The National Committee for Justice in Denver is composed of constitutional rights lawyers, legal scholars, trade unionists, educators, journalists, clergy, human rights activists and others in social justice movements from all over the United States. We have come together in defense of free speech rights and in opposition to the dangerous campaign to criminalize dissent by charging peaceful protest leaders with serious crimes that could send them to prison for decades. On Sept. 17, 2020, multiple Denver-area police forces carried out a coordinated series of arrests of lead organizers of peaceful protests against police brutality. Three of the activists, Eliza Lucero, Joel Northam, and Lillian House, were held in jail for eight days in dangerous and degrading conditions before they were brought before a judge. They now face numerous felony and misdemeanor charges that could put them in prison for as many as 48 years.
It is a bitter irony that the leaders of peaceful protests demanding justice for Elijah McClain, a 23-year-old Black man murdered by Aurora police, are the ones who are now facing arrests and decades in prison. We have come together to mobilize public support throughout the nation to demand that the political prosecution of these social justice activists be dropped. Justice requires nothing less!
Initial —Signers
National Organizer and spokesperson, Black Alliance for Peace
Executive Director, AJ Muste Institute; former Executive Director, National Lawyers Guild
Journalist, Documentary Filmmaker, Creator of Empire Files
Civil Rights and Employment Lawyer, lawyer for the McClain family
Author, Moores Chair of History & African American Studies, University of Houston
Founder, Colorado Freedom Fund
Author, Documentary Film Producer, Founder of CODEPINK-Women for Peace
Pulitzer-prize winning journalist, activist, host of On Contact
President, Denver Area Labor Federation
Lawyer and Activist, Founder, Partnership for Civil Justice Fund
Executive Director emeritus of the National Lawyers Guild of Los Angeles
Immigration Activist, Community Leader, Co-founder, Sanctuary4All
Co-Director, Kairos: The Center for Religions, Rights, and Social Justice
Author and Community Organizer, National Welfare Rights Union
Community Organizer, Faith Leader, Popular Education Project
Director, Colorado Palestine Club; Youth Celebrate Diversity; University of Colorado
Professor emeritus, Africana Studies, University of Northern Colorado
State Director, 9to5 Colorado
Vice President, United Auto Workers Local 5810
Professor of Political Science, Hobart and William Smith Colleges