National Lawyers Guild Legal Observers® Training
Thanks for your interest in becoming a National Lawyers Guild Legal Observer®!
When is the local training?
Indivisible Santa Barbara is pleased to offer our very first:
National Lawyers Guild Legal Observers® Training
Sunday, April 12th
1:00-3:00 p.m.
Unitarian Society of Santa Barbara
Jefferson Room
1535 Santa Barbara Street
This training is FREE and there is no prior experience or legal training needed.
What do NLG Legal Observers® do?
NLG Legal Observers® are volunteers trained by the NLG who show up at protests, marches or other actions to:
- Monitor, observe, and document government conduct against First Amendment-protected activity
- Provide arrest support for protesters on the ground and help support teams track and help arrested folks, and
- Empower activists and serve as a deterrent to unconstitutional behavior by law enforcement
While the presence of Legal Observers does not guarantee law enforcement will respect the constitutional rights of protestors, it puts them on notice that they are being monitored.
How is NLG Legal Observer® documentation used?
NLG Legal Observers® are the “eyes and ears” of a legal team. They create documentation during events which can later be used in defense cases, public statements, and litigation which aims to hold law enforcement agencies accountable for the actions of their local, state, and federal officers (which includes police, sheriff, and ICE agents).
Legal observing acts as a direct form of protester legal support, connecting activists to a much bigger support infrastructure made up of arrest hotlines, jail support teams, community bail funds and legal defense funds, attorney referral networks, and more. This complex network of support distinguishes legal observing from other observer responses, such as “copwatch”.
How do NLG Legal Observers® behave at actions?
After you have been trained as an NLG Legal Observer®, you will wear a neon-green, trademarked hat when you are at an action, which is a immediately recognizable as a symbol of legal support for progressive movements.
It is important to note that, in order to maintain neutrality, if you sign up to act as an NLG Legal Observer® for a specific event, you cannot participate as an activist in that day’s demonstration or community response, and cannot put aside your NLG Legal Observer duties by taking off your green hat to participate.
Of course, this does not limit your participation to be an activist at political events when you have not signed up to be an NLG Legal Observer®!
How do I sign up for the NLG Legal Observer® training?
In order to volunteer for the NLG Legal Observer® training, everyone must first go through a vetting process and sign confidentiality agreements with the California Central Coast National Lawyers Guild.
This vetting process ensures that all individuals who will be accepted for the training program align with the NLG’s progressive, anti-oppression, and social justice values.
You must also agree to act in accordance with Indivisible Santa Barbara’s commitment to nonviolence at our actions.
I want to get the process started! Sign me up to be vetted for the training!
Please go to this NLG online form to be vetted for training:
https://form.jotform.com/252266577714162
NOTE: When you get to the box that says “Other Comments”, please say that you heard about this training through Indivisible Santa Barbara. This will prioritize your being accepted to the April 12th training as long as spaces are available.
Oh no! I went through the vetting process, but the April was training was full!
Don’t worry! We have limited spaces for each training so that we can give individual attention to each of our trainees.
Indivisible Santa Barbara will be offering more NLG Legal Observer® trainings in the coming months and anyone who was not able to attend the April training will be at the top of the list for future trainings!
THANK YOU FOR YOUR INTEREST IN SUPPORTING FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS!
