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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowAmid continuing national protests following the police killing of George Floyd, the Indiana State Bar Association is offering training today to those who want to help protect the rights of peaceful protestors.
The ISBA, in partnership with the National Lawyers Guild, Pro Bono Indiana and Heartland Pro Bono, is giving a one-hour training tonight on acting as a “legal observer” — trained volunteers who support the legal rights of citizens participating in protests.
The training will be held online from 5-6 p.m. and is free for both members and nonmembers of the state bar. Participants do not have to be a licensed attorney to be a legal observer.
“The Legal Observer program is designed to enable people to express their political views as fully as possible without unconstitutional disruption or interference by the police and with the fewest possible consequences from the criminal justice system,” according to a news release from the ISBA. At the training, “(y)ou’ll learn more about what being a legal observer means and how to be one, and there will be plenty of time for Q&A.”
The training will be given by David Frank, a Fort Wayne attorney and president of the Indiana chapter of the National Lawyers Guild. It comes as Indianapolis and other cities nationwide enter the second weekend of protests — some turning violent — against the treatment of black Americans by the police.
“My wife and I took part in the protests last weekend as legal observers and felt like it was a great experience, and we could see the way the protest was able to remain calm with legal observers holding others accountable,” Indianapolis attorney Oscar Rivas Jr. said in a statement released through the ISBA.
Registration and additional information about the program is available here.
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