News and Events

Get Involved with JAC!

Learn about exciting volunteer and internship opportunities with the Justice Action Center, including LIFT (Legal Information for Families Today), Lenox Hill Neighborhood House Client Interviewing Program, StreetLaw, and the Power Mentoring Program. DO GOOD DEEDS AND earn credit towards your Public Service Certificate and/or Social Justice Placement (for JAC Affiliates).

Join us on Thursday September 2nd, from 12:45pm-1:45pm in room W320. Food will be served.

Federal Court Declares California Proposition 8 Unconstitutional; Decision Stayed by 9th Circuit Pending Appeal

U.S. District Judge Vaughn R. Walker ruled that Proposition 8, the 2008 California ballot measure that enacted an amendment to the California Constitution providing that only the union of one man and one woman would be valid or recognized as a marriage in California, violates the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. In a 136-page opinion, summarizing the trial record in excruciating detail, Judge Walker found that there was absolutely no rational basis for California to exclude same-sex couples from the same right to marry that is provided for different-sex couples, thus violating the plaintiffs’ fundamental right to marry as well as their right to equal protection of the laws. However, same-sex marriages could not resume immediately in California, because Walker’s order has been stayed by the 9th Circuit pending appeal. Click here to read more about this and other cases in the September publication of Lesbian/Gay Law Notes.

A new issue of Lesbian/Gay Law Notes is published each month. You can sign up to receive email notification of new issues (click here and then scroll to the bottom of the page) or you can access the archive by clicking the "Publications" tab on the left side bar.

Project Director Testifies at CRA Hearing

The Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Comptroller of the Currency, and Office of Thrift Supervision are considering revising the regulations that implement the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). Among the subjects they are considering are the geographic coverage of the CRA, CRA performance tests, the relevance of affiliate activities, small business and consumer lending evaluations and data, access to banking services, community development, CRA ratings and incentives, the effect of evidence of discriminatory or other illegal credit practices on CRA performance evaluations, and CRA disclosures and performance evaluations. The agencies are holding a series of hearings on these issues around the country; the first was on July 19 at FDIC headquarters in Arlington, Virginia. JAC Director Richard Marsico, who also heads the Economic Justice Project, testified at the hearing. More information is available by clicking below:

• Read Professor Marsico's testimony
• Read the agencies’ announcement about the hearings

Economic Justice Project Director Publishes Article on the Thirty-Fifth Anniversary of HMDA

Project Director Richard Marsico's article, Looking Back and Looking Ahead as the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act Turns Thirty-Five: The Role of Public Disclosure of Lending Data in a Time of Financial Crisis, 29 Rev. of Bank. and Fin. L. 205 (2009), examines the history of the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) and makes proposals for improving it to help prevent another economic crisis. Passed in 1975, HMDA requires most lenders to disclose information about their home mortgage loans, including the number of home mortgage applications it received; the purpose of each application; the type of loan; the decision on the application; the race, gender, and income of the loan applicant/borrower; the location of the loan and the median income and racial composition of the neighborhood; and the interest rate on the loan. HMDA was originally conceived of as a tool to detect and prevent redlining. It was later expended to cover lending discrimination and reverse redlining. However, Congress and the Federal Reserve have not required lenders to disclose enough information to permit HMDA to do its job. The pending financial reform legislation would expand HMDA's mission to detect and prevent predatory lending, but once again, the legislation does not require lenders to disclose sufficient information to accomplish its goal. The article proposes several types of information that should be added to the legislation, including, most importantly, the applicant's housing debt/income ratio and overall debt/income ratio.

Adoption Conference Video Now Available

Video from our Seventh Annual Adoption Policy Conference: Permanency for Children is now available. This yea'rs conference focused on the national and international policies promoting the preservation and reunification of families, as well as the creation of permanent families for parentless children. Click here for more information or to view the videos. 

Safe Passage Newsletter Now Available

The Safe Passage Project has published its Winter 2010 newsletter. To read about past achievements and future events, click here.

Racial Justice Project Joins Amicus Brief in North Carolina Case

In December of 2009, the Racial Justice Project was one of more than thirty organizations and individuals to sign onto an amicus curiae brief in support of appellant in the Supreme Court of North Carolina case King v. Beaufort Co. Bd. of Educ. The King suit challenged North Carolina’s widespread use of exclusionary discipline measures in schools, such as long-term out-of-school suspensions, which unnecessarily marginalize and criminalize many students.

To learn more about this or other amicus projects, click here. To read about the Racial Justice Project generally, visit: www.nyls.edu/rjp

Center Affiliate Receives Service Award

Amy Bower, a current 3L in the Center, has been awarded the 2010 Commitment to Justice Award as outstanding in-house volunteer by inMotion. Amy will receive her award at a ceremony at the Walter Reade Theater at Lincoln Center on February 9.

Managing Your Law School Debt Burden

One of the biggest concerns law students have is debt burden. This is especially true for students interested in a career practicing social justice law. The federal government's new Income-Based Repayment (IBR) program may help you lessen this burden. The program is available to certain individuals with a high debt-to-earnings ratio who work in public interest or government jobs. Although debt repayment may still be several years off for many of you, it is important to think about this issue while you are still in school, as only certain types of loans are eligible for the program.

To learn more about the program, visit the following independent, non-profit website: www.IBRinfo.org. In addition to detailed information on the IBR program itself, the site includes links to past and upcoming webinars provided by Equal Justice Works that help explain the IBR program, how to determine your eligibility, and how to benefit from the program.

VIDEO: New York County District Attorney Candidates’ Civil Rights Forum

This fall, New York County residents elect a new District Attorney for the first time in nearly 35 years. In anticipation of this historic election, the Justice Action Center and the New York Civil Liberties Union cosponsored on September 2 a forum to discuss the candidate’s positions on fundamental and sometimes controversial civil rights and liberties issues. Pulitzer Prize-winning former Newsday columnist Les Payne moderated the discussion. Richard Aborn, candidate for District Attorney, was present and answered questions from the audience.

To watch the video, click here.

Click here for more event information from the New York Civil Liberties Union's website.

Center Director Publishes Chapter in Community Economic Development Guide

The ABA’s Forum on Affordable Housing and Community Development Law has just published Building Healthy Communities: A Guide to Community Economic Development for Advocates, Lawyers, and Policymakers. The book, edited by Roger A. Clay, Jr. and Susan R. Jones, contains 28 chapters on topics including accessing government financial resources, responding to community interests, building human capital, creating individual and community assets, obtaining appropriate financial services, and embracing environmental opportunities and challenges. The book includes a chapter on the Community Reinvestment Act by Center Director Richard Marsico. For more information on the ABA Forum on Affordable Housing and Community Development Law or to purchase a copy of the book, visit the ABA website.

Global Human Rights Bulletin
For neutral and global coverage of human rights, check out the Global Human Rights Bulletin, a monthly publication created by the NYLS student division of Lawyers Without Borders.