Resources for pro-Palestinian student activists
This information is provided as part of a joint effort by the Massachusetts chapters of the National Lawyers Guild (NLG-Mass.) and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MA) to provide legal support for pro-Palestinian student activists. If you need help with related issues, please contact the NLG’s hotline at 617-433-8353 or use CAIR-MA’s online request form.
- Advance planning for protests. We created this Student Activism Webinar that has important information on your legal rights as a protester as well as the limits on those rights. The NLG can provide Direct Action training for your group before your protest/demonstration and can also provide trained Legal Observers to help deter police misconduct. Requests for trainings and Legal Observers should be sent to nlgmass-director@riseup.net. Our “Know Your Rights” guide is about college disciplinary hearings (see more, below) but it also contains information about how your protest rights are more limited at a private college or university than at a public college.
- Any decision to get arrested should take into account how doing so will be effective in conveying your political message and advancing your goals. The decision should also be made in advance as a conscious choice, and not as an impulsive act during a demonstration or protest – although we understand that those situations can change quickly and unexpectedly. If you are arrested, the NLG’s Mass Defense Committee does its best to provide free legal representation for activists. Call the NLG’s legal support hotline (617-433-8353) or email nlgmass-director@riseup.net. Please keep in mind that these lawyers are volunteering their time, so help us to help you. If you plan to engage in civil disobedience, with the possibility of risking arrest, please contact the NLG’s Mass Defense Committee in advance, so they know what’s coming and can recruit attorneys to represent you in court.
- College disciplinary hearings. Whether or not you are arrested, your school may bring disciplinary charges against you. Our Know Your Rights guide for College Disciplinary Hearings and our Student Activism Webinar both discuss this process and what you can do to prepare and present your best defense. The NLG can also meet with student groups to offer guidance and advice. Requests for assistance should be sent to nlgmass-director@riseup.net. If a student wants to hire their own lawyer, the guide also offers information on how to do so.
April 2, 2024