On Saturday, Heather D. Heyer was murdered by a neo-Nazi. 19 others were injured. The Nazi drove his car into a crowd of counter-protestors in Charlottesville, VA during, or just after, a mass neo-Nazi rally. I’m not interested in parsing out the nuances of their ideological nomenclature—white-nationalist, white-separatist, etc. It does not matter what they […]
Seiad Valley, Calif –Early this morning logging operations were halted on the Westside post-fire logging project after a daring activist chained himself between two 55 gallon drums filled with concrete at a gate leading into the project area. The non-violent direct action protest was the latest in campaign events triggered by continued logging despite a […]
Please support CLDC in coordinating legal support for those arrested at Break Free, as well as our continued work to have the backs of those who are fighting back against the corporations that are fueling climate change.
The Civil Liberties Defense Center represented four ShellNo protesters who were charged with civil penalty violations before U.S. Coast Guard Hearing Officers in military tribunals instead of civilian courts. We are happy to report good news about two of those cases so far.
Consistently, media covering President Obama’s historic 2-day visit to Cuba has focused on the need for Cuba to clean up its human rights record if it truly wants to normalize relations with the U.S. While Cuba may have some shortcomings when it comes to its human rights record, the U.S. should be hesitant in its […]
Last week, in Shell Offshore v. Greenpeace, the federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued an order vacating a civil contempt order that was issued against Greenpeace last summer during the Shell No! banner hang off the St. John’s Bridge. In July, a number of activists had suspended themselves from the bridge over the Willamette […]
Last May, I watched the news reports about the girl who attached herself to the anchor chain of Shell’s Arctic Challenger as it sat in the Bellingham Bay—preparing to head to the Arctic to be part of Shell’s plan to drill for oil there, and to surely cause horrific destruction to the fragile ecosystem of […]
This summer, the Civil Liberties Defense Center is hosting the third annual action camp for young people ages 14-18 to gain knowledge and skills to organize for climate justice! The camp will include a youth led public “event” focused on a climate justice campaign! July 12th-19th, 2016 at Apserkaha Park at Howard Prairie Lake!
Just within this small sampling of recent news, we can see the impact of making a public records request: from having the FBI scramble to keep information hidden to being the seed that grew into a dynamic global campaign. As cliché as it may sound, knowledge is power—whether that’s the power to expose what’s behind […]
At the end of last year, the mayors of Eugene, Portland, Los Angeles, and San Francisco gathered to discuss homelessness and climate change. I heard a recording of the mayors discussing the meeting. As I was listening to the mayoral musings, I wondered how genuine the interest really is in understanding the causes of homelessness. […]
With the increasingly abusive Islamophobic response that has been coming from ignorant individuals within the United States, the CLDC will continue to stand strongly with our Muslim and/or Middle Eastern community members.
It was in 2006 that the AETA was passed into law. The AETA was crafted by the American Legislative Exchange Council, a group of corporate power players who write pieces of model legislation that suit their interests, and then ALEC passes off the legislation to members of Congress.
Last week, a federal court in New York affirmed the First Amendment right to criticize police using profane language. In the case, Barboza v. D’Agata, the federal court in the Southern District of New York addressed a case in which an individual received a speeding ticket in the town of Liberty, New York. He agreed […]
Last week, at the Next Generation Climate Justice Action Camp (NGCJAC), a diverse group of youth and adult organizers met in Southern Oregon to share tools and stories and prepare the next generation of climate justice organizers for the work that is to come.
EUGENE, OR: On Friday July 24, 2015, the Assistant City Attorney of Eugene dismissed a criminal case that he filed and prosecuted against Hedin Brugh, a long-time SLEEPS activist who advocated for unhoused people.
Last week, a federal court in Montana dismissed a charge against a citizen journalist attempting to observe and document the government roundup of wild buffalo outside Yellowstone National Park.
In a significant defeat for the multinational corporate privatization agenda, this week the town of Missoula, Montana seized its water supply and distribution system from the Carlyle Group via eminent domain.
Last week, federal courts issued two decisions affirming the right of citizens to record police under the First Amendment.
In light of the shortcomings of the legal system and growing police violence against people, there are many ways that communities can help each other to defend their rights to be free from unlawful searches, seizures, and cruel and inhumane treatment by law enforcement officers.
In light of the recent Supreme Court case that came out a couple weeks ago that found that GPS tracking constitutes a search under the Fourth Amendment, and therefore requires a warrant we wanted to go over your rights to protect your data if you end up in a situation where you record police misconduct […]
CLDC Executive Director and Staff Attorney, Lauren Regan, weighs in on how the Grand Jury System allowed a cop to get away with murder in Ferguson.
The government is collecting information on millions of citizens. Phone, Internet, and email habits, credit card and bank records—virtually all information that is communicated electronically is subject to the watchful eye of the state. The government is even building a nifty, 1.5 million square foot facility in Utah to house all of this data. With […]
Now people can access Civil Liberties Defense Center training videos online! This week CLDC launched two, one hour Know-Your-Rights training videos. The first is our most well-known, offering basic legal information for activists so they might be informed when interacting with law enforcement officials during protests. The second explains basic rights for immigrant communities and […]
Camp is full! If you register now we can not guarantee you a spot, but we will add you to a waiting list! We set a cap of 50 youth for the camp this year and all of the spots are now full, if you are still interested you can register and we will add […]
By Kiran Oommen, CLDC Intern I attended the Next Generation Climate Justice Action Camp (NGCJAC) the first year it was put on. We were only out there a few days, not even a full week, but NGCJAC was easily one of the most important experiences of my teenage years. If my older self had told […]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 21, 2017 CONTACTS: Erin Grady (CLDC) (541) 687-9180 Ibrahim Coulibaly (NAACP) (541) 606-3007 Eugene Advocacy Groups Ask to be Part of the Process of Hiring a New Police Chief EUGENE, OR – A coalition of social justice and human rights groups in Eugene called Human Rights Work, have released their first […]
Today Senior United States District Judge Sam R. Cummings, with the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas, roundly dismissed the frivolous Rackateering lawsuit brought by Texas climate denier Leonid Goldstein against leading environmental organizations, foundations, and activists for their climate activism and advocacy. The lawsuit, brought as a SLAPP suit (Strategic Lawsuit […]
In light of the CLDC’s desire to educate activists and organizations regarding law-related topics, we will be presenting a series of informational primers that are particularly important in times of government repression and corporate attacks on dissent. This series, “Take Yourself Seriously” will provide best practices for nonprofits, activist groups and individuals in order to […]
POSITION ANNOUNCEMENT: Associate Attorney Position, Civil Liberties Defense Center We will accept applications until the position is filled. Please send resumé, cover letter, writing sample (substantive brief preferred), and 3 references to info[at]cldc.org. No phone calls please. If you do not have at least 5 years of litigation experience, please do not apply. Who we […]
On February 9, 2017, the federal U.S. Court of Appeals upheld an injunction against implementation of Donald Trump’s Executive Order banning Muslims from the U.S. The order from the federal appeals court agreed with a federal district court decision in Seattle that had blocked implementation of the Muslim Ban several days earlier. The courts addressed […]
I wanted to share a short update from Standing Rock regarding a multitude of travesties that have occurred there this week. Unfortunately, things are only going to be getting more intense out there—both at Standing Rock and around the country. CLDC is about to hire a 3rd lawyer, a new organizer, and we will be […]
Mount Vernon, WA — In a victory for the climate movement, a jury was unable to reach a verdict in the trial of Ken Ward, a climate activist from Corbett, Oregon, who had been charged with sabotage and burglary after an October 2016 protest in which he and four other activists temporarily blocked the flow […]
Now is more important than ever to resist Trump and his agenda of bigotry, racism, sexism, xenophobia, hate, & climate change denial. We will continue to protect the rights of front-line activists who stand up for justice and provide trainings & resources for marginalized communities. Right now we are providing legal support to the Water […]
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