news release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
May 9, 2008

CONTACT:
James Carroll
(202) 466-3686 ext. 102 		jcarroll@equaljusticeworks.org
www.equaljusticeworks.org
EQUAL JUSTICE WORKS FELLOW TESTIFIES ON CAPITOL HILL
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Reilly Morse, Equal Justice Works Fellow and attorney for the Mississippi Center for Justice, delivered testimony yesterday on the state of hurricane recovery efforts in the Gulf Coast. Morse testified during the Housing and Community Opportunity Subcommittee hearing on “Emergency CDGB (Community Development Block Grant) Funds in the Gulf Coast: Uses, Challenges, and Lessons for the Future.” Morse’s host organization, the Mississippi Center for Justice, was one of the groups that requested the hearing.

Much of the hearing focused on Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour’s approved proposal to divert millions in hurricane relief funds from housing to public infrastructure and expanding business in the Port of Gulfport. Morse has been one of the most vocal and active opponents of this proposal, which would take money directly from hurricane survivors and limit the services and aid they would receive. In his prepared testimony, Morse outlined the devastation caused by the hurricanes and the failure of officials to properly distribute and utilize funds throughout the Gulf Coast.

“Mississippi’s decision to redirect $600 million from housing to a massive expansion of the State Port at Gulfport removes any hope for thousands of low-income homeowners and renters displaced by Hurricane Katrina of return to safe and affordable housing,” Morse said in his testimony. During the hearing, Morse also made several strong recommendations for action and reform on behalf of the Mississippi Center for Justice.

When Hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated the Gulf Coast region in 2005 and left hundreds of thousands of people without homes, jobs, access to health care or social services, Equal Justice Works responded by establishing the Katrina Initiative to support public interest attorneys in the area for up to two years. Morse, along with 18 other Katrina Legal Fellows, greatly increased the capacity of organizations across several states to manage the unprecedented web of legal problems, bureaucratic red tape and financial disruption that resulted from the hurricanes. In 2007, Equal Justice Works produced Survivors of the Storm: Securing Justice in Post-Katrina America, a short documentary featuring the work of Morse and other Equal Justice Works Lawyers in the Gulf Region.

Now entering its final year, the Katrina Initiative has successfully met the challenge of providing emergency legal assistance and is now focusing on long-term goals. The Initiative is focused on building strong legal foundations to provide access to justice so that individuals can stabilize their lives and, eventually, communities in the Gulf Coast will thrive once again. Through the Katrina Initiative, Equal Justice Works has created a model for quickly mobilizing and responding to future disasters. To learn more about the initiative and other Equal Justice Works programs, visit www.equaljusticeworks.org.

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The Mississippi Center for Justice was founded in Jackson in June 2003. Its mission is to provide Mississippi with a home-grown, nonprofit public interest law firm committed to advancing racial and economic justice statewide. In October 2005, MCJ established its Katrina Recovery Office on the Mississippi coast. There its staff works with legal and community partners to rebuild more just and inclusive communities. MCJ relies on the private contributions of friends and supporters both inside and outside the state. Newsletters and other information regarding MCJ, its work and staff are posted on its web site, www.mscenterforjustice.org.

Equal Justice Works, a nonprofit, nonpartisan 501(c)(3) organization, was founded in 1986 by law students dedicated to working for equal justice on behalf of underserved communities and causes. Today, Equal Justice Works is the national leader in creating summer and postgraduate public interest opportunities for law students and lawyers as well as in urging more public interest programming at law schools. For more information, visit www.equaljusticeworks.org.

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