The May monthly meeting for May will take place on Wednesday, May 8, at 6:30 p.m., at New Freeway Hall, 5018 Rainier Ave. South (Columbia City -- accessibly both by light rail and Bus No. 7).

Annual elections for officers will be held.  The proposed slate is:

Neil Fox, President

Jenn Kaplan, Vice President

Phil Chinn, Secretary

Val Carlson, Treasurer

Amanda Schemkes, Student Rep

Be sure to attend and make your voice heard! Any dues-paying member of the NLG may vote in the elections (or run for office!). Nominations may be made at the meeting as well.

The NLG is co-sponsoring Costa Rican attorney, Luis Roberto Zamora Bolanos' trip to Seatlte.  He will speak about "Litigating the Right to Peace" on June 22 at Seattle University Law School.  His trip will be co-sponsored with a variety of groups, including the WSBA World Peace Through Law section.  Stay tuned for more details.

Because of the regional conference on April 6, there will be no chapter meeting in April

Join us on Saturday, April 6, at the University of Washington, HUB Room 332, for the Northwest Regional Conference.  Registration and socializing begin at 9:30 a.m.

Programs through the day include (1) reports from the NLG national student coordinator, (2) a session on student debt as a human right's challenge, (3) a session on defending against grand juries, (4) a session on using automatic bias and stereotyping research in our work.  
 

Come join us!

The NLG recently prevailed, on behalf of the Stranger, in a motion to unseal a search warrant file in federal court.  The warrant related to the current grand jury investigation of anarchists and the events of May Day, 2013.  The affidavit had originally been filed in the public file, but after the Seattle Times and the P-I put out stories about the affidavit, the Government quickly moved to seal the files.  
Neil Fox, as a cooperating NLG attorney, represented The Stranger, an alternative news weekly in Seattle, in a motion to unseal the warrant file.  The Government opposed the motion and even wanted to litigate the unsealing motion in a sealed proceeding.  Ultimately, Magistrate Judge Mary Alice Theiler issued a report and recommendation that the file be unsealed and that the affidavit be released in a redacted form (with names and personal identifiers being redacted).  On January 30, 2013, Judge Richard Jones signed an order granting the motion to unseal, and the file is now accessible to the public (along with the redacted search warrant affidavit).