For immediate release:

June 11, 2012

NLG Philly believes that the secretive assassination program by which the Obama Administration targets individuals for assassination, without judicial review and the presentation of evidence and a defense, fundamentally violates the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution which states in part that "No person shall be ... deprived of life ... without due process of law." Any killing committed by this system is murder, is a fundamental violation of the President's oath of office, and should be investigated by the Congress.

President Obama and his administration have created a secretive system listing people around the world, including American citizens, and targeting them for assassination.[i] [ii] [iii]

This process is not simply a plan in the works, but has been put into practice. Anwar Al-Awlaki, a New Mexico-born radical cleric, was assassinated by Predator drone strike in Yemen on September 30, 2011.[iv] Though Awlaki preached jihad against the United States,[v] at no time has the President's administration offered evidence that Awlaki provided material support for Al-Qaeda, although that is their claim.[vi] [vii] To date, the administration insists that it will not offer any such evidence. According to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, the extrajudicial killing program intentionally targets rescuers who try to pull bodies or survivors out of buildings that have been attacked, and mourners at funerals.[viii]

The Obama administration intends to kill again. Details have emerged that suggest that a small group of administration officials is in charge of deciding whom to kill. Obama can veto these decisions.[ix] The Obama administration claims that it has legal justification for its actions, but keeps the Office of Legal Counsel memos which supposedly explain the legality of these actions secret.[x]

A legal education event sponsored by the Philadelphia Chapter of the
National Lawyers Guild.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010
5:30-7:00 p.m
Friends Center, 1501 Cherry Street (MLK Room)

Do you know your rights when stopped by the police?

Join NLG lawyers Andrew Erba and Roy Zipris for a Know Your Rights training and discussion of Fourth Amendment Search and Seizure Laws. Presenters will provide an overview of these laws, discuss how they apply, and examine current law to fact situations which commonly arise when police interact with citizens.

Andrew Erba is an attorney at Williams, Cuker, and Berezofsky in Philadephia and serves on the Mass Defense Committee of the NLG. He concentrates his practice in State and Federal criminal defense and civil rights actions. He has represented several high profile political activists, including the SHAC 7 and protesters arrested during the RNC2000.

Immigration and the Civil Justice System
CLE Presented by the Philadelphia National Lawyers Guild

Topics include public benefits, wage law, workers compensation, protecting immigrant status, and language access to city services, specifically in Philadelphia.

Featuring John Whitelaw, Michael Hollander, and Sarah Paoletti.

Topics include immigration and criminal justice, impact of convictions, representing non-citizens in criminal cases, local immigration policies, government strategies of immigrant enforcement, and the impact on immigrant communities.

Thursday, November 4, 2010
4 p.m.-5:30 p.m.
Temple University Center City, Room 408
1515 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19102

Presenters

Mia-lia Kiernan works closely with Cambodian families effected by deportation policy by connecting those families with attorneys and legal advice. Mia-lia graduated from Drexel University with a B.A. in International and Area Studies with a focus in Justice and Human Rights. She spent a semester studying with Centro Internacional para el Desarrollo Humano (International Center for Human Development) in San Jose, Costa Rica. Mia-lia is also a member of the Pennsylvania Immigration and Citizenship Coalition Public Safety Committee.

CLE presented by the Philadelphia National Lawyers Guild
Thursday, October 21, 2010 (4-5:30 p.m.)
Temple University Center City, Room 408
1515 Market Street Philadelphia, PA 19102

Topics covered will include the basics of deportation, such as who can be deported, definitions of immigration status, overview of the immigration detention system, bond and parole issues for immigrants, detainee abuse, and practical tips and strategies.

Open to All!

1.5 substantive CLE credits: $50 for private attorneys/$20 for public interest attorneys/$15 for NLG members
Free for law students and non-lawyers!

Introduction to Deportation is Part 1 of a 3 part series on Immigration Law.

Part 2: Immigration and the Criminal Justice System (November 4)
Part 3: Immigration and the Civil Justice System (November 11)

Special price to attend all three CLEs: $110 for private attorneys/$50 for public interest attorneys/$40 for NLG members

Presenters

There is a surprisingly good article about Mumia today in the Daily News, and I highly recommend folks check it out here (I am pasting a few paragraphs below), and also this new PhillyIMC feature that I put together:

http://www.phillyimc.org/en/mumia-exception

http://www.philly.com/dailynews/opinion/20090506_Mumia___the_D_A__candid...

...authorities were more interested in winning and then denying Abu-Jamal a new trial than they were in providing truthful information.

The "error" covered up information damaging to the state's case, and no one has ever moved to correct the official record.

So tomorrow I'm attending (the first day of) Penn Law's Journal of Constitutional Law's Symposium, which is open to the public. See the Symposium page. It's also available for continuing legal education credit, for any lawyers/ judges/ clerks out there who need credits at a great price.

The topic is the Unitary Executive theory, and the symposium includes a keynote address by Judge Douglas Ginsburg (U.S. Ct. App. for D.C. Cir., abbreviated as D.C. Cir., or in English a federal appellate judge in the circuit for Washington, D.C.) and features closing remarks by Steven Calabresi, coauthor (with John Yoo) of the paper under discussion.

I wonder if any of you have any questions you might want to put to any of these luminaries? Hopefully no shoes will be thrown. And, I may write a followup report on how Friday went, time permitting.

Here follows the schedule of events from the linked page:

Mumia Abu-Jamal on the Betrayal of Batson

Hi folks, this YPP post is two-fold:

First I want to share the new Philly IMC feature I wrote.

Second, is our appeal for donations to pay for our newspaper (hoping to get at least $100 in the next week or 2).

Anything you can do to help spread the word is most appreciated.

Last week, death row journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal filed an appeal of a March 27 US Third Circuit Court ruling that rejected his bid for a new guilt-phase trial.

VIDEO: MOVE 9 Parole, 'Justice Be Damned'

An interview with The Framing of Mumia Abu-Jamal author J. Patrick O'Connor at Philadelphia City Hall, #3/3

by Hans Bennett

WATCH THE VIDEO!

(and also parts one and two)

On May 1, the day of his book's release, author J. Patrick O'Connor was interviewed at Philadelphia City Hall about "The Framing of Mumia Abu-Jamal." In part three of this interview, he condemns the recent decision by the PA Parole Board denying parole for the three remaining MOVE 9 women.

by eian
Defenestrator.org

Mayor elect Michael Nutter recently named former Washington police chief Charles H. Ramsey as the new police commissioner, to take office along with Nutter. Charles Ramsey has a long and distinguished career heading police departments, most recently in Washington DC and previously in Chicago. Unfortunately these distinguishing characteristics have been repeated abuses of constitutional rights of citizens—especially against those attempting the exercise their right to free speech and dissent—and his predilection for declaring states of emergency during crime waves over which he presided.

"This government, using corporate media, is laying the groundwork for a murder"

--Journalists for Mumia Abu-Jamal releases a new EDITED video of the Dec. 4 "Murdered by Mumia?" press conference

(VIEW PARTS ONE AND TWO)