The National Lawyers Guild (NLG) is dedicated to progressive change in the structure of our political and economic system. It was founded in 1937 as the first racially integrated U.S. bar association.
Student chapters of NLG sponsor annual events like Disorientation, which provides progressive law students with a sense of community and support in an educational environment that can often feel alienating and disheartening. We also train students on how to monitor police misconduct so they can volunteer as Legal Observers at local protests.
Recent Events
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The Chicago Gang Database and Deportation: A Panel Discussion
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- Date: Mar 05, 2018
- Time: 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm
- Speakers: Sheila Bedi, Irene Romulo, Claudia Valenzuela
- Location: Auditorium
Please join National Lawyers Guild – Chicago-Kent Chapter for a panel discussion about the Chicago gang database and how ICE is using it for immigration enforcement. Officially known as the Strategic Subject List (SSL), the gang database is a “predictive policing” tool that CPD uses to surveil and target black and brown communities. The content of this deeply flawed database is being shared with ICE, leading to arrests, detention, and deportation actions against Chicago residents.
Activists and lawyers from Organized Communities Against Deportations, The Roderick & Solange MacArthur Justice Center, and Heartland Alliance’s National Immigrant Justice Center, working in various capacities on this issue, will share their experience and insight. (more…)
Fred Korematsu Day Film Screening & Discussion: “Of Civil Rights and Wrongs”
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- Date: Feb 09, 2016
- Time: 12:00 pm to 1:30 pm
- Location: 370
Join us on Tuesday, February 9, to honor Fred Korematsu, a civil rights hero. In 1942, at the age of 23, Korematsu refused to go to the government’s incarceration camps for Japanese Americans. After he was arrested and convicted of defying the government’s order, he appealed his case all the way to the Supreme Court. In 1944, the Supreme Court ruled against him, arguing that the incarceration was justified due to military necessity.
In honor of Fred Korematsu day, we are holding a special screening of the documentary “Of Civil Rights and Wrongs” followed by reflections by a group of panelists, including a former internee of the Japanese internment camps.
We Got Somebody That Nobody Sent: A Conversation with Alderwoman Susan Sadlowski Garza
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- Date: Dec 02, 2015
- Time: 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm
- Speakers: Susan Sadlowski Garza
- Location: 580
Last October, nearly one-third of Chicago City Council openly opposed the mayor’s budget. Despite Chicago’s tradition of machine politics, a new wave of progressive politicians has swept into the body, challenging regressive tax policies, increasing economic privatization, and cutbacks to both public education and services to low-income Chicagoans. One of the leading voices of this growing movement is 10th Ward Alderwoman Susan Sadlowski Garza. (more…)
Recent Updates
Chicago-Kent National Lawyers Guild Responds to Mayor Lightfoot’s Choice For Chicago’s Next Police Superintendent
On April 2, 2020, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot held a press conference announcing her pick for Chicago’s Next Police Superintendent — David Brown. Lightfoot stood proudly next to the former Dallas PD Chief despite his history of drone-bombing civilians. In her press conference, Lightfoot highlighted Brown’s “track record of integrity, honor and legitimacy” as a … Continue reading Chicago-Kent National Lawyers Guild Responds to Mayor Lightfoot’s Choice For Chicago’s Next Police Superintendent
Event Recap: Chicago’s Gang Database and Deportation
This year the National Lawyers Guild’s 2nd annual event on mass incarceration focused on the intersection of mass incarceration with immigration. The panel discussion looked specifically at the targeting of immigrants for deportation using the Chicago Gang Database, officially known as the “Strategic Subject List.”
It Has Arrived: The NLG Convention is THIS Week!
So excited for the NLG Convention this week! It’s rare that all of the NLG chapters assemble in Chicago, so try to stop by at some point if you can. And law student registration for all 5 days is only $75 (that’s only $15 per day)! Here’s a sampling of just of the great workshops being offered next weekend: … Continue reading It Has Arrived: The NLG Convention is THIS Week!