Business People
St. Paul Pioneer Press (Minnesota) – Sept 30

Leonard, Street and Deinard, Minneapolis, and the family of Hyman Edelman sponsored a two-year, fully paid Equal Justice Works fellowship award for Emily Teplin to work with the Minnesota Disability Law Center, a statewide project of the Legal Aid Society of Minnesota.

In the Law Schools
Chicago Daily Law Bulletin – Sept 28

Ruth Lopez, a 2d-year student at Chicago-Kent College of Law, has been named to the National Advisory Committee of Equal Justice Works.

Editorial: More Housing Woes in Mississippi
The New York Times – Sept 27

As the poorest state in the country, Mississippi should have no trouble finding low- and moderate-income homeowners to share in the more than $5 billion in emergency federal aid funneled into the state after Hurricane Katrina. But a startling new analysis by a coalition of state and national housing advocates [including Equal Justice Works Katrina Fellow Riley Morse] accuses Mississippi of using loopholes in the law to spend far too much on middle- and upper-income households and far too little on those most in need of help.

Passing the housing buck
By Larry Higgs and Zach Patberg, Asbury Park Press – Sept 16

It could be considered suburbia's dirty little loophole…. [Regional Contribution Agreements (RCAs)] allow suburban towns, within designated regions, to write a check and transfer up to half of their obligation to build affordable housing to other towns and cities. Housing advocates say RCAs are good news and bad news. They provide cash to refurbish or build needed affordable housing in urban areas, but suburban towns aren't doing any of that. Across the nation, New Jersey is the only state that uses RCAs as a way to provide affordable housing, said Adam Gordon, staff attorney for the Fair Share Housing Center in Cherry Hill.

Advocates blast proposal to steer housing funds to port project
By Sheila Byrd, Associated Press – Sept 13

The Mississippi Development Authority's plan to divert $600 million from the Hurricane Katrina housing program to a state port restoration project has outraged advocacy groups who say the proposal shortchanges thousands of people still homeless on the Gulf Coast. …To reduce the available funding only exacerbates the problem, said Reilly Morse of the Mississippi Center for Justice. "It's just unfair," Morse said. "We've been told affordable housing was supposed to be a priority. Don't rob the displaced to build a port."

Death of immigrant in custody probed
By Peter Reuell, MetroWest Daily News – Sept 13

Two investigations have been launched into what caused a 25-year-old Framingham resident to die Tuesday, more than a week after falling ill while in state police custody. …The death is the second time an immigrant died in police custody in just over a month. The two deaths have raised eyebrows among some civil rights groups, particularly the ACLU of Massachusetts, which yesterday said it will closely monitor the investigations into Medeiros' death. "It remains to be seen whether the appropriate state agencies…are going to conduct a thorough investigation," said ACLU attorney [and Equal Justice Works Fellow] Anjali Waikar. "There are a lot of concerns we have, specifically about the basis for this stop, in addition to the arrest itself. I think this situation deserves intense scrutiny."

Law Professor to Receive Award from Equal Justice Works
Targeted News Service (Boston) – Sept 7

Clinical Law Professor Ilene Seidman has been chosen to receive the Equal Justice Works 2007 Outstanding Law School Faculty Award. The award, given each year, honors a law faculty member for outstanding work on behalf of students seeking careers in public interest law.

Long Branch-Colts Neck RCA in Doubt
Atlanticville (Long Branch, NJ) – Sept 7

The Appellate Division of the New Jersey Superior Court decided Aug. 15 that a Regional Contribution Agreement (RCA) that would allow Colts Neck Township to transfer its affordable housing obligation to the city of Long Branch does not comply with state regulations, according to an attorney with a nonprofit law firm that challenged the agreement. The decision is "especially noteworthy," according to Adam Gordon of the Cherry Hill based Fair Share Housing Center (FSHC) law firm, who said this case marks the first time a New Jersey court has ever invalidated an RCA.