National Lawyers Guild

07/01/2026

What is happening to the Prairieland Defendants is unchecked state repression. From the beginning, this case has been politicized, and was meant to send a message to others.

The judges admitted as such.

Under Trump, eight Prairieland defendants were sentenced to a combined four and a half centuries in prison.

06/25/2026

Statement: https://www.nlg.org/prairieland-defendants-sentencing/

Eight defendants in the Prairieland case were sentenced to prison, with a combined time of 450 years. Each of the defendants received sentences ranging from 30 to 100 years in federal prison. This is a grave injustice and nothing short of malicious political persecution by the federal government.

On Fourth of July 2025, these brave protesters rallied for a noise demonstration in solidarity with immigrant detainees at the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas. The Department of Justice wants the world to believe that these protesters were part of a violent terror cell dubbed “antifa.” The Government relied on zines, political rhetoric, and common activist practices as “proof” that the protesters coordinated a planned ambush resulting in an officer being non-fatally shot.

The U.S., aided by Judge Mark T. Pittman (appointed by President Trump) and Judge Reed O’Connor (appointed by President George W. Bush), has made clear that showing up for immigrant rights and fighting against fascism will result in imprisonment. Anyone who seeks to take action opposing the Trump administration’s atrocities will be targeted, prosecuted, and sentenced to the fullest extent. Indeed, as stated by Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, “The sentences handed down today make clear that Antifa terrorists who attack law enforcement and federal facilities will face swift and uncompromising justice[.]” Make no mistake: “antifa” is nothing more than a placeholder for “leftist,” a boogeyman created for political goals.

In a case that has been politicized since the start, it still shocks us to see protesters receive extreme sentences of 30 to 100 years for attending a Fourth of July noise demonstration. The federal government and the state of Texas want us to feel defeated. This case wants to chill dissent and enable the Trump administration to act without accountability for its brutal treatment of immigrant communities. Organizers and community activists must not allow this to stop the important work we are doing. We must continue to protest ICE and fight for our community members’ rights.

The NLG will not be deterred in its commitment to supporting the Prairieland defendants and all communities raising their voices against the federal government’s human rights atrocities.

06/19/2026

In honor of Juneteenth, the NLG National Office is closed today. Juneteenth commemorates the arrival of the news to Texas that the Confederacy had lost the war, and that all enslaved Black people were free. We take this day to honor our continued fight for Black Liberation in the U.S., and across the globe.

06/17/2026

Remember, if the feds come knocking, shut the f*ck up, and call the Federal Defense Hotline at 212-679-2811.

With the latest round of indictments in Minnesota, the administration has painted a clear picture of who it thinks are a threat: millions of ordinary citizens who are defending their friends and neighbors from being disappeared in their communities.

The Federal government continues its fascist tactics of intimidating and attacking anyone who disagrees with it, despite the fact that its agents have killed multiple people, and wounded many others.

06/16/2026

On June 11, 2025, ICE agents conducted an illegal kidnapping of two young asylum-seekers in Spokane, Washington. Neighbors, including a former City Council President, linked arms outside the ICE field office, in an act of civil disobedience against the illegal detention of the two immigrants. Hundreds of community members then autonomously showed up in solidarity with all immigrants who have been abducted by ICE. Throughout the day, Spokane residents individually took small actions against the violence of the federal government, as many people have done in this country when breaking news occurs.

In response, the Department of Justice indicted numerous protesters under egregious conspiracy accusations. Some of them plead guilty, but three of them, the Spokane 3, took their cases to trial. After seven days of trial, the jury found the three defendants guilty of varying conspiracy offenses.

The Spokane 3 are still litigating a post-trial Rule 29 motion, requesting that the judge overturn the jury verdict on legal grounds. NLG calls for the correct outcome of this case: the overturn of this federal attack on the right to gather, associate, and speak up.

We cannot normalize the recurring criminalization of anti-government protests. Civil society, legal workers, lawyers, and all those with influence must urgently organize to stand up against the prosecutorial powers of this alarmingly fascist federal government. From the Prairieland cases in North Texas, to the persecution of the Southern Poverty Law Center, to the indictment of protesters at a church in Minneapolis, to the violence against protesters outside of Delaney Hall, we are in a moment of reckoning.

Read our full statement: https://www.nlg.org/spokane-3/

05/29/2026

Read our full statement: https://www.nlg.org/statement-condemning-ofac-designation-of-four-palestine-solidarity-organizers/

The National Lawyers Guild condemns in the strongest possible terms the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designation of four Palestinian and international organizers—Saif Abu Keshek, Mohammed Khatib, Jaldia Abubakra, and Hisham Abu Mahfouz—as being affiliated with or providing support to designated “foreign terrorist organizations” for their solidarity with Palestinian national liberation and the Palestinian people.

The sanctions unjustly imposed by OFAC come amidst an ongoing, two-and-a-half-year genocide that has killed, injured, and displaced hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, destroyed the majority of Gaza’s infrastructure and agricultural land, and marks the latest chapter in over a century of Western imperialist-backed, Zionist settler-colonial ethnic cleansing and dispossession of the Palestinian people. Against this horrific backdrop, the courage and urgency of flotilla activists cannot be overstated. They risked abduction, torture, and death in their attempt to break this illegal, genocidal siege and deliver humanitarian aid. For this act of supreme moral clarity and courage, the United States has chosen to punish them and unjustifiably label the flotilla itself as “pro-terror.”

05/26/2026

Register at: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_pOx0jJSeT0-bvizfXz1R8g #/registration

Join the National Lawyers Guild and the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law for a webinar on Supreme Court Reform: May 28, 2026, 1 PM PT/4 PM ET

The United States Supreme Court has long played a defining role in shaping American democracy, civil rights, and the meaning of equal justice under law. Through decisions affecting voting rights, employment discrimination, reproductive freedom, criminal justice, and executive power, the Court has profoundly influenced the lives of millions of Americans. At times, its rulings have expanded constitutional protections and advanced equality; at others, they have narrowed long-standing rights and raised questions about the durability of those gains.

Recent decisions, including the Court’s Louisiana v. Callais ruling, have further weakened the Voting Rights Act and intensified public debate about the role, legitimacy, and accountability of the Court. These developments come amid historically low public confidence in the judiciary, with a poll indicating that overall confidence in the American judicial system is declining more than any other civic institution. At the same time, growing concerns have emerged about whether the Supreme Court is functioning as a neutral guardian of constitutional principles or becoming increasingly disconnected from the communities most affected by its rulings.

This webinar will examine whether the Supreme Court needs reform and, if so, what meaningful reform could look like. Panelists will explore the relationship between public trust and judicial legitimacy, assess how recent jurisprudence has reshaped civil rights and democratic governance, and evaluate proposed reforms such as ethics standards, 18-year term limits, and structural changes to the Court. Grounded in the National Lawyers Guild’s historic commitment to civil rights and the rule of law, this discussion will invite candid, informed dialogue about the future of the Supreme Court and its impact on American Democracy.

Speakers will include:
Kohlberg Center Managing Director Stephen Spaulding
NLG Past President Marjorie Cohn,
Brennan Center Senior Fellow Miriam Rosenbaum
NLG Mass Incarceration Committee Co-Chair Jenipher Jones

Moderated by Brennan Center Counsel Eliazar Chacha, with Opening Remarks from NLG President Suzanne Adely

05/18/2026

The National Lawyers Guild Disability Justice Committee condemns proposed changes to Supplemental Security Income (SSI) that threaten to punish disabled people for surviving through family and community support.

Read our full statement: https://www.nlg.org/nlg-disability-justice-committee-statement-on-proposed-changes-to-ssi-and-attacks-on-collective-care/

05/15/2026

NLG Opposes DOJ Plan to Lower Bar for States to Expedite Capital Punishment.

Read our full statement: https://www.nlg.org/comment-in-opposition-rin-1105ab80-certification-process-for-state-capital-counsel-systems-91-fed-reg-12525-mar-16-2026-docket-doj-oag-2026-0034/

05/14/2026

NLG Denounces SCOTUS’s Ruling Eviscerating the Voting Rights Act

Read our full statement: https://www.nlg.org/nlg-denounces-scotuss-ruling-eviscerating-the-voting-rights-act/