Thursday, March 26, 2020

NLG Statement on COVID-19: Solidarity in Times of Crisis

The National Lawyers Guild (NLG) is committed to building collective power and solidarity during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the spirit of our mission of valuing human rights and the rights of ecosystems over property interests: “We must lift coercive economic sanctions, prioritize mutual aid, ensure access to quality health care for all, and secure protections for houseless people, disabled people, prisoners, immigrants in detention, and low wage workers,” says NLG president Elena Cohen.

The NLG National Office staff is taking necessary steps to keep ourselves and our communities safe, including working from home. We recognize this and the ability to “self-isolate” are tremendous privileges, and we remain dedicated to using those privileges to further our mandate of using the law for the people.

In times of global crisis, the interconnectedness of our struggles is laid bare. We urge our members to remain engaged to the extent possible with their NLG chapters’ and committees’ email lists and other forums as we build strategies and tactics to support each other during this time. However, without access to our physical office, we must temporarily suspend our postal mailing operations, impeding our ability to communicate with our incarcerated jailhouse lawyer members who mostly rely on postal mail for connection with the outside world. That’s why efforts like that of Baltimore IWOC to establish a nationwide hotline for prisoners who may be experiencing COVID-19 symptoms are so important.

Knowing the myriad harms of our governments and the capitalist system, it is heartening to see so many people acting in solidarity with their neighbors near and far during the crisis. Mutual aid networks are emerging across the world, and this comprehensive list by the Anarchist Agency and activist and author Cindy Milstein details efforts in the US.

As NLG Executive Director Pooja Gehi states, “The NLG has always known that we cannot rely on state and corporate structures to support our most vulnerable communities. During this global crisis, we are carefully monitoring the expanded role of the military, police, and other forms of state power and how it is increasing surveillance, violence and repression in the name of national security and public health. This is a moment when it is critical to release incarcerated and detained people and to show solidarity with the people most marginalized in government response.”

Let’s take care of each other.
In solidarity,
NLG National Office

Additional resources available here.