Poverty Law Prof Blog

Call for Papers: Georgetown Journal on Poverty Law & Policy

Georgetown Journal on Poverty Law & Policy

Call for Papers

That the poor are invisible is one of the most important things about them. They are not simply neglected and forgotten as in the old rhetoric of reform; what is much worse, they are not seen.

           -Michael Harrington, The Other America (1962).

 

We would like to invite you to submit an article for consideration of publication to the Georgetown Journal on Poverty Law & Policy.  GJPLP is the nation's premier law journal on poverty and it publishes articles from distinguished law professors and practitioners in poverty-related disciplines. Highly-regarded and widely-distributed among attorneys, policy-makers, academics, students and public interest groups, GJPLP plays a key role in forging the national debate on poverty issues by raising awareness, offering analysis, and crafting solutions.

 

For the 2007-2008 academic year, GJPLP will continue its commitment to publishing high-quality articles related to poverty, especially those that explore the subjects of our three topical issues: health, labor, and youth. GJPLP considers traditional law review articles, as well as case studies, case comments, and narrative submissions for publication. Additionally, GJPLP welcomes all methodologies and seeks innovative approaches to poverty law and policy.

 

Submission guidelines are as follows:

• Formatting: typed, text double-spaced, footnotes single-spaced, one-inch margins, 12-point Times New Roman font.
• Citations: Must conform to The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation, published by the Harvard Law Review Association.
• Additional Information: author’s name, telephone number, and email address, as well as the title and a summary of the article.
• Submission Methods: 1) via email at jplp@georgetown.edu; 2) by mail to the address below.
• Unsolicited manuscripts are welcome but will only be returned if accompanied by a self-addressed stamped envelope. 

For further information, please contact jplp@law.georgetown.edu. All Journals reserve the right, at any time, to accept or reject any article, note or comment, outright or conditionally.

-E.R. erosser@wcl.american.edu

Poverty Law Jobs

I am launching a separate page, Poverty Law Jobs, http://povertylawjobs.blogspot.com/, for posting jobs of particular interest to law students and to a younger lawyers interested in working on issues and in jobs related to poverty law. It is connected to Poverty Law Prof Blog, http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/poverty/, but is separate because not everyone going to the Poverty Law Prof Blog may be interested in the job postings.

So that there is a sense of the nature of the postings on the separate page, here is the first posting:

Edwards' Poverty Organization a Front?

In a race with one candidate making poverty (which he describes in terms of "two Americas"), and with other candidates much less focused on poverty, it perhaps is inevitable that this blog will excessively cover Edwards, so here is another installment...

The New York Times reports, June 22, 2007, that Edwards' Center for Promise and Opportunity (and the funding received for that non-profit) largely was used to benefit Edwards and to fund efforts that supported his poverty work but also activities that seem more tangential, though of course related in the sense that everything is related (the N.Y. Times highlights trainings and seminars on Iraq as an example). 

[As a complete aside, but perhaps of interest to blog readers, one of my deans just made me aware that professors can get a free subscription to Times Select by clicking on this link and filling out the form.]

-E.R. erosser@wcl.american.edu

New-ish Poverty Related Books

UPDATE: Here is the SSRN link to a short paper Jonathan B. Forman has written, also entitled Making America Work, that seems partly an overview of his book for those who want a preview. 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There are many new books in the field, but I want to highlight a couple that may be of interest, though by no means is this a comprehensive list! 

Univ. of Oklahoma Professor Jonathan B. Forman has a new book, Making America Work (Urban Institute 2006) (on Amazon here).  I have ordered it for my library and was going to wait to blog about it until I have read it, but in case people are putting together summer reading lists, I thought I should not wait.  Here is the blurb from the publisher:

• In Making America Work, Forman explains how current government policies influence work and work behavior and makes the case for changing government tax, welfare, Social Security, pension, and labor market policies to encourage work and promote greater economic justice. It is a clear, provocative declaration of principles and a bold prescription for policies that restore and preserve the balance of work rewards and economic justice.

 

Another couple of possible summer reads are University of Maryland Associate Professor John Iceland's Poverty in America: A Handbook (2nd ed. Univ. of California Press, 2006) (on Amazon here) or on a slightly more narrow topic, but still interesting (UConn School of Law for example has had an entire class on Walmart) Charles Fishman's The Wal-Mart Effect (Penguin Books, 2nd ed. 2007) (on Amazon here). 

If you are looking for other possible books on Poverty, a blogger (I couldn't find out more info about him/her) has put together a fairly lengthy list of recent Poverty books (with images of covers) that may be of interest.  Click here.   

-E.R. erosser@wcl.american.edu

Conference Announcement: In Malaysia

International Conference: Poverty and Distribution Amidst Diversity: Options and Challenges for Development
While perhaps a bit far for most people, the University of Malaysia is hosting the above Poverty Conference featuring Jeffrey Sachs as the keynote speaker August 13-14, 2007. 
Tentative Schedule here.  For additional information, you can email the organizers here. 

-E.R. erosser@wcl.american.edu

FEMA and Emergency Housing

More Katrina related scholarship of interest:
Damian Williams, Sheltering Deprivations: FEMA, Section 408 Housing, and Procedural Redesign, 116 Yale L.J. 1883 (2007), available here. 

As Williams writes, "Shuffled from makeshift camps to hotels and motels and finally to mobile homes and subsidized apartments, Katrina survivors have endured a long road toward normalcy—one made more difficult by FEMA’s inadequate administration of section 408." 
Williams explains the details of the section 408 program and suggests ways to reform the program.

-E.R. erosser@wcl.american.edu

Poverty Related Law Review Symposium Publications

A couple of law reviews have recently published symposium issues related to poverty law.  Though these are not available on the respective law review webpages, they are available through Lexis or Westlaw: 

• After Incarceration. 13 Geo. J. on Pov. L. & Pol'y 219-401 (2006).
• Creating Healthy Communities: Ending Homelessness. 26 St. Louis U. Pub. L. Rev. 1-97 (2007).   
• LatCrit X: Critical Approaches to Economic In/justice. 17 Berkeley La Raza L.J. i-xvii, 1-216 (2006).

-E.R. erosser@wcl.american.edu

Inside the Income Gap -- NYTimes Sunday Magazine

The June 10 New York Times Sunday Magazine's Money Issue is on Poverty and Inequality. 

With Edwards on the cover, the issue includes: (1) an article on the Edwards campaign; (2) a largely celebratory article about Ruby Payne (see earlier posting about her book); (3) an article about Larry Summers and his views; and many others...

An article entitled "The Inequality Conundrum" focuses on the relationship between growth and inequality and is a good, very brief, primer on the issue. 

-E.R. erosser@wcl.american.edu

Law Review Symposium on low-income housing

From Professor Kristen D. Adams (Stetson):

The Stetson Law Review published a symposium issue a few weeks ago entitled, "Housing, Personhood, and Dignity."  The symposium, which I coordinated, includes the perspectives of law professors, urban planners, architects, and practitioners on various issues relating to low-income housing.  I would be glad to mail a copy to any blog reader who might be interested.

Email Address for copies: adams@law.stetson.edu. 

The Law Review's website is here but the issue is not yet up. 

-Thanks.  E.R. erosser@wcl.american.edu