ANNOUNCEMENTS
- 2009 Equal Justice Works Fellowships application now available
- AU’s Charlene Gomes joins Equal Justice Works’ Law School Advocacy team
- Corporation for National and Community Service renews Equal Justice Works grant
Equal Justice Works/West
About Equal Justice Works/West
In March 2008, Equal Justice Works opened the first office outside of its Washington, D.C., headquarters in San Francisco. Equal Justice Works/West is part of the organization’s strategy to strengthen its existing programs and expand the reach of its efforts on the West Coast.
Equal Justice Works/West will begin by coordinating and expanding services in California by:
- Supporting Equal Justice Works lawyers in California through training and coordination;
- Providing programming for alumni, sponsors, law schools and host organizations;
- Overseeing the fellowship selection process including participating in interviews of fellowship candidates on the West Coast;
- Participating in the design and implementation of strategic reform initiatives, especially in substantive areas (e.g. juvenile justice, immigration and human rights); and
- Assisting headquarters staff in developing strategies to increase the organization’s presence throughout the Western region and other parts of the country.
Equal Justice Works/West is led by civil rights attorney and legal educator, Diane Chin.
Contributions in California
Equal Justice Works was founded in 1986 and established the Equal Justice Works Fellowship Program in 1993. Since then, Equal Justice Works has placed 127 Equal Justice Works Fellows and 85 AmeriCorps Legal Fellows at nonprofit organizations throughout the state to assist underserved communities, causes and individuals, ranging from direct services groups to children’s rights organizations to the ACLU. Upon completing their fellowships, an estimated 80 percent of our Fellows remain in public service. Currently, there are 31 Equal Justice Works Lawyers working in legal services and advocacy organizations in California.
Last year, Equal Justice Works’ Summer Corps program for law students included 57 students working in California, accounting for over 16 percent of the 350 total slots in the annual program.
Equal Justice Works in California
Contact
Diane Chin
(510) 207-8102
dchin@equaljusticeworks.org
West Coast Events
2008 Equal Justice Works Reception in Los Angeles
Tuesday, June 24
Millennium Biltmore Hotel Los Angeles
506 South Grand Avenue
Los Angeles
To post a West Coast event, please contact info@equaljusticeworks.org.
West Coast News
Deal is struck to overhaul wiretap law
By Eric Lichtblau, The New York Times – June 20
After months of wrangling, Democratic and Republican leaders in Congress struck a deal on Thursday to overhaul the rules on the government's wiretapping powers and provide what amounts to legal immunity to the phone companies that took part in President Bush's program of eavesdropping without warrants after the Sept. 11 attacks. The deal, expanding the government's powers to spy on terrorism suspects in some major respects, would strengthen the ability of intelligence officials to eavesdrop on foreign targets. ''No matter how they spin it, this is still immunity,'' said Kevin Bankston, a senior lawyer for the Electronic Frontier Foundation a pro-privacy group that is a plaintiff suing over the wiretapping program. ''It's not compromise; it's pure theater.'' Kevin Bankston is a former Equal Justice Works Fellow.