Syllabus 5
If you become ensnared by the legal system
Even if you’re under arrest or agents are knocking on your door, you have rights and you have choices. Here’s who to contact in a crisis, a roadmap to your choices in the criminal legal system, and how to respond to subpoenas, warrants, and door knocks.
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You can email massdef@nlg.org or find the phone number/email for your local chapter of the National Lawyers Guild. NLG can assist with urgent protest-related legal questions, and can help you find a free or low cost lawyer. Here is the NLG Chapter Directory:
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From the moment you are arrested or served with a warrant, to when you’re trying to decide which plea to take, you have choices. This document helps you navigate the criminal legal system, with your choices laid out at each step
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This guide covers the serious stuff: what your rights are and what you can do if an agent knocks on your door, a cop has a search warrant, you suspect you’re being infiltrated, or you’ve received a grand jury subpoena. This guide has all the nuts and bolts - can my roommate consent to a search? What are the limits on the government’s power to send infiltrators? - and gives concrete advice for how to navigate your options.
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Here are 1-page reference sheets about what to do if approached by agents and what to do once they leave.
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Can I get sued for protesting? This guide covers the state of play with Doe v. McKesson and other civil suits against activists. Courts have upheld only a narrow window for suits against protest organizers to proceed. Other powerful corporations and individuals might try to sue activists to shut them up. This guide gives the lay of the land for civil lawsuit risks to activists.
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