In September of 2020, the Maryland Green Party lost one of our key organizers and supporters, Kevin Zeese. Kevin represented the Maryland Green Party honorably as a candidate for U.S. Senate and worked alongside us for many years. To honor his memory and his support of the Green Party, shortly after his passing, the Maryland Green Party established the Kevin Zeese Memorial Fund.

Kevin Zeese was an attorney who worked with or founded many groups, such as National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), Voters for Peace, and Popular Resistance, which he co-founded in 2013. Kevin also recognized that Green Parties across the country have come under attack for simply attempting to exercise their right to exist as political entities and run candidates for public office.

2020 Green Party Presidential nominee Howie Hawkins catalogued a number of recent legal attacks made against Green Parties and candidates across the country. The Maryland Green Party recognizes and shares the concern over these legal struggles as well, and while we agreed that a general purpose fund was nice, we felt the need to do something more.

Now, with the support of his family, the Maryland Green Party is honored to announce a new name and focus for this fund:

The Kevin Zeese Legal Defense Fund

Contributions made to this fund will be held in reserve to assist the Maryland Green Party with legal representation, particularly to protect the Maryland Green Party's ballot access and ability to perform the legal functions of a political party committee under Maryland law.

The Maryland Green Party recognizes the importance of maintaining its ballot access and ability to run candidates without undue barriers to participation. The Party is committed to raising funds to defend itself against attacks on its ability to exist and operate as a political entity.

Click here to contribute to the Kevin Zeese Legal Defense Fund. (Link opens in new window.)

In Solidarity,

Maryland Green Party
http://www.mdgreens.org/

Photograph by Jon Flanders