Poverty Law Prof Blog

AALS Hiring Fair Related Question

Hello-
The AALS annual hiring fair occurred last weekend, and with that in mind, I am soliciting citations and sources related to the hiring of individuals from modest backgrounds.  If you do know of any writing, particularly empirical studies if any exist, that has looked into the economic background of law professors, I would love it if you could email me any suggestions on where to look. 
-E.R. erosser@wcl.american.edu

Interesting Paper

An interesting paper by David A. Super has been loaded unto Temple's Workshop site.  The paper is, "BLOWN AWAY: Hurricane Katrina and the Collapse of the Procedural Model of Anti-Poverty Law," and the abstract is:

    Disasters accelerate and accentuate otherwise glacial processed in the
law. Society’s response to sudden poverty after a disaster provides invaluable
insights into its treatment of the chronically poor.
    Neither European-style social guarantees nor the full elimination of
public anti-poverty programs are politically realistic options. The compromise
that has held sway for the past several decades is inspired by
Goldberg v. Kelly’s procedural holdings. It seeks to enhance deliberation
in both making and executing anti-poverty policy, assuming that widelyshared
benevolent norms will advance the cause of the poor. It tolerates
extreme poverty on the assumption that public or private agencies will
intervene to accommodate vital unmet needs.
    Hurricane Katrina demonstrated this procedural model’s bankruptcy.
New Orleans officials lacked the empathy and preparation to help evacuate
the city’s 100,000 residents without the means to do so themselves.
Diffusion of responsibility among various levels of government and charities,
the lack of a clear consensus on substantive goals, and the procedural
model’s emphasis on time-consuming deliberations squandered the opportunity
that post-Katrina public sympathy presented to make lasting
changes in anti-poverty policy or even to restore the devastated lowincome
communities. These failures stranded tens of thousands of evacuees
in deplorable conditions in strange cities, in FEMA trailer parks, or in
their shattered former communities.
    An alternative basis for a moderate consensus is available based on
Goldberg’s expansion of property rights. A regime based on substantive
rights, even modest and conditional ones, would more explicitly recognize
low-income communities’ interests and respond to tragedies such as
Katrina.

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

Upcoming Social Entrepreneurship Deadline for Echoing Green

This posting is to spread word of a social entrepreneurship grant application that may be of interest to students with an idea for innovative poverty work.  I went through the process and made it to the final weekend, and though I was not funded, I have a lot of respect for Echoing Green and for how their process makes you closely consider your ideas.  A number of great organizations got their start with Echoing Green funding: the DC Employment Justice Center, College Summit, etc. 

Here is the Echoing Green announcement:

VISIONARIES WANTED

• Do you have an incredible, new idea that could change your community, country, or world?
• Are you an entrepreneur who won't rest until your idea has been brought to life? Or a leader who has recently started an organization to do just that?

If so, apply for an Echoing Green Fellowship. You could receive up to $90,000 in seed funding and support to launch a new organization that turns your innovative idea for social change into action.

Follow in the footsteps of the founders of Teach For America, City Year, and over 400 other social change organizations and apply online by December 3, 2007.

Watch the video: http://www.echoinggreen.org/video

Find out whether you qualify: http://www.echoinggreen.org/shouldyouapply

Apply online: https://apply.echoinggreen.org 

Questions? Contact us at apply@echoinggreen.org.

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

Last Minute Conference Announcement on Predatory Housing at Howard Univ. Oct. 19

Howard University School of Law's Fair Housing Legal Clinic Program is sponsoring its 3rd Annual Fair Housing Law for the People: The Civil Rights Law School program which is features a panel on "The Silent Killer of Dreams: Foreclosures, Sub-Prime Lending and the Impact on communities of Color."  There is also going to be an introduction by former Baltimore Mayor and now Dean Kurt L. Schmoke.  Before you go, do contact Howard because given the last minute nature of this posting, there may be an issue with registration! 

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

SCHIP Resources

Being no expert in health care support, there is little I can say about the SCHIP debate, but I thought I would provide a list of resource links for those seeking more information:

• Urban Institute's SCHIP publications
• U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services SCHIP page (includes helpful research page)
• Congressional Budget Office SCHIP report
• Heritage Foundation's SCHIP page
• Kaiser Family Foundation's SCHIP page (lots of information, research and reports)
• White House Heathcare Page (focus right now is on Bush's stance on SCHIP)

See also, Sara Rosenbaum, Anne Markus & Colleen Sonosky, Public Health Insurance Design for Children: The Evolution from Medicaid to SCHIP, 1 J. Health & Biomed. L. 1 (2004). 

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

Yale Law Journal Pocket Part Call for Papers on State Law Topics

The Yale Law Journal's Pocket Part has a call for papers on state issues, and since many poverty issues are tackled (for better or worse) at the state level, I thought it worth highlighting this call for papers.  Online companions to main line journals (such as the Harvard Law Review Forum, PENNumbra, Tex. L. Rev.'s See Also, and CONNtemplations) are a great way for more junior faculty to get read, my own experience is that it is a great way to enter a discussion or comment on articles that are important in whatever your field.  And to do so with shorter essays or ideas that are worth sharing but that do not quite need to be explored in a full length article.  Lastly, because you work with students at some of the best journals, your final publication ends up sounding much more eloquent! 

The Yale Law Journal Pocket Part is soliciting commentaries for two end-of-year issues: one issue will focus on new developments in state courts, and the other will focus on new developments in state legislatures. Our goal is to bring critical focus to an area of lawmaking that deserves greater attention in the legal literature, and we invite you to submit a commentary on a state law topic of your choosing.

Commentaries may explore a legal development at the state level that has not been extensively reviewed in legal scholarship and the popular press, or present a novel argument on a timely issue that has received attention.

Submissions should be no more than 1,500 words. We encourage authors to write in a style accessible to policy-makers and practitioners. For a detailed style guide and instructions for submitting your piece, please visit our website, www.thepocketpart.org, and follow the link for "Submissions.

The deadline for submissions for both issues is Friday, November 2, 2007 .

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

Effect of Welfare Denial in Japan

The New York Times has an interesting story, "Death Reveals Harsh Side of a 'Model' in Japan," on a man in Japan who died of starvation after being taken off of welfare by a government concerned about rising welfare rolls.  The article is disturbing and tragically ends:

“My belly’s empty,” read the diary’s last entry. “I want to eat a rice ball. I haven’t eaten rice in 25 days.”

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

The Bridging the Gaps National Conference , Washington, DC, Thursday, October 18, 2007 8:00 am - 4:25 pm. The agenda is here.

At the Bridging the Gaps conference, esteemed researchers and advocates will debate how work supports should be structured in the future. What would be ideal? How could it happen politically? Panelists will offer both big ideas and practical examples of how work supports can be designed to give all working families the opportunity to bridge the gaps between their earnings and a basic standard of living.

This week, Bridging the Gaps released a report entitled: "Bridging the Gaps: A Picture of How Work Supports Works in Ten States" by Randy Albelda and Heather Boushey.  The Report can be found here, the press release is here, and a powerpoint presentation of work supports data in ten states is here. 

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

Conference Announcement: Wealth Inequality and the Eroding Middle Class Nov. 4-5, 2007

Below is an announcement from the UNC Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity:

The Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity and the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy warmly welcome you to attend Wealth Inequality and the Eroding Middle Class, a two-day conference held November 4 & 5, 2007 at the George Watts Hill Alumni Center on the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill campus.            

The conference, featuring a keynote address by Robert Kuttner will examine increasing income inequality in the United States and globally and how this trend affects the American middle class. Join us for a provocative and interdisciplinary dialogue between economists, sociologists, journalists, attorneys, labor activists and others as we explore the consequences of wealth inequality and look for new ways to ensure that the American Dream remains accessible to everyone.

The registration fee for the general public is $40; the fee for students is $20. For attorneys seeking North Carolina CLE credit, the registration fee is $100. The registration fee includes a reception on Sunday and lunch on Monday.  You can register here. 

Among our distinguished panelists are:

• Mark Rank (Social Work, Washington University in St. Louis)
• John Schmitt (Center for Economic and Policy Research)
• Frances Ansley (Law, University of Tennessee)
• Harley Shaiken (Education, Geography and Center for Latin American Studies, University of California, Berkeley)
• Judy Scott (General Counsel, Service Employees International Union)
• Michael Zweig (Economics and Center for the Study of Working Class Life, Stony Brook University)
• Joel Handler (Law and Policy Studies, UCLA)
• Mary Beth Maxwell (American Rights at Work)
• Alan Reynolds (Cato Institute)
• Louis Uchitelle (The New York Times)
• Kent Greenfield (Boston College Law School)
• and many more notable experts.

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

The Next Generation of Antipoverty Policies - Princeton/Brookings, Future of Children Journal

The Princeton/Brookings journal, The Future of Children, has just come out with a new issue entitled "The Next Generation of Antipoverty Policies" Vol. 17, No. 2, Fall 2007.  The whole issue is available here, executive summary here, policy brief here, and includes:

• Introducing the Issue by Ron Haskins and Isabel Sawhill
• Rewarding the Work of Individuals: A Counterintuitive Approach to Reducing Poverty and Strengthening Families by Gordon L. Berlin
• Toward a Mandatory Work Policy for Men by Lawrence M. Mead
• Next Steps for Federal Child Care Policy by Mark Greenberg
• A Health Plan to Reduce Poverty by Alan Weil
• Decreasing Nonmarital Births and Strengthening Marriage to Reduce Poverty by Paul R. Amato and Rebecca A. Maynard
• Reducing Poverty through Preschool Interventions by Greg J. Duncan, Jens Ludwig, and Katherine A. Magnuson
• Improving the Education of Children Living in Poverty by Richard J. Murnane
• Improving the Safety Net for Single Mothers Who Face Serious Barriers to Work by Rebecca M. Blank
  

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

Student Paper Topics of Use to Organizations working on Poverty related matters

The American Constitution Society has created a new resource for students and faculty, the ACS ResearchLink, one goal of which is to provide paper topic ideas to students that would be helpful to the public interest organizations or professors who could benefit from such student research.  If you go to the search page, here, students can search for paper topics by keyword or by area of law. 

Two examples demonstrate the type of paper topics available through ResearchLink.

• The   Mississippi Center for Justice has posted a suggestion of research on "What state/federal reforms can protect consumers from usurious payday lending schemes? What legal or policy framework could support banking systems to benefit the poor?"
  And they explain:
  
  • Without access to banks, the poor use an alternative system: payday lenders and check cashing stores. These institutions charge extraordinarily high fees compared to traditional banks - the typical two-week loan has an annual percentage rate of 468% on a $400 loan. The poor pay a penalty, reducing already lean assets. Low-income Mississippi communities end up with a predatory banking system, kept in place by a legal system hidden in the background. What state/federal reforms can protect consumers? What legal or policy framework of incentives, rules and processes could support developing banking systems to benefit the poor?
•   Legal Services of Northern California would appreciate research on "Can we create permanently affordable housing, one bequest at a time?"
  • And they explain: Can we create permanently affordable housing, one bequest at a time? Millions of senior citizens own homes with high market values – and a certain portion may be excited by the idea of leaving them to a community land trust that could ensure their permanent occupancy by low-income families. In providing legal assistance to thousands of seniors, Legal Hotline could promote that idea generally while offering customized advice to clients interested in it but wanting to protect themselves, including myriad possibilities of using equity for their needs as they age. Initial research would explore the feasibility of a project. 

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