Hello all! PIELC (Public Interest Environmental Law Conference) is fast approaching in Eugene, and we want to update with you on ways that you can learn with us AND party with us this year. This week is a great celebration of the intersections of law and the movement for conservation and the climate, so we hope to see you there!
Know Your Rights for Activists Training on Campus (McKenzie Hall, Room 129)
Wednesday, February 20th, 5:30-8pm
The CLDC is providing a Know Your Rights Training on campus open to all members of the community.
Learn what your constitutional rights are and how they apply to protest, direct action and demonstration. Learn the “magic words” to say while interacting with law enforcement and ICE in order to keep you and your friends safe. We will walk you through the legal system and what to expect if you are arrested. Finally this training focuses on ways the government and law enforcement try to suppress our movements, and how you can stay resilient to repression.
Please join us for this training and gain the skills necessary to protect yourself and your community!
Political Repression and Corporate Surveillance in the Era of Climate Crisis (EMU 104)
Friday, March 1st 3pm-4:15pm
As the global climate crisis spirals out of control, fossil fuel pipeline construction in at least two dozen US states has been facing fierce resistance. But police and corporate mercenaries are often meeting these struggles with violent repression–especially the indigenous-led rebellion against the Dakota Access Pipeline in 2016-17. Meanwhile, politicians throughout the country have also passed laws further criminalizing pipeline protest. Join Civil Liberties Defense Center Executive Director Lauren Regan and investigative journalist Will Parrish as they survey the landscape of anti-pipeline struggles in North America — including the campaign against the Pacific Connector Pipeline in Southern Oregon
Panelists: Lauren Regan, Civil Liberties Defense Center; Will Parrish, Investigative Journalist
Mass Civil Disobedience to Protect Life (LAW 175)
Friday, March 1st 4:30pm-5:45pm
Ende Gelände, Valve Turner, and attorney activists discuss the rights and moral responsibility to resist fossil fuel systems. The harms include runaway climate change, an extreme and existential threat to human and non-human life. The right to climate civil disobedience is based on the following sources and principles: U.S. Constitution; Public Trust; Rights to Self-Determination; Rights of Indigenous Peoples; Universal Declaration of Human Rights; International Treaties; Customary International Law; and Rights of non-human entities.
Panelists: Selma Richter, Ende Gelände; Johanna Winter, Ende Gelände; Leonard Higgins, Valve-Turners/Extinction Rebellion; Lauren Regan, Civil Liberties Defense Center; Alice Cherry, Climate Defense Project
Starting & Maintaining a Public Interest Law Practice (LAW 110)
Saturday, March 2nd 9am-10:15am
Three public interest attorneys will discuss how they started, and continue to maintain, a public interest law practice. Issues covered include forming a business entity, paying taxes, developing and maintaining a client base, managing and organizing a case load, surviving financially, dealing with student loan debt, and finding a work/life balance. Panelists will also discuss the pros and cons of starting a private practice versus working as a staff attorney.
Panelists: Lauren Regan, Founding Attorney, Civil Liberties Defense Center; Rebecca K. Smith, Founding Attorney, Public Interest Defense Center, P.C.; Tim Bechtold, Founding Attorney, Bechtold Law Firm, PLLC
REBEL REVELRY BENEFIT PARTY! (Eugene Garden Club, 1645 High St)
Saturday, March 2nd 7pm-12am
Civil Liberties Defense Center’s annual Rebel Revelry fundraising party at the Public Interest Environmental Law Conference (PIELC).
Come unwind, get to know each other, and support the CLDC!
There will be live music, delicious food, local beer & wine, awesome climate and social justice activists from all across the country, & raffle prizes!
Live music by Alder St. and Geophagia
The event is a fundraiser for CLDC with a sliding scale $5-$100, suggested donation $20.
Help us celebrate more than 15 years of defending frontline activists! Please share with friends; the event is open to the community as well as conference attendees.
There’s no better time to be a rebel!