The Right to Safe, Decent, and Discrimination-Free Housing

Home should be a safe place. For a group of tenants living at the Woods of Savannah, a Project-Based Section 8 housing complex for individuals who are at least 62 years old or have disabilities, the experience was anything but safe and decent.

The tenants, three single African American women with disabilities, faced repeated instances of racial harassment while living at the complex—white tenants, for example, would use their dogs to threaten the women and block their access to common areas. The women endured racial slurs, physical threats, stalking, harassment at work, and being the subject of false police reports.

Unsafe, dehumanized, and wanting the abuse to end, the women submitted dozens of complaints to the property management but were ignored. The property management refused to investigate these allegations and threatened the women with eviction if they did not stop filing complaints.

Under the Fair Housing Act, a landlord can be held liable for tenant-on-tenant race-based harassment when the landlord knew or should have known about the discriminatory conduct and failed to take prompt, reasonable action. Alison Slagowitz, a 2018 Equal Justice Works Fellow in the Georgia Housing Corps who is hosted by Georgia Legal Services Program (GLSP), took the case to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), submitting Fair Housing Act complaints for each client. She provided HUD with a detailed investigation report, including timelines of major incidents of harassment and documentary evidence.

Thanks to Alison’s incredible work, the parties reached a settlement through HUD’s conciliation process that provided financial compensation to the three clients and others affected by the hostile environment. Additionally, the property management was required to implement annual mandatory employee trainings on anti-discrimination laws and trainings for residents on diversity and inclusion.

“GLSP is very proud of the work that Alison is doing in Savannah,” said Georgia Legal Services Program Executive Director Rick Rufolo. “She is a fearless advocate and constantly looks for ways to break barriers and help protect the rights of vulnerable populations, including ex-offenders and people of color.”

Following her Fellowship, Alison plans to stay on with GLSP as a staff attorney, continuing her work to fight for housing stability and security in the private and public sectors. She was recently selected to join the Shriver Center on Poverty Law Racial Justice Institute, where she will use her legal background to advocate for and with people who are most impacted by injustice in the housing system.

To learn more about Alison’s Fellowship, visit her Fellow profile. The Georgia Housing Corps is supported by the Georgia Bar Foundation.

By Mary Armistead, 2018 Fellow in the Crime Victims Justice Corps, hosted at the Capital District Women’s Bar Association Legal Project

Mobs and sexual violence—these are usually people’s first thoughts when they hear “human trafficking.” However, trafficking—an often under-detected and misunderstood crime—is much more complex than the media-driven narrative.

Through my work as a Crime Victims Justice Corps Fellow (CVJC) in New York State, I have seen many misconceptions about human trafficking. In my clients’ experiences, human trafficking is often perpetrated by individuals or small groups of people, often related to each other, using coercion, not physical force, to lure the victim into a trafficking situation. According to the IOM’s 2017 Human Trafficking Global Database, worldwide nearly 80% of trafficking is forced labor trafficking, not sexual in nature.

Working as a Fellow in the CVJC has allowed me to understand a population that is often overlooked, and to combat stereotypes surrounding victims. Each survivor is different—they all have their own story about human trafficking. It’s especially important to recognize that trauma can affect each person in different ways, and thus manifest in different ways.

A trauma-informed approach recognizes the multi-faceted way trauma can impact a client. Their trauma may affect the way they see the world, whether they can trust those claiming to help them, if they can remember the details of what happened to them, and so much more. It’s important to use a trauma-informed approach because it ensures that the client feels understood, empowered, and comfortable with you.

For example, a trauma-informed approach is essential when trying to collect evidence. Trauma affects the way the brain works, especially in how it codes memories. Unfortunately, the process of extracting this information can be re-traumatizing. Expecting a client to come into an unfamiliar office environment and tell you a chronological story in an hour that encapsulates their traumatic experience is unrealistic. A trauma-informed approach would involve creating a welcoming and warm space for meetings, planning to have multiple meetings to hear a client’s story, addressing issues at the forefront of the client’s mind, and more. When you put in the effort, your clients are more likely to open up and share their stories.

Misconceptions about human trafficking leave people vulnerable to being solicited by traffickers, and cause victims of trafficking to remain hidden. Understanding the reality of human trafficking helps us all become better advocates for victims of trafficking.

*These misconceptions are based on Mary’s experience working as a public interest lawyer and are not based on any official reports/data.

To learn more about Mary’s project and the work of our Crime Victims Justice Corps, click here.

CVJC is supported by an award from the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office for Victims of Crime, Award Number 2017-MU-MU-K131, and private funding. The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this product are those of the contributors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.

By Lizett Rodriguez Peña, 2018 Equal Justice Works Fellow in the Crime Victims Justice Corps

I joined the Equal Justice Works Crime Victims Justice Corps because it was a chance to advocate for disenfranchised and marginalized rural workers in the community where I grew up, Watsonville, California.

My client’s stories reflect my own life story. I am a first-generation immigrant who witnessed labor trafficking in the United States at a young age.

I grew up in migrant camps about two hours from San Francisco. My experience in these camps opened my eyes to the discrimination, harassment, violence, and wage theft that rural workers face on an ongoing basis. In witnessing these atrocities, I became motivated to seek out justice on behalf of the most exploited communities of our society.

As a Fellow in the Crime Victims Justice Corps, I am one of 60 lawyers across our country focused on delivering civil legal assistance to victims of crime. At my host organization, California Rural Legal Assistance, I work alongside my colleagues to:

• assist victims of human trafficking and hate crimes in obtaining immigration relief
• represent immigrant victims of employment-related crimes at administrative and civil proceedings
• advocate for LGBTQ and indigenous immigrant victims in rural and agricultural areas of California

My clients’ stories illustrate how important this work is and empower me to continue fighting for justice every day. One of these clients came to my office pleading for help.

When I interviewed this client, he broke down crying, telling me he had been working without pay for weeks. His employer would physically abuse him—the violence escalated to the point where his employer pointed a gun at him.

My client tolerated the humiliation, the harassment, and the violence perpetrated by the employer because he needed to support his family. He is a migrant worker and was afraid to come forward due to fear of retaliation. Language barriers also prevented him from learning about their rights under U.S. law. He knew the situation was wrong, but didn’t quite understand that he had become a victim of labor trafficking.

I informed my client about his rights, and together we contacted local law enforcement that same day to look into the situation. He is now safe from his employer but is seeking therapy because of the physical and emotional distress caused by his victimization.

Access to legal services in rural areas of California is very limited, and many individuals in these parts of the state are unaware of their rights. Currently, California Rural Legal Assistance is the one of the few nonprofit organizations in the area that provides free representation for temporary immigration relief. Many farmworkers who enter the country with an H2A visa—a visa for temporary agricultural work—often find themselves being labor trafficked by their employers, but due to language barriers, cultural differences, and financial needs, these crimes go widely unreported. Eventually, these abuses become normalized as a result of daily occurrence.

It is so important to have public interest lawyers like the Crime Victims Justice Corps Fellows, who can advocate on behalf of victims and provide culturally competent and trauma-informed legal services.

I feel honored to be part of a nationwide network of dedicated lawyers who are passionate about this work and who I can learn from and lean on when it gets challenging. I am very grateful to have been given this opportunity to pursue my passion for service and to bring justice to communities most in need.

To learn more about Lizett’s project and the work of our Crime Victims Justice Corps, click here.

CVJC is supported by an award from the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office for Victims of Crime, Award Number 2017-MU-MU-K131, and private funding. The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this product are those of the contributors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.

By Allie Yang-Green, senior program manager at Equal Justice Works

As the COVID-19 pandemic rapidly changes the legal services landscape, attorneys, courts, and administrative agencies are searching for ways to continue providing key services while balancing public health concerns and the rights of those involved. Many Equal Justice Works Fellows, including over sixty in the Crime Victim Justice Corps, serve survivors of human trafficking and other crimes. They are on the frontlines of protecting survivors’ rights and safety in this challenging time.

Although pandemic-related restrictions have forced Fellows to postpone or digitally host many education and outreach events, their commitment to represent survivors does not cease. Fellows are working harder than ever to meet the needs of their clients under remote work arrangements and finding ways to overcome new legal challenges. The National Crime Victim Law Institute, an Equal Justice Works program partner, is currently supporting Fellows with technical assistance that is responsive to the current needs, and sharing resources and updates on victims’ rights issues.

In place of in-person meetings, Fellows are using survivor-centered strategies to provide legal representation virtually. Fellow Jean Ahn at Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles allows more time for client meetings by phone, especially when using an interpreter. Doing so allows her clients to fully share their stories and discuss their next steps even when working through an interpreter.

Fellow Noelle Lemon, at HIAS Pennsylvania, is sharing information with community partners and working hard to maintain communication with her clients. One of her clients has an upcoming interview at a local U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office that is scheduled the day the office is slated to re-open. Noelle has been advising her client over the phone to ensure that they are ready for the interview. She is carefully navigating the uncertainty of the government agency’s shifting schedules and its operational capacity so that she can be the trusted counselor to the immigrant trafficking survivor she is helping.

While some Fellows are navigating maintaining communication with their clients, other Fellows are working outside the box to tackle logistical issues amid social distancing measures. Fellow Marissa Mowery, hosted by the Los Angeles Center for Law and Justice, is crafting a due process argument so that the federal administrative agency will accept her client’s digital signature, instead of a wet signature, ensuring that the client does not have to risk their safety to deliver the physical document.

Not all challenges have ready-made solutions. Fellow Madeleine Anderson hosted at Connecticut Legal Services, recently helped her client obtain an emergency protective order, but the court’s reduced operation schedule currently limits clients’ ability to have hearings on other non-emergency matters. Yet even in these circumstances, Madeleine and other Fellows continue to counsel their clients, inform them of their rights, and take significant steps to preserve their claims—all critical elements in survivor-centered legal service.

Beyond continuing their current work with survivors, our Fellows are playing a crucial role in addressing emerging issues in victims’ rights during this public health crisis. As courts across the country adopt new rules and procedures to cope with the impact of COVID-19, Fellows are ensuring that survivor’s rights are not overlooked. They are providing survivors the opportunity to seek privacy protection, participate in proceedings remotely, and access relevant information, including the release of their offenders to protect their safety.

While no community is spared of the devastation of COVID-19, Fellows in the Crime Victim Justice Corps are an integral part of the national efforts to maintain access to justice for underserved communities in these uncertain times.

To learn more about the work of our Crime Victims Justice Corps, click here.

Crime Victims Justice Corps is supported by an award from the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office for Victims of Crime, Award Number 2017-MU-MU-K131, and private funding. The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this product are those of the contributors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.

Omari al-Qadaffi is a 2019 Community Organizer with the Housing Justice Program, hosted at the Legal Aid Justice Center

Despite its relatively small population, Richmond, Virginia, has the second highest rate of eviction among large cities in the United States. Between poverty, high rates of unemployment, and laws that favor landlords, Richmond’s housing situation has become a systemic crisis: in any given year, nearly 31% of all the city’s renters will receive an eviction notice.

In 2019, Equal Justice Works established the Housing Justice Program, a dedicated corps of six Fellows and two Community Organizers working as a united front to serve low-income individuals who are currently, or at risk of, experiencing housing instability and involuntary displacement in the Greater Richmond Area.

When a problem is as severe as Richmond’s eviction crisis, it’s nearly impossible for lawyers to find time for effective outreach within high-risk communities—that’s where our Community Organizers come in. By all accounts, Omari al-Qadaffi was made for the role.

Omari had been organizing in Richmond for a number of years prior to joining the Housing Justice Program, and was already well aware of the challenges his neighbors faced. His role as a Community Organizer at the Legal Aid Justice Center has been crucial to bridging the service gap between Housing Justice Program Fellows and tenants, particularly those unfamiliar with accessing legal services.

“Through my work, I’ve learned that a large number of my community members did not know their rights and did not have access to legal representation. Many outside attorneys struggle to access the community, and I knew I could help,” he observed. “When the position was announced, literally twelve to fifteen people forwarded me the application and said, ‘this has to be you.’”

In addition to tangible outcomes for Richmond residents, Omari’s work has also presented an important opportunity for tenants’ voices and experiences to be heard. “One thing that every lawyer should know is that there is something to learn from every person they meet,” he said. “I think attorneys in our society are elevated to a level of prestige, and a lot of times they see themselves as ‘the experts.’ However, everyone is an expert in their own lived experience.”

His colleagues agree: “Our Community Organizers have shown me the importance of being present in the community,” said Fellow Louisa Rich, also hosted at the Legal Aid Justice Center. “It is essential that the community can see my face outside of the law office, so that they have trust in us.”

Just months into the program, the Housing Justice Program secured a major victory in the form of an eviction freeze, barring the Richmond Redevelopment & Housing Authority (RRHA) from filing or completing any evictions through the end of 2019. “This eviction freeze is especially meaningful right now to rent-burdened families as we enter the cold winter months,” noted Omari, back in December. In January 2020, the freeze was extended through May 1, providing Richmond’s tenants with some much-needed relief.

Learn more about the Housing Justice Program here.

The Housing Justice Program is made possible thanks to the generosity of The JPB Foundation.

Without access to safe and stable housing, individuals and families face a variety of adverse outcomes, including long-lasting and devastating economic hardships and health problems. The city of Richmond, Virginia has the second highest eviction rate in the country, three to four times the national average. In 2017 alone, residents faced more than 17,000 evictions.

Equal Justice Works Fellows and Community Organizers working in the Housing Justice Program serve low-income individuals residing in the Greater Richmond Region of Virginia who are currently, or at risk of, experiencing housing instability and involuntary displacement. During their time in the field, the Fellows and Community Organizers have learned a wide range of lessons regarding housing advocacy.

We spoke with Fellows Kateland Alan Woodcock and Louisa Rich to hear some of their biggest takeaways from their first six months working as full-time housing attorneys in Richmond.

Lesson 1: Housing cases move FAST

From start to finish, a case could be done in two months. You also get a lot of emergency cases, like a client being evicted the next morning. You have to move fast to prepare a motion, find a judge who will listen to you, and defend your client.

“You don’t have time to sit and think about theories when time is of the essence. Before you know it, it’s been a month, and someone is evicted. It’s essential to keep track of your time and make sure you are not sitting on a case for long,” advised Kateland.

Lesson 2: Housing issues go beyond eviction cases

When people hear the phrase “housing issues”, they might assume it is synonymous for eviction. While eviction is a type of housing issue, it’s far from the only one. From landlord-tenant relations to inadequate repairs, housing is a broad umbrella term for any social problems that arise from the housing crisis. In Virginia, many other issues, such as lack of affordable housing, lie at the core of the eviction crisis.

“We have a team dedicated to issues surrounding housing affordability,” said Louisa. “Currently, they are working on a campaign to see how the city’s development plan will impact housing affordability and if there are any legal implications to their decision.”

Lesson 3: Don’t assume your clients fully understand their rights

Your client might not be aware of things you may expect them to know, like when their lease ends, or who is responsible for utilities. Housing issues are complicated, and that’s why having access to legal aid is so important. A lawyer needs to educate the community on these complex and intricate issues.

“Sometimes lawyers talk in a way where our clients will be like, ‘What are you talking about? I don’t understand this.’ I have to step back and think of how I can present the information in a way that is not legalese. Communication is key to our clients being able to understand the information, process it, and make decisions based off of it,” said Kateland.

Lesson 4: If the client didn’t pay their rent, there still might be a defense

Most people assume that if someone owes $1,000 in rent, there’s no defense. That’s not always true. Often, landlords might not have fixed things on time or given proper notice of the eviction, for example, which could constitute a valid reason for non-payment of rent.

“In most of my non-payment rent cases, I make defenses that don’t even deal with the issue of if they have paid,” Louisa shared.

Lesson 5: It’s easy to become emotionally invested

When you think of gripping legal issues, you might think of domestic violence or human trafficking. You’d be surprised how easy it is to become emotionally invested in housing cases.

“Once you see nasty and dangerous mold growing in someone’s AC unit—you’ll be shocked at how that makes you feel,” said Kateland. “I remember being so angry at a landlord who wouldn’t fix a mold issue, didn’t care about fixing it, and spent months not fixing it. I had to take a step back and remind myself to look at the situation objectively so that I could get the best result for my client.”

Lesson 6: Housing issues usually stem from bigger problems

There is a strong intersection between housing issues and other issues that people deal with in life (such as mental health, physical health, education, and employment). Your clients might have other issues going on, like a lack of access to employment opportunities or VA benefits, that will impact their ability to deal with housing issues.

“It’s important to look at the broader picture and see how you can connect them to other resources. The goal should be to provide as holistic of legal aid as possible,” advised Louisa.

To learn more about Kateland and Louisa’s projects, along with the work of all the other Housing Justice Program Fellows, click here.

The Housing Justice Program is made possible thanks to the generosity of The JPB Foundation.

By Stephanie Duke, a 2018 Equal Justice Works Fellow in the Disaster Recovery Legal Corps. Stephanie is hosted by Disability Rights Texas.

The coronavirus outbreak, also known as COVID-19, has changed the legal landscape. Despite some legal services organizations temporarily closing their physical offices, lawyers are working around the clock over the phone and through email, to help their clients and people with legal needs arising from COVID-19.

The pandemic has created a health emergency for all of us, but some individuals with disabilities with comorbid impairments are at increased risk of being infected. Legal issues that individuals with disabilities face as a result of COVID-19 ranges across a variety of societal domains, but does include accessibility problems to emergency notifications and educational services; and disability discrimination in the work place and discrimination within the crisis standards of care implemented in emergency medical services.

In the wake of COVID-19, the disability community might encounter an impossible choice: risk losing their job or risk contracting the virus. Even if a business is determined to be “non-essential,” employers may ask their staff to still come to work. If a company is determined to be “essential,” employees may have to work in close proximity to each other. Both scenarios could be deadly for someone with a higher risk of contracting the virus. Despite federal and state laws that protect individuals with disabilities, some employers are failing to accommodate for the health and well-being of their staff—resulting in workplace discrimination, failure to engage in the interactive process to accommodate, or firing because of:

• having COVID-19 (or being thought to have it);
• having a co-worker or family member who has COVID-19 (or being thought to have it);
• having a condition that puts them at higher risk (or is thought to do so); and/or
• having an exacerbation of a mental health condition because of the pandemic.

People with disabilities are also experiencing discrimination in accessing emergency medical services, as units of local government develop policies to dictate the allocation of medical resources that are in short supply. Many of these policies include rules about treatment rationing that determine who will and will not have access to life-saving treatment. Several disability groups have filed a federal complaint, arguing that these policies discriminate against people with disabilities and are in violation of federal and state disability rights laws.

Everyone deserves the right to accessible and quality education, yet school closures due to COVID-19 may create barriers for students with disabilities, who now have to contend with inaccessible virtual classrooms or at-home instruction and a lack of continuity in educational and related services. School closures have also resulted in states and local education agencies scrabbling to figure out how to maintain compliance with the Child Find and Free Appropriate Public Education requirements under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

During this unprecedented time, it’s essential to know what legal issues you and your loved ones could be facing and how you’re protected. If you’re experiencing any of these scenarios, please reach out to your local legal aid organization and the Protection and Advocacy Agency for your state.

To learn more about Stephanie’s project, click here.

 The Disaster Recovery Legal Corps has received philanthropic support from the American Red Cross, Bigglesworth Family Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Florida Bar Foundation, Houston Immigration Legal Services Collaborative, Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund administered by the Greater Houston Community Foundation, and the Texas Access to Justice Foundation.

By Robert Lundberg, 2019 Equal Justice Works Fellow sponsored by Brico Fund

Growing up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, I was not particularly aware of the continued presence and role of native governments in the state. This despite the fact that the place-names of my childhood originated in indigenous names, like how “Wisconsin” comes from “Meskonsing,” meaning, “river running through a red place.” French explorers attributed the name to the Miami Indians who guided them down what is now called the Wisconsin River. While I didn’t know the histories of these names, learning that they were defined in relation to water did not come as a surprise. Living on the shores of Michi Gami (Lake Michigan) instilled within me a meaningful relationship to water from an early age.

What began to open my eyes to Wisconsin’s present-day tribal and environmental realities was spending time in New Mexico, my partner’s birthplace. There, the predominance of Pueblos along the Rio Grande, as well as the ever-present concerns over water availability and quality in the state, was illuminating. This knowledge set me on a path to learn more.

As I enrolled at the University of Wisconsin Law School, the conflict over the Dakota Access Pipeline at Standing Rock was gaining national attention. This event crystalized for me the connection between ongoing histories of settler colonialism, tribal sovereignty, and environmental degradation. This inspired me to work with Prof. Richard Monette, the University of Wisconsin Indigenous Law Student Association, and Midwest Environmental Advocates (MEA) during law school. After finishing law school, I could see sustainable relations to water, air, and land as inextricably linked to recognition of Indigenous sovereignty and to addressing the complexities of ongoing colonization. I knew I wanted to spend my career advocating at this nexus.

Working as an Equal Justice Works Fellow, hosted at MEA, allows me to build upon my legal foundation toward this goal. My project seeks to support tribal environmental sovereignty and improve collaborative environmental protection between tribal, federal, state, and local governments. Through this work, I combine legal advocacy with engagement and information sharing.

This work is essential because many tribal governments still lack environmental standards. Tribes are as well situated as states and the federal government, if not better in some cases, to understand how to protect environmental resources within their territories and reserved in treaties. Yet while there are 326 tribal reservations in the United States potentially eligible to set tribal water quality standards under the Clean Water Act, only 45 tribes have water quality standards approved by the EPA under the Act. Even when a tribe has set water quality standards—through the Clean Water Act or based upon its sovereignty—those standards and the tribe’s environmental knowledge and concerns are not always respected by state and federal actors.

There are two reasons for this reality. First, jurisdictional confusions hinder tribal exertion of environmental sovereignty. These confusions are a result of the history of federal Indian policy, which is filled with numerous attempts to undermine and end tribal self-governance. Even today, some government officials and courts see tribes as lacking the inherent authority to set and enforce environmental protections.

Second, the original versions of federal environmental laws ignored tribes as essential sovereigns and regulators with a concern for clean air, water, and toxic substances within their historic and present territories. Despite statutory fixes to change these omissions, the significant investments and personnel needed to administer such programs, as well as continued hostility from many states toward tribal administration of federal environmental programs, has resulted in many tribes still not administering federal environmental regulatory programs.

I hope my work can help to correct unequal distributions of environmental harms and risks, and ongoing denials of tribal sovereignty. These factors endanger all of us, both because air and water have little regard for political boundaries, and because they allow the continuation of extractive and exploitative modes of operating. Finally, I feel incredibly privileged to pursue this work with MEA, as our community-centered and responsive approach to environmental lawyering has been inspiring me since entering law school.

To learn more about Robert’s Fellowship, visit his Fellow profile.

By Naomi Young, 2018 Equal Justice Works Fellow sponsored by Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel

Katy was determined to take back control of her life.

After years of abuse from her husband, she knew that it was time to leave. She did everything she could to stay safe—keeping her location confidential, blocking him on social media, asking her family not to tell him where she was—and began to create an independent existence. It wasn’t quick or easy, but Katy was slowly getting back on her feet. The progress ground to a halt, however, when she was denied affordable housing. The reason? She had failed to report her husband’s income.

That’s when she discovered that her husband had been filing joint married tax returns without her consent or knowledge for several years. The housing management called Katy a “liar” when she told them she’d been separated from her abusive husband for years and knew nothing about the tax returns. Katy worried her husband might fraudulently use her identity for other purposes, and she was right: soon, he began applying for loans in her name.

Katy came to Her Justice, my Fellowship host organization, for legal advice because her married status was impeding her from moving forward with her life. The organization was founded 26 years ago to meet the underserved need for divorce representation for women living in poverty. Two years ago, my supervisor Anna Ognibene and I designed an Equal Justice Works Fellowship to develop the Marital Debt Project to address the intersection of economic insecurities arising from divorce and debt.

In my day-to-day work, I help train pro bono attorneys and represent my clients in a variety of legal cases, such as consumer debt, divorce, orders of protection, and support. Women experience poverty at rates much higher than men, and are more likely to head single-parent households—it’s a perfect storm, and holistic representation is crucial.

Although I represent women regardless of whether they identify as survivors of abuse, (75% of Her Justice clients), the connection between economic abuse and debt is evident in most of my cases. In many ways, creditors also abuse our clients through harassing debt collection techniques, coercive settlements, and by obtaining default judgments without ever notifying defendants of the lawsuit.

Her Justice operates under a “pro bono first” leverage model, which means that my project was created not only to represent my clients, but to expand our reach by recruiting and training pro bono attorneys from some of New York’s most prominent law firms. Lucky for me, I didn’t need to look far to recruit pro bono attorneys. I barely said “please” and my Fellowship sponsor, Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel, jumped into action. Under our mentorship, Kramer Levin pro bono teams provide representation in numerous complex divorces from the Marital Debt Project. Additionally, the firm provides in-house interpretation for Mandarin, Spanish, and Urdu speakers.

With the support of Kramer Levin, I had the opportunity to test a brand new legal clinic model. Her Justice trained nine Kramer Levin lawyers and law students to provide litigated divorce legal services to four Marital Debt Project clients. Due to the clinic’s success, I will be collaborating on a second clinic with the firm’s incredible pro bono coordinator this month.

Every day, my clients remind me that, as a lawyer, I’m positioned to assert their rights and tell their stories to hostile audiences. Yes, they have the odds stacked against them, but they also have the truth. It’s about time that someone believes them.

To learn more about Naomi’s Fellowship, visit her Fellow profile.

By David Stern, executive director of Equal Justice Works

I love my job. It suits me perfectly—building support for amazing law students and lawyers who want to devote themselves to public interest law. I am so passionate about it—even after 28 years—that it is difficult for me to turn it off.

I recognize, however, that to bring my best self to work, seeking out inspiration, education, and entertainment from outside sources can boost my creativity and my productivity. So, I’m sharing my short list of what I’m reading, watching, and listening to, and how they are keeping me inspired, informed, and engaged. If there’s a TV show, podcast, and/or article I should know about, be sure to send me a note—I want to hear about it!

Books

Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption

Bryan Stevenson, the founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative, exposes the blatant and entrenched racism in our justice system with his compelling memoir. While Bryan describes many moments in his journey, the through line is a story about one of his clients, Walter McMillian, a black man who was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of a young white woman in Monroeville, Alabama. I have known Bryan since I came to work at Equal Justice Works in 1992. I consider him to be a trailblazer—he has inspired hundreds of students to take low-paying difficult public interest jobs.

Bryan chose our Conference and Career Fair and Leadership Development Training as the kickoff for the “Just Mercy” book tour. What I love about the book is that I can hear Bryan’s voice in the pages as he finds his calling to do post-conviction capital defense work in Alabama. I cannot imagine a more difficult job and the impossible odds to challenge the racist criminal justice system in Alabama. While the recently released movie is good for public consumption, the book describes Bryan’s thinking and his evolution into the most remarkable civil rights lawyer of our day. Bryan and his work at Equal Justice Initiative serve as a source of ongoing inspiration to me. I visited the organization’s Legacy Museum and National Memorial for Peace and Justice during my sabbatical in 2018, and cannot recommend them more highly!

In the Sanctuary of Outcasts

Neil White’s, “In the Sanctuary of Outcasts,” describes his time at a minimum-security prison that housed the last leper colony in the country. Neil tells a story about personal transformation and the valuable lessons he learned from the patients and inmates at Carville National Leprosarium. Neil is a superb writer—you feel you are there with him and he has a knack for touching on the very things you are curious to know. He is both hysterically funny and authentic in describing his time in this unusual prison. My wife and I met Neil and his wife Debbie Bell (a professor at the University of Mississippi Law School) in Oxford, Mississippi during my sabbatical in 2018.

Podcasts

Hidden Brain

I am an avid podcast listener, especially while driving or walking my dog. One of the podcasts I enjoy is NPR’s Hidden Brain podcast hosted by Shankar Vedantam. Each episode sheds light on fascinating unconscious patterns that drive human behavior. Shankar is such an enthusiastic and excited host as he shares research that is often counter-intuitive. In January, there was a great episode describing how to keep New Year’s Resolutions. Essentially, research shows that stand-alone resolutions (e.g., more sleep, better fitness, weight loss, better work-life balance) don’t work no matter your determination. The most effective strategy is to build in routines (habits) that you do every day.

The podcast’s “You 2.0” series is also worthwhile because it focuses on how to improve the decisions you make. One of my favorite episodes, “You 2.0 Deep Work,” explores ways to immerse yourself in meaningful work and how to create a structured day that can better allow you to focus on your work without distractions.

In the Dark Season 2

Holy Smoke! This podcast blew me away! APM Reports’ “In the Dark” Season 2 podcast, hosted by Madeleine Baran, is an extraordinary piece of investigative journalism focused on the case against Curtis Flowers, a Mississippi man who spent 23 years behind bars, despite his six murder trials resulting in mistrials or convictions later vacated by higher courts. For those who liked “Serial,” produced by Sarah Koenig, this is definitely a podcast for you! With each episode, the reporters dissect the evidence and raise many questions about how the case was handled. My blood was boiling throughout many episodes. And while the injustices and misconduct in that case are outrageous, I could not help but think about the thousands of cases with similar injustices that have not received the attention this case received.  It is a powerful example of racial bias that pervades our criminal justice system. (And if you are interested in learning more about Batson, the Supreme Court decision prohibiting prosecutors from using race in their peremptory challenges, I recommend Object Anyway, a WNYC Studios produced podcast on the case and how difficult it is to win a Batson challenge.)

Film

Trial by Fire

“Trial by Fire” is based on a 2009 New Yorker piece on Cameron Todd Willingham and his conviction and death sentence for the murder of his three young daughters in a house fire.  Elizabeth Gilbert, a playwright, became a pen pal to Willingham, and eventually advocated to overturn his conviction. The movie is raw and difficult to watch at times, but I appreciated the performances of Laura Dern and especially Jack O’Connell, who does not hold back from showing the ugly side of Willingham. Unlike other Hollywood death penalty movies, this one feels more authentic, and definitely leaves you with serious doubts about Willingham’s guilt.

Little Women

Greta Gerwig’s presentation of this classic story was a favorite of mine from this past holiday season. I’m grateful to my family for encouraging me to take a break from work and spend time at the movies with them to watch this enjoyable film. I particularly liked Saoirse Ronan as Jo and Florence Pugh as Amy.

As executive director of Equal Justice Works, I am a bit of a workaholic and don’t have a lot of time to read books, listen to podcasts, or watch movies. And when I do, I clearly tend toward nonfiction related to legal issues! Be on the lookout for my summer recommendations.