By Kylee Belanger
I run the Legal Observer (LO) program for the San Diego chapter of the National Lawyers Guild (NLG). Established in 1937, the NLG is a progressive bar association dedicated to using law in service of human rights over property interests and was the first U.S. bar association to be racially integrated. While our most visible work is our Legal Observer program, we work on myriad progressive causes, including homelessness advocacy, ending mass incarceration, labor and immigration rights, and more.
Legal Observers (LOs) are trained volunteers who attend demonstrations at the request of organizers to observe and document police activity. They monitor and document police actions during First Amendment-protected activity and any arrests. At times, LOs provide jail and court support to protesters as they wind their way through the legal system. The presence of LOs can put police on notice that their actions are being observed, which can discourage unconstitutional conduct on the part of law enforcement.
Protests are incredibly dynamic events; they are loud, confusing, large, and fast. Trying to get a clear picture of what happened, especially when a use of force occurs, requires trained people who know what to look for and can be trusted to tell the unvarnished truth. It only takes a second for an officer to grab someone by the neck and body slam them, and our job is to witness and document contemporaneously exactly how that takedown was performed.
The goal of Legal Observation is to deter law enforcement from escalating and using force against demonstrators unless absolutely necessary. That importance cannot be overstated, as we recently saw and documented unnecessary escalation at the protests in the city of La Mesa. The NLG strongly encourages San Diego law enforcement agencies to embrace structural change, including (but certainly not limited to) an independent commission on police practices and a commitment to real accountability to the community, and a dramatic reduction in use of force through a commitment to the precepts of de-escalation both at protests and on the beat.
Anybody interested in joining our team should contact khb@kyleehbelanger.com.
LOs, especially in San Diego, are generally lawyers and law students. LOs attend demonstrations to observe and document police activity for the purpose of acting as witnesses of civil and criminal actions that may arise from demonstrations.
Kylee Belanger (khb@kyleehbelanger.com) is the Director of the San Diego National Lawyers Guild Legal Observation Program.