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<head><title>Legal Solidarity</title><style><!--
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<table width="100%" class="headbox" border=0 cellpadding=5 cellspacing=0>
<tr valign=bottom><td>
<big><strong style="title">
Notes on Legal Solidarity
</strong></big></td>
</table>
<p>These notes are from the legal solidarity training workshop
that took place on Saturday 8 March.
<p>See also the excellent guides by
<a href="http://www.midnightspecial.net/materials/legalsolidarity.html">
Midnight Special</a>.
<h3>Tactics and Demands</h3>
<p>Legal solidarity is the process of
making decisions and taking actions
as a unified group in order to get demands met.
<p>
Every action in solidarity should have two clear parts:
the <strong>tactic</strong> and the <strong>demand</strong>.
Both should be very clear, and the two should be appropriately matched.
In order for solidarity to work,
you must choose a demand that the target
<strong>has the power to fulfill</strong>
and a tactic that <strong>will influence the target</strong>.
<p>Choose a series of tactics, starting with something small,
and leaving room to <strong>escalate</strong> if your demands are not met.
Your demands must be <strong>clearly communicated</strong>.
<p>Be sure to <strong>honour your commitments</strong>.
If you don't agree to relent when someone gives in to your demands,
they have no reason to listen to your demands ever again.
<p>Legal solidarity has two parts: jail solidarity and court solidarity.
In jail, you make demands of the guards and police for physical needs
such as food, water, or medicine,
and use tactics such as making noise or refusing to co-operate.
In court, you make demands of the prosecutor
to lower charges or to give everyone the same charges.
<p>Examples of tactics:
<ul>
<li>Refusing to give information.
<li>Refusing to move when asked.
<li>Going limp.
<li>Shouting.
<li>Stamping.
<li>Singing (perhaps badly).
<li>Running around.
<li>Refusing to follow orders.
<li>(During photos) Making faces at the camera.
<li>(During fingerprinting) Smudging fingerprints.
<li>Switching clothes to confuse the guards.
<li>Stripping.
<li>Fasting -- but this is extremely dangerous,
and <em>not</em> recommended!
<li>Refusing to cite out.
<li>Refusing to leave.
<li>Pleading not guilty.
<li>Demanding a public defender.
<li>Demanding a speedy trial.
<li>Demanding a jury trial.
<li>Submitting many motions and requesting lots of hearings in court.
</ul>
<h3>Group Decisions</h3>
<p>Groups should clearly decide in advance on
which demands they are going to make
and which tactics they are going to use.
<p>Don't let authorities push you into making rushed decisions.
Bargain for more time if you need it.
<p>The purpose of legal solidarity is for people in the group
to take care of each other, not merely to make officials angry.
Non-cooperation is not done for its own sake.
<strong>Always use acts of resistance to take care of each other.</strong>
<h3>Police</h3>
<p>The only two things you need to say to the police are:
<ol>
<li>
"I am going to remain silent. I want a lawyer."
<li>
"I do not consent to a search."
</ol>
<p><strong>Nothing</strong> is "off the record"
or just a "casual conversation", despite what police may say.
Anything you say couuld be used against you or your friends.
<p>Do not single anyone out as the leader
or make anyone appear to be a leader.
<p>Do not sign anything, except for a citation if you choose to cite out.
<p>To resist arrest, you can go limp. A limp person is very hard to move.
<p>If police apply pain techniques, keep your head down
and protect your hands under your arms.
Scream long before it actually hurts, so they don't hurt you as much.
Act as wimpy as possible.
<h3>What to Bring</h3>
<p><strong>Do</strong> bring:
<ul>
<li>water
<li>warm clothes or many layers of clothes (it's cold in jail;
long sleeves also help to protect you from spray weapons)
<li>pen and paper
<li>first aid supplies
<li>nail clippers
<li>doctor's letter describing any medications you might need
</ul>
<p>Do <strong>not</strong> bring:
<ul>
<li>anything that has your name on it (if you plan to participate
in jail solidarity)
<li>Swiss army knife, Leatherman, or anything that looks like a weapon
<li>address book (erase the address book of your cellphone if you bring it!)
</ul>
<p>Bringing medication is a personal choice.
If there is medication you need all the time,
consider taping it to yourself
so that police are less likely to take it away.
Do not bring unlabelled drugs; they'll simply take those.
If you need to have prescription medicine with you
but still want to hide your identity,
consider crossing out your name on the label.
<h3>Booking</h3>
<p>If you want, you can interfere with the booking process
by refusing to give any information.
However, do not lie. Giving a false name is a crime;
refusing to give your name is not.
<p>You can thwart fingerprinting by smudging,
or putting saliva, glue, or vaseline on your fingers.
<p>You can make photographs harder to take
by making faces, covering your face, moving, or even going limp.
You could decide to swap clothes with others
after pictures are taken,
to make it harder to keep track of you.
<h3>Jail</h3>
<p>Prevent the police from separating members of the group.
When negotiating with police,
select a spokesperson for the group, then try to keep them in the middle
(not out in front) when they talk to the police.
<p>It is highly unlikely that an unsuccessful jail solidarity
will worsen any of the charges against you.
<p>Police frequently lie and say there is no lawyer to see you,
or that you have to fulfill some requirement (e.g. know the lawyer's name)
before you can see them. All you need to do is ask for "someone from
the legal team."
<p>Make sure that the lawyers you see are <strong>our lawyers</strong>
from the National Lawyer's Guild.
Ask for identification. Make a phone call if you're not sure.
<p>Lawyers work for <strong>you</strong>.
They do not strategize for you.
They are not supposed to influence your decisions.
However, lawyers often don't understand jail solidarity.
If a lawyer is not helping you achieve what you want, fire them.
<p><strong>Know the number of the National Lawyers Guild: 415 285-1011.</strong>
<p>All telephone calls from jail can be monitored.
<h3>Arraignment</h3>
<p>Your bargaining position is strongest if you demand all your rights:
<ul>
<li>Plead not guilty.
<li>Ask for a public defender.
<li>Do <em>not</em> waive the right to a speedy trial.
<li>Ask for a jury trial.
</ul>
<p>If enough people demand all of these things,
it's simply impossible for the system to process them all
in time for a speedy trial.
<p>Judges are not supposed to lie, but they have lied in the past.
(In DC, a judge told each activist
that all the others had cited out and been released,
and lawyers were even planted in the jail to tell people
that no one else was willing to participate in jail solidarity.)
The judge may warn you that you'll be in jail for a long time
if you don't give your name.
Your appointed public defender may also lie,
or at least try to get done with you as quickly as possible.
<strong>Stick to your guns.</strong>
(You can always give your name and cite out if you decide
you need to get out of jail, but make it an informed decision.
If you've withheld your name, you can always cite out later.)
<h3>Plea Bargaining</h3>
<p>Police <em>cannot make plea bargains</em>.
They do not charge you.
Only a prosecutor can reduce your charges.
<p>When negotiating,
meet with the whole group and make clear decisions
about what everyone is willing to accept.
You need to decide both what <strong>charges</strong> are acceptable
and what <strong>sentence</strong> is acceptable.
Select a spokesperson to talk to the prosecutor.
<p>The spokeperson should
make the group appear unified and absolutely committed.
There is more strength in <em>unity</em>
than in any particular tactic.
<p>
When a bargain is struck, be sure to <strong>get it in writing</strong>.
In addition to demands about your <strong>charges</strong>
and <strong>sentence</strong>,
your demands can specify the order in which people are booked or released.
<p>
An example of a typical bargain is
where everyone gets a jaywalking ticket (an infraction),
with no fines, probation, or community service.
This has actually worked before.