/test-dates-deadlines.asp for the LSAT
deadlines. March 15th is the deadline for applying to the school.
April 15th is the deadline for applying for the scholarship.

If you have any questions for the school, ask Donald Pritchett or Joe
Libertelli, whose info you can find in the official announcement
below. If you have questions about the experience here, feel free to
contact me. If you know me and would like a letter of recommendation
from me, let me know. Also, if you see this and plan to apply, shoot
me an email just to let me know. I’d love to know which of you great
activists I might have as fellow students next year.

Struggle on,

Mike Ewall
Founder & Director,
ActionPA (www.actionpa.org ) &
Energy Justice Network (www.energyjustice.net)
catalyst@actionpa.org

——[The School's Official Announcement Below]——-

Dear Friends,

Below please find information on the UDC David A. Clarke School of Law
www.law.udc.edu and its Advocate for Justice Scholarship program:

http://www.law.udc.edu/?page=AFJ

To find out about the next Open House, contact Donald Pritchett at
DPritchett@udc.edu.

The Advocate for Justice Scholarship is specifically designed to
enable those who seek a law degree to further public service goals to
graduate without the crippling debt that can make public service
salaries untenable.

UDC-DCSL is a different kind of law school – a racially and
age-diverse, clinically-oriented, fully accredited public interest law
school in Washington, DC. Each year, UDC-DCSL students provide over
85,000 hours of free legal service to low-income Washingtonians,
non-profit law firms, community organizations, judges, and District
and federal government agencies. Each and every UDC-DCSL student
provides a minimum of 700 hours of carefully supervised clinical legal
service to our most vulnerable citizens and important public interest
causes.

The successful Advocate for Justice Scholarship recipient’s history
will reflect a deep commitment to justice and the public interest, as
well as academic excellence as evidenced by including grades,
publications, professional experience, academic recommendations and
LSAT scores. To apply for the scholarship, prospective students must
complete a standard application for admission AND an Advocate for
Justice Scholarship application, which consists of a simple form plus
a 500-750 word personal statement demonstrating that the applicant has
been an advocate for justice and describing how s/he will make use of
a UDC David A. Clarke School of Law degree in furtherance of the
interests of justice.

Joe Libertelli
UDC David A. Clarke School of Law
4200 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20008

JLibertelli@udc.edu
www.law.udc.edu

The UDC-DCSL Advocate for Justice Program

Information on the University of the District of Columbia David A.
Clarke School of Law (UDC-DCSL) Advocate for Justice program (AFJ) can
be found at

http://www.law.udc.edu/?page=AFJ The Advocate for Justice application,
which supplements the standard application for the J.D. program, can
be found at

http://www.law.udc.edu/?page=FinAidForms To sign up for the contact
list for the AFJ program, please go to

http://www.law.udc.edu/?page=AFJContact and fill out the form there.
To find out more about the School of Law generally, go to
www.law.udc.edu. There’s lots to read there, including many back
editions of the School of Law’s publication, The Advocate, which can
give the reader a real flavor for the kinds of work and activities
undertaken by students, staff, faculty and friends of the School of
Law.

The AFJ program offers full tuition three-year scholarships to up to
20 prospective students each year whose history reflects a deep
commitment to justice and the public interest, and who are also
excellent students in terms of more traditional indices of academic
prowess, including grades, advanced degrees, publications,
professional experience, and LSAT scores.

To sign up for the LSAT, please visit

http://www.lsac.org/LSAT/test-dates-deadlines.asp Since the Advocate
for Justice scholarships are awarded on a rolling basis, the earlier
you apply, the better. The School of Law application deadline is March
15. I encourage you to apply early, completing your application with
your LSAT results when they become available. My advice to those of
you who have not taken the LSAT is to, at minimum, purchase a
review/work book and to study it carefully. You should, at minimum,
completely understand the format of the test, the various types of
questions asked, and use the practice questions provided to
familiarize yourself to the extent possible.

About UDC-DCSL

Diversity: UDC-DCSL is one of the nation’s most diverse law schools ­
in terms of age and class as well as race. UDC-DCSL has many students
fresh out of college, but it also has many students who are preparing
for second or third careers. In 2008 Princeton Review ranked UDC-DCSL
3rd of 195 US law schools in terms of being most welcoming of older
students. It is also regularly in the top ten each year for most
welcoming of students of color. UDC-DCSL students have also been
ranked most progressive in the nation two years running. All FIVE
deans are women, as are half the faculty members. Half the faculty are
also people of color. Gay, Lesbian, Bi-Sexual and Transgender students
are most welcome. Despite its majority liberal/progressive leanings,
UDC-DCSL also takes pride in its conservative students, some of whom
are active politically and/or with our chapter of the Federalist
Society. Conservative students who are committed to justice add
another important dimension of diversity to the School of Law and are
also welcomed and valued.

Public Service Focus: UDC-DCSL is also, arguably, the American law
school most uniquely dedicated to the public interest. “Exhibit One”
is its clinical approach to legal education. At UDC-DCSL, clinical
work is not an “option” – ALL students provide a minimum of 700 hours
of legal work for poor people and the public interest. This clinical
service work, carried out under careful supervision, provides not only
an excellent, practical, legal education, preparing our graduates to
go out and function as attorneys immediately upon their graduation,
but also grounds students in reality. It provides a wonderful
political education, laying bare how the legal system works ­ and
often does not work ­ to address the legal problems of poor people and
public interest causes.

Job and Career Contacts: In addition to the Advocate for Justice, and
other scholarship and financial aid, UDC-DCSL also offers ALL its
first year students a $3,000 stipend to work in a public interest
legal position for a non-profit group, judge or government office.
Though most students do this fellowship work in Washington, DC, others
do it “back home” or wherever they might envision themselves
practicing law. The summer fellowships are not, however, their first
opportunity to go out and learn beyond the boundaries of the School of
Law itself, affording them the opportunity to make professional
contacts and to form personal relationships that can result in a “leg
up” when it comes to future summer and post-graduate positions. In
fact, during the first year, students are required to provide 40 hours
of law-related community service to a DC based group, judge or agency!

On top of this hands-on legal educational activism, UDC-DCSL’s
location in Washington, DC makes additional voluntary and for-credit
internships possible. Many students volunteer during the fall of their
second year and others earn academic credit through internships any
time after that semester.

The 40 hour community service requirement, the summer fellowship, and
the internship permit a student to develop contacts In combination
with our Legislation Clinic, which works with local and national
governmental legislative committees,

Other Financial Aid: Not all applicants will make the “cut” for a full
three-year scholarship, but in addition to the Advocate for Justice
Scholarship, the School of Law has other scholarship programs and more
than the usual amount of financial aid. Combined with the generally
inexpensive tuition ­ $14,750 per full year for out-of-state students
and $7,350 for instate (residency can be achieved in one year!)
UDC-DCSL is still largely affordable. So even if one doesn’t qualify
for the “full-ride,” it would still be possible to get an excellent
legal education in a welcoming and supportive environment, at a very
reasonable price.

——————————–
One Current Student’s View:

“Also, for what it’s worth, some things that I (having been to another
law school) think are great about our school:

- The non-competitive atmosphere, comradery, etc. (which is, I think,
related to our size & mission)

- The ability to form relationships with professors (ditto)

- That everyone gets to participate in clinic (whether they like it or not!)

- The fact that many professors still practice (so that clients are
still real people to them)

- The number of students from working class backgrounds and/or
progressive students and/or students of color

- The school’s community-based mission and the fact that it’s actually
put into action

- The fact that I don’t have to say “I’ll only have to practice in a
firm for a decade (to pay off my loans) before I can start doing
public interest work” and then wonder if I’m going to have to spend
ten years after that simply working to undo the damage I just did.”

For more information:

Admissions nuts and bolts: Donald Pritchett: DPritchett@udc.edu