Movement Law Lab

📣 Calling All Lawyers Ready to Defend and Flank Social Movements for Liberation! Movement Law Lab is now on BlueSky! Follow us at @movementlawlab.bsky.social to connect with other lawyers who are: ⚖️ Developing strategies to challenge authoritarianism 💡 Sharing tools and resources to strengthen social movements ✊ Committed to standing alongside organizers to build long-term, sustainable power Whether you’re an experienced litigator, movement lawyer, or just beginning your journey into this work, this is your space to learn. 👉 Join us here: https://lnkd.in/eY928ZDc Reply with your BlueSky handle below so that we can follow you too.

Fighting for climate justice, housing justice, and racial equity requires long-term strategies and legal support. Our Movement Partnerships team works alongside grassroots organizers to provide the legal tools they need to create lasting change. Learn more about the team at Movement Law Lab doing this work. https://lnkd.in/eaxryJmY

The right to vote and to protest are both key functions of our democracy that are essential to movements for racial and social justice. Protecting the ability of everyday people to engage in democratic processes is crucial in a period marked by rising authoritarianism and increased election sabotage, voter repression, protest repression, criminalization, on-going police and political violence. Progressive lawyers and law students: This is an URGENT CALL TO ACTION. Election Day is fast approaching, and we need you to volunteer before, during, and after to protect grassroots groups taking collective action. The right to vote and to protest are both key functions of our democracy that are essential to movements for racial and social justice. Protecting the ability of everyday people to engage in democratic processes is crucial in a period marked by rising authoritarianism and increased election sabotage, voter repression, protest repression, criminalization, on-going police and political violence. Progressive lawyers and law students: This is an URGENT CALL TO ACTION. Election Day is fast approaching, and we need you to volunteer before, during, and after to protect grassroots groups taking collective action. https://lnkd.in/efqsx3ku

The Global Network of Movement Lawyers, hosted by Movement Law Lab, is excited to continue our symposium with Law and Political Economy with another piece by Lamine Benghazi of Avocats Sans Frontières en Tunisie - ASF spotlighting Tunisia as a case study on democratic backsliding to serve as a cautionary tale for what we may lose when we allow authoritarians to seize power and neglect the necessary ingredients for building a robust democratic polity post-revolution. https://lnkd.in/dk6KfYQ9

With neoliberal hegemony as a backdrop, authoritarianism is rising globally. In response, movements and their lawyers must devise creative ways of using the law to push back against repressive regimes. We're exploring this subject with a written symposium of the Global Network of Movement Lawyers & the Law & Political Economy Blog with a powerful piece by our own Meena Jagannath, Director of Global Programs, and Felipe Mesel, Global Program Manager. https://lnkd.in/dHTH9bcs

2Ls: Summer 2025 internship with Movement Law Lab. Paid. Apply by October 15.

Many of us entered the legal field believing in justice. Now, we must redefine what justice means in a world that demands more than winning court cases.

Our MLL colleague Meena Jagannath was part of assembling more than 140 international human rights organizations to urge United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to rehear @theCCR case on the genocide in Gaza. Federal courts have an obligation to enforce fundamental human rights norms against genocide. Read our brief & others here: https://lnkd.in/eiWPSeai #Palestine

“Understanding the Right-Wing’s Takeover of the US Judiciary: A Historical Overview” The right-wing’s control of the US judiciary didn’t happen overnight. It’s the result of a decades-long strategy rooted in the backlash against ‘Brown v. Board of Education,’ the landmark Supreme Court decision that banned racial segregation in schools. The desire to maintain racial hierarchies and prevent Black children from accessing equal education opportunities has been a driving force behind this movement, which continues today with initiatives like Project 2025. 🔍 Key Moments in the Right-Wing Judicial Strategy: 1️⃣ The Powell Memo (1971): Corporate lawyer Lewis Powell’s memo became the blueprint for right-wing judicial power, urging businesses to engage directly in politics, especially through the courts, to counteract the progressive gains of the Civil Rights Movement. 2️⃣ Rise of the Federalist Society: Starting as a student group, the Federalist Society quickly became a powerful network for placing ideologically aligned judges in key positions, advancing a conservative, corporate-friendly agenda rooted in the backlash against racial equality. 3️⃣ Reagan Era Momentum: Under President Reagan, Federalist Society lawyers took key roles in the Justice Department, and the judicial selection process increasingly favored judges who would support the right-wing’s goals, including rolling back civil rights protections. 4️⃣ The Modern Court: Leonard Leo and the Federalist Society played a significant role in shaping the current Supreme Court, where decisions like the gutting of Roe v. Wade and the weakening of environmental protections reflect a deeply political judiciary aligned with the same forces that resisted Brown v. Board of Education. 5️⃣ Institutional Support: Organizations like the Heritage Foundation and ALEC have been instrumental in supporting and funding this judicial strategy, reshaping American law to favor corporate and right-wing interests, while undermining the progress of racial justice. 🔗 Why It Matters: The consequences of this judicial takeover are far-reaching: decisions that undermine democracy, roll back civil rights, and protect corporate power. Understanding this history—how it ties back to the resistance against racial equality—is the first step in fighting back and ensuring a judiciary that truly represents the people. Movement lawyers and organizers, it’s crucial to understand the right-wing’s takeover of the judiciary so that we can resist accordingly. Get started by reading “A Brief History of the Right-Wing Takeover of the US Judiciary” at Convergence Magazine. https://lnkd.in/ewpqxENc Thanks to Convergence Magazine for getting this published!

Thank you to all the folk who made this event possible and all the people who showed up! We discussed the Block & Build organizing strategy. If you're not familiar with it, check out this great resource at Convergence Magazine -> https://lnkd.in/eqxZMAc3