Repression is an umbrella term for the many ways the government tries to deter or punish people who act against the interests of the powerful. Under this umbrella you may commonly hear about surveillance, intimidation, infiltration, arrest, incarceration, torture, and in extreme cases, murder.
Legal repression describes the specific and essential role that courts, law enforcement, and policy-makers play in defending the powerful from those who challenge them. These tools have been consciously developed over time to uphold systems of oppression, protect private property, and maintain the “status quo” for those who benefit from it.
When the legal system and its enforcers work against efforts to change these systems in ways that would redistribute power to the people, everything is working as designed.
Legal repression can take many forms from financial sanctions to criminal charges, lengthy and expensive civil suits, and police violence and terrorism designations. An example you’re probably familiar with is the 1950s Red Scare–where a wide range of people with suspected ties to the Communist Party were surveilled, prosecuted, and even executed. But it can also creep up in less expected ways like tax law and non-profit status, which you can learn more about in our episode “Non-Profits & Repression.”
Anti-repression is another umbrella term for the many ways communities in resistance try to prepare for and mitigate the impacts of repression. This includes trainings, workshops, art, writing, potlucks, jail solidarity, defendant and prisoner support, and we hope, podcasts.
You can hear about an example of this in our interview with Jess and Tracy from the the Anti War 23, a group of defendants whose homes were raided by the FBI in the wake of protests against the Republican National Convention in St Paul, Minnesota in 2008. The Anti War 23 did many things to build a culture of anti-repression from leaning on community members for childcare, to hosting press conferences, to making plans together to resist grand jury subpoenas, to the cross-country speaking tour they went on to raise awareness, support, and funds.
As long as there have been people fighting to change violent systems, there have been people facing legal repression. And as long as people have faced repression, they have fought fiercely to keep each other free. There are many reasons to gather their stories.
Gathering these stories can counter isolation and demonization and the chilling effects of the fear and social division caused by the state’s actions. By listening to humanizing stories from those facing repression and learning from each other, we can counterbalance these harms through reminders that we are not starting from scratch, we are not social pariahs, and we are not alone.
Additionally, we usually only hear about legal repression as one-time headlines when people first catch charges. But those headlines are often the start of years-long court battles. We cannot let anyone in the struggle be forgotten about or disappeared by the state. Uplifting stories from people facing serious charges or serving time is a crucial way that we keep a light on their experiences, bolster support, and keep ourselves from forgetting.
Do not talk to the cops! Not about yourself, your neighbor, your kid, or your enemy.
You can and should always say, “I invoke my right to remain silent and I want to speak to an attorney.”
In the words of the people’s favorite lawyer Moira Meltzer-Cohen: “You can’t talk your way out of custody but you can talk your way into a conviction.” You can hear Mo talk about what to do if the cops knock on your door on our episode about the NLG Federal Anti-Repression Hotline.
In other words… shut the f*ck up.
If we didn’t answer your question here, please email us at outlawpod@proton.me!