New York City, NY – On the evening of April 22, the North East chapter of the International League of People’s Struggle held a webinar titled “Rent Strike: What it is and how to do it.”

Detroit, MI – The National Lawyers Guild (NLG) has filed a motion to be admitted as amicus curiae in the case of Rasmea Odeh, to support the request by Rasmea Odeh’s attorneys that the court reconsider its decision to deny her bond pending sentencing on March 12, 2015.

Chicago, IL – Cook County Court Judge Thomas Donnelly dismissed over 90 cases, Sept. 26, against Occupy Chicago activists who were arrested last October and charged with a violation of the rarely used park curfew law. Judge Donnelly issued a written ruling which found that the city's park curfew ordinance is “unconstitutional both on its face and as applied and all complaints in this case are dismissed with prejudice.” The Chicago chapter of the National Lawyers Guild (NLG) filed motions to dismiss in February on behalf of 92 Occupy Chicago protesters.

Chicago, IL – Angered by a police raid and arrests of Occupy protesters in the Bridgeport neighborhood of Chicago, 1500 protesters marched and rallied here May 19. The protest marched from the Federal Reserve Bank, the main protest site for Occupy Chicago, up to Daley Plaza. A roar went up when the march stepped off with hundreds of young people taking to the streets, chanting, “This is what democracy looks like!” and “No war for oil! NATO off Afghan soil!”

Fight Back! is circulating the following press release from the National Lawyers Guild.

In February, the National Lawyers Guild reached a $6.2 million settlement in the case of Vodak v City of Chicago, which arose from the arrest of 800 protesters on the night the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq began. The case is named after Kevin Vodak, an attorney who attended the protest as a legal observer for the National Lawyers Guild. Vodak was arrested along with the protesters. Under Mayor Emanuel, the city has frustrated attempts by organizers to get permits for protests against NATO/G8. Emanuel has attempted to force drastic changes to ordinances governing protests, trying to restrict the right to protest. Fight Back! posed questions to Jim Fennerty, one of the lawyers in this nine-year legal fight for the right to protest. Fight Back!: What is the Vodak case about?

The FBI is relaxing its rules and removing restrictions on domestic spying for its 14,000 agents, the New York Times reported June 13. While FBI spokesperson Valerie Caproni claims the changes are “more like fine-tuning than major changes,” civil liberties advocates and activists are speaking out against the new rules.

Asheville, NC – On April 2, about 80 people attended a workshop on the Sept. 24, 2010 FBI raids and grand jury repression of anti-war and solidarity activists at the National Lawyers Guild (NLG) southern regional conference here. In addition to NLG members from across the South, over two dozen community members from Asheville’s peace and justice movements came to learn about the case and to show their support for the targeted activists.

Minneapolis, MN – After 21 days in a Rwanda jail, lawyer Peter Erlinder returned home today. He was met by 20 supporters and as many reporters. After hugging his wife, Masako Usui, he said, “Unlike Mark Twain, the reports of my demise were only slightly exaggerated.”

Minneapolis, MN – With the courtroom packed and many waiting in the hallway, attorneys from the National Lawyers Guild and the American Civil Liberties Union presented a case in federal court, July 9 on behalf of the Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War. The Coalition is seeking a preliminary injunction requiring the city of Saint Paul to a issue realistic permit for the Sept. 1 anti-war march.