When the Patriot Act was passed, among those sounding the loudest alarm were lawyers who saw the unprecedented and repressive police state powers being hammered into place.
When the US government dragooned people from Afghanistan and locked them away on an island thousands of miles from their home, lawyers braved death threats to speak out for and fight for them, to document the use of torture and violations of the Geneva convention, to keep this outrage before the public eye, and to litigate and work for their release from detention.
The conviction and sentencing of Lynne Stewart as the criminal defense attorney for clients from the Middle East was meant to send a deep chill through the bar. In the face of this many lawyers have refused to be sidelined while the government prosecutes and terrorizes people from the Middle East who reside in the US, as well as those who oppose the US’s role in that part of the world.
When the authorities decided they could lock people up for years— simply on the say—so of the government, and without due process, the first people to jump into the fray were lawyers.
Some of you are acutely frustrated that you have thrown your all into the fray night and day, yet still lose ground to the whole onslaught. Many of you have warned that the changes being made in the repressive apparatus are being cemented into place and will not be easy to dislodge.
November 2nd will be a day of truly massive political resistance against the whole direction in which the Bush regime has been taking society, declaring THE WORLD CAN’T WAIT — DRIVE OUT THE BUSH REGIME. On November 2nd, people will walk out of school, out of work, and gather in the city centers and the town squares to make their voices heard — a giant first step in creating a movement, a political situation where the Bush regimeÕs program is repudiated, where Bush himself is driven from office, and where the whole direction he has been taking society is reversed.
Legal people need to understand what November 2nd IS and IS NOT about. We know from the 60’s as well as from recent history, that those who oppose and resist what the government is doing in turn find themselves the victims of that same government and its spokespeople (official and unofficial) slandering and mischaracterizing that opposition in order to have a freer hand in suppressing it. We live in a time when critics like Noam Chomsky are called treasonous by right wingers with strong ties to Karl Rove.
As attorneys who are being called on to join or defend this movement, you need to know what IT IS AND IS NOT about. The call for November 2nd describes it well — we hope you will read it carefully. It is clearly a call for a massive political repudiation of what the government is doing; the galvanizing of a determined society—wide political movement that will not quit till the Bush regime is driven from office. We have seen this before in the 60’s when Nixon was forced from office. As you can see, World Can’t Wait and the events on November 2nd are not calling for violence and they are definitely not calling to remove the Bush regime from office by any means other than the truly massive societal rejection it will take to do so. Any attempts to say otherwise are not what November 2nd is about.
Lies or misrepresentation — from whatever quarter — of World Can’t Wait’ or November 2nd’s objectives or character can only pave the way to repression and persecution. Lawyers are needed to help forcefully refute deliberate lies or dangerous mischaracterizations of the World Can’t Wait’s purpose and all those who help to initiate, lead and participate in it.
Can you imagine this whole undertaking without lawyers raising their voices, coming from the trenches of the courtrooms and the classrooms, joining with and/or defending thousands of others who are taking responsibility to change the course of history?
There are many ways you can help:
Tell everyone you know about November 2nd
Get word out to the law schools. Sign the call and spread the word.
Volunteer to defend this movement and those who dare to help launch and lead it. Serious harassment or persecution of leaders or organizers or those walking out of school or work, demonstrating, and rallying should not go unanswered.
Volunteer to help document cases of harassment and repression of activists.
Legal observers are needed at the November 2nd demonstrations and rallies.
Develop materials for use by activists leading into and after November 2nd. For example, legal advice to be posted on the website, such as know you rights, and how to find a progressive lawyer.
contact us at outreach@worldcantwait.org
or call 1-866-973-4463.