SW Regional Conference Report

The Southwest Regional Conference was held in Albuquerque April 1-3, and what a motivating conference it was! We had some fun, strengthened our community ties, and identified areas to focus our energy in the coming year.

April Fools Party

We kicked off the conference with an April Fools party at the Albuquerque Press Club. One of Albuquerque’s most popular activist bands, the Withdrawals, headlined the party. The party featured a music video which included footage of the March 20, 2003 Albuquerque war protest, where the police attacked the peaceful demonstrators. The NLG and the ACLU are sponsoring a lawsuit against APD for violating the civil rights of the protestors.

The party brought together a cross section of the community, including Guild members, community activists, five of our plaintiffs in the NLG/ACLU sponsored lawsuit, and people who live in the UNM university community. Many people who viewed the video of the March 20, 2003 peace march said they previously had no idea how the police behaved at that demonstration. This helped build support for our lawsuit, and helped build good will for the Guild in the community.

Panel Presentations

This may have been the most enjoyable time I’ve had earning 7 CLEs. With topics like: The Lawyer’s Role in Peacebuilding in the Community, Building International Human Rights into Your Law Practice, Immigration Consequences of Criminal Charges, and Progressive Lawyering Opportunities, you knew it was going to be fascinating. It was inspiring and encouraging to hear about the work Guild lawyers are doing the community and around the world to build peace and justice.

During the community peacebuilding presentation, Albuquerque lawyers Larry Kronen and Louie Boelcke discussed the aforementioned NLG/ACLU sponsored lawsuit against Albuquerque Police Department, et. al. They discussed the new parade ordinance they are negotiating with the city to protect the civil rights of protestors, and they discussed how acting as legal observers at demonstrations helps build good relationships with the peace movement and with the local authorities.

Janice Hart, a volunteer from Another Side spoke about the work her organization is doing to counter recruiting in the schools. Her presentation, as well as comments from Reber Boult and others in the audience sparked a great deal of interest in the Military Law Task force, and how we can expand the work we are doing in this area.

For the International Human Rights panel, Eric Sirotkin, Jennie Lusk and Ian Brannigan, talked about international human rights work they have done with the Guild, and how it has influenced their lives. We heard about the Korea Peace Project, and delegations to South Africa, Chiapas, China and Cuba. In addition, Bill Pratt, a member of the New Mexico Alliance for the International Criminal Court (ICC) spoke about the court and how it can build peace. It was empowering to hear about how Guild members work for international peace, and it helped me realize that I too can do international human rights work through the National Lawyers Guild.

Tova Indritz, an expert on the immigration consequences of criminal convictions gave an informative presentation about the importance of knowing the immigration status of your clients who are facing criminal charges, as some people could face deportation, even for pleading guilty to seemingly minor offenses. We were reminded that lawyers need to determine the immigration status of their clients, even if they don’t appear to be foreign nationals.

Finally, for the panel presentation Josh Myers organized on progressive lawyering, experienced and successful Guild lawyers explained how they built progressive work into their law practices. I appreciated hearing about how some of the lawyers I respect and admire most developed their careers. There are many ways a new lawyer can incorporate progressive work into her practice. Associating with the National Lawyers Guild certainly helps!

Wounded Knee Event

The event featured four activists, including Guild members Roger Finzel and Eda Gordon and activists Bob Anderson and Allen Cooper. These four talked about what happened at Wounded Knee in 1973, when the federal government surrounded a building with hundreds of people inside, kept the building surrounded with armored personnel carriers and militarized police forces for over two months, and finally stormed the building. Two activists were killed over the course of the event. Hundreds were arrested and charged with crimes.

I was moved by the courage of the activists and the National Lawyers Guild volunteers who turned out to help defend those who were facing charges. The lawyers and activists worked together and succeeded in having the criminal charges against hundreds of activists dismissed. What an uplifting story!


What’s ahead: Several good ideas and action items came out of our conference. We decided that we will expand our military task force activities and work with activists, including Another Side, who are going in to the public schools to counter military recruiting. We will build our relationship with the student chapter at the law school. We will form a committee to study conflict resolution, including traditional ways that focus on reconciliation. We will improve communication within the local Guild and with chapters around the region. We would like to see more people from around the region at our next regional conference. We are stronger together. Let’s unite!

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