Poverty Law Prof Blog

Alternative Christmas/Holiday Presents

It is that time again and if you haven't already done your holiday shopping or want to give generally here are some options that I have been emailed about in the last two weeks that I thought might be of interest. 

Two non-profits founded by law students at American University stand out as great examples of what committed students are capable of:

• Roots and Wings International.  Founded by AU 3L Erik Swanson, Roots and Wings provides college scholarships to an indigenous community in Guatemala.  The scholarship recipients then become teachers in their own community, creating a virtuous cycle.  Roots and Wings is now working on getting funding for both scholarships ($750 provides a scholarship for an entire year) and constructing a school for the community.  To make a donation, click here.

• Asylum Access.  Amalia Greenberg, an AU 3L, helped launch the work of this non-profit "dedicated to making refugee rights an on-the-ground reality in Africa, Asia and Latin America."  It does this by supporting local legal aid efforts on behalf of refugees and has offices in Tanzania, Ecuador, Thailand.  To make a donation, click here.

A couple of other causes that seem worthy of charitable holiday donations and that I have gotten emails about:

• Heartland Alliance.  I can't quickly summarize all that they do because it spans a whole range of human need.  But they have created a "catalogue" where you can buy things like a "wellness check" for a newborn baby or pay an electric bill for a struggling family.  To make a purchase/donation, click here.

• Your local foodbank.  This or a donation to someone in the armed forces via a USO care package  was suggested in an autogenerated email from Michelle Obama. 

-Note: I am in El Salvador for the break and I may be unable to post other suggestions either related to this post or in general for a while given limits on my internet access.  Cheers, E.R. erosser@wcl.american.edu

NYTimes Nicholas D. Kristof, "Business Defeating Poverty"

New York Times columnist Nicholas D. Kristof has a newish blog post "Business Defeating Poverty" Dec. 9, 2008, whose focus is described by the title.  The actual post is quite short, but the comments afterward include citations to quite a few sources on philanthrocapitalism and also express some concerns about the focus on business. 

-Thanks to Stephanie Humphries for the heads up!  E.R. erosser@wcl.american.edu

New Paper: Susan Carle on Class in Torts and Employment Law

My colleague Susan Carle has posted a new essay onto SSRN: "Short Notes on Teaching About the Micro-Politics of Class, with Examples from Torts and Employment Law Casebooks," forthcoming in the Buffalo Law Review.  The abstract is below:

This short Essay explores several potential teaching moments in which one might raise issues concerning the micro-politics of socioeconomic class status. I discuss cases found in popular casebooks for three course areas in which I teach: torts, employment, and employment discrimination law. I show how analysis of dynamics related to socioeconomic class in discussing case outcomes can help expose assumptions about the naturalness or inevitability of the law's withholding of dignity rights to persons of low socioeconomic status. Law can reinforce ideas that such subordination is natural to the workplace and market, when in fact those ideas are subject to potential challenge through law just as they are reinforced through it. I thus use case analysis to raise for classroom discussion the following question: Just as law can construct and enforce status hierarchies, might the notion of dignitary rights potentially be made to do positive work in law by disrupting the reinforcement of status hierarchies?

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

New Paper: Spencer Rand on Clinical Teaching and Client Self-Image

Spencer Rand has posted "Creating My Client's Image: Is Case Theory Value Neutral in Public Benefits Cases?" Washington Univ. Journal of Law and Policy (2008) to SSRN.  The abstract is below:

Effective case theory demands that an attorney consider with the client the way that pursuing the theory comports with the client's self-image. This is particularly evident in public benefit cases as they are very value laden. Benefits are doled out using a two-tier system of social insurance and public assistance depending on whether we favor the reason that help is sought. People categorized as having personal traits leading to their need, like old age, blindness, and disability, benefit from our FICA social insurance system, getting higher benefits and having their welfare marketed as a pension with little stigma. People who are unemployed long term or just need help to support their families do not benefit from the FICA system, even if they have paid into it. They are confined to our public assistance system with fewer benefits and the stigma of welfare. Many people do not want to see themselves or be seen as getting welfare. Case theories that push people to into the social insurance or public assistance system fail when they do not consider this factor. 

This article uses the public benefits case to suggest a teaching a method for creating effective case theories that recognizes the need to determine if self-image is at issue for the client. Students study master narratives developed around legal issues. The master narrative surrounding public benefits is gone into in some detail. Students also study community narratives or alternative narratives that could influence personal narratives in the stories and decision making of their clients. After doing so, students are to listen for these narratives and personal narratives of their clients to develop effective case theories for their cases that comport with their client's self-image.

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

Upcoming Conference: Indian/Poverty/Economic Justice/Community Lawyer Clinic Conference

Third Annual Indian Law Clinics and Externship Programs:  Symposium and Workshop, Isleta Casino & Resort, Pueblo of Isleta (located just south of Albuquerque, New Mexico, June 7-9, 2009. 

The conference is for “Professors, Directors, Clinicians and Staff of Indian Law, Poverty Law, Economic Justice and Community Lawyering Clinics and those interested in carefully considering their work with Communities through the provision of legal representation.” The goal is to “dedicate time and space for Indian law clinics and other clinicians working with minority populations to work in solidarity on Poverty Law and Community Lawyering issues, to discuss our shared mission and differing perspectives, and to support new ideas.” 

Sponsored by Southwest Indian Law Clinic UNM School of Law and the University of Denver Sturm College of Law; contributors also include The Tribal Law Practice Clinic Washburn University School of Law and Arizona State University Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law. 

For more information on the conference, contact Christine Zuni Cruz (UNM) or Aliza Organick (Washburn), or for registration information contact Mitzi Vigil, 505-277-0405. 

-E.R. erosser@wcl.american.edu
 

New Paper: Laura Kessler on "Getting Class"

Laura T. Kessler has posted "Getting Class" to SSRN.  The abstract is below:

Gender-based economic inequality has been a longstanding concern of feminist legal theory, particularly as it affects middle-class women. Yet much legal feminist literature remains uninterested in class analysis. How, then, can a focus on class build on and add to feminist legal theory projects? This Essay is intended to initiate a conversation around that question, more than to provide fully formed theories, strategies, or answers. The first part of this Essay briefly provides some examples of insufficient attention to class in legal feminism and other left critical theories in law. The second part explores five possible strategies for overcoming this problem, taking an intersectional approach. I choose my examples from employment discrimination and family law, but the analysis may well apply to other areas.

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

Media coverage of "The Invisible Workforce"

The Central Penn Business Journal is doing a special series on "The Invisible Workforce," looking at ways to bridge the gap between jobless inner-city residents and employers who complain of being unable to find workers for high-skill, blue-collar jobs. Video and quite a few stories are at http://www.centralpennbusiness.com/invisibleworkforce.  Just one example: David Dagan, "Redefining Recruiting: Outreach, Workforce-system Changes Target Underemployment," Central Penn Business Journal, 12/11/2008. 

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

Op-Ed by the President of the Legal Service Corporation

Helaine M. Barnett, President of the Legal Service Corporation, published an op-ed in the Austin American Statesman on Dec. 12, 2008, "How To Deal with the Justice Gap."  A related public hearing can be seen here.  Here is the concluding paragraph: 

In his first inaugural address, our third president, Thomas Jefferson, listed the "essential principles of our government" — first among them was "equal and exact justice to all." But the fact is that the majority of most poor Americans do not have access to justice. It requires all of us — in community organizations, in the legal community, and in state and local governments — to keep working to make the promise of equal justice a reality.

SEE ALSO, from the Center for Law and Social Policy: Alan Houseman and CLASP staff, "CLASP Federal Policy Recommendations for 2009 and Beyond: An Overview," p11-12, Oct. 16, 2008. 

-Thanks to the SC Access to Justice Weblog for calling attention to the op-ed! E.R. erosser@wcl.american.edu

22nd Annual Robert M. Cover Retreat, Feb. 27-Mar. 1, 2009

SALT's Robert M. Cover Retreat (see also ereis Feb. 27-Mar. 1, 2009, at the Sargent Center in Peterborough, NH.  Here is a letter from the organizer.  The overview of the conference is below:

Every year, public interest law students, professors, and practitioners from the Eastern, Mid-Eastern, and Southern United States gather together at the Robert M. Cover Public Interest Law Retreat to network, strategize, and socialize in a beautiful, secluded setting.

The retreat brings to life the vision of Robert Cover, a Yale Law School professor and social change activist. Cover’s vision encompassed four principal goals: 1) to connect students with common goals and interests from across the country; 2) to create a network of professors, peers, and practitioners for students headed toward careers in public interest; 3) to provide a forum for discussions about change and growth pertaining to public interest law; and 4) to provide a platform for change in the public interest sector and perceptions about public interest law.   

For more information about the 2009 Retreat, contact:  Heidi M. Pushard, University of Maine School of Law, heidi.pushard@maine.edu.

(I am pushing this because I'm involved this year; please do contact Heidi if you are interested in coming.) -E.R. erosser@wcl.american.edu

SEALS 2009 Panels/Tentative Schedule

The Southeastern Association of Law Schools (SEALS) annual conference is from Aug. 2-Aug. 8, 2009, at the Ritz Carlton Palm Beach, FL.  The tentative schedule includes panels such as: Critical Race Theory, The School-to-Prison Pipeline, Theories of Equality, The NAACP at 100, Economic Inequality and the Role of Law, and Legal Issues Related to the Crisis...  The registration page is here.

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

Call for Papers: Political Science Conference on Poverty

The Institute for Advanced Policy Solutions at Emory University is hosting "Reducing Poverty: Explaining Recent State Policy Innovations and Strategies," Nov. 19-20, 2009.  The call for papers seems fairly open to academics and practitioners and has a Jan. 16, 2009 deadline. 

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

Op-Ed on repealing the Bush tax cuts

Here: Robert H. Frank, "Why Wait to Repeal Tax Cuts for the Rich?" New York Times, Dec. 5, 2008. 
Relatedly, Darren Hutchinson has this post on his blog, Dissenting Justice (not looking at the tax cut issue but at Obama as a moderate, not a progressive). 

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

Article of Interest: "Lifting Burdens: Proof, Social Justice, and Public Assistance Administrative Hearings"

Article of interest: Lisa Ellen Brodoff, Lifting Burdens: Proof, Social Justice, and Public Assistance Administrative Hearings, 32 NYU Rev. L. & Soc. Change 131 (2008).  This SSRN link is to an earlier draft, the final version I think is only available through Lexis or Westlaw.  Abstract below:

In Lifting Burdens: Proof, Social Justice, and Public Assistance Administrative Hearings, Lisa Brodoff describes the administrative hearing system for public assistance recipients and applicants, and asserts that it is the primary social justice system for the poor. She discusses why public assistance appellants are always placed at a significant disadvantage in this system. The article proposes that the best way to even out the inequities in adjudications is to always place the burdens of production and persuasion by clear and convincing evidence on the government in these hearings. She argues that policy, efficiency, and fairness require a consistent and heavy burden on the state when it attempts to take away or deny brutal needs benefits. This article examines other administrative substantive areas where the burden is placed on the government in hearings, and shows why the policies behind the changed burden in those areas apply with equal force to public benefits hearings. She demonstrates why a new and heavy burden on the agency will not only result in more equitable adjudications but also lead to better managed public assistance programs. Finally, she suggests ways in which to implement this change.

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

Self-Promoting Post on Remittances

My article, "Immigrant Remittances," has now been published by Connecticut Law Review and the final version is now on SSRN.  The abstract is below:

Remittances, the sending of money from immigrants back to their home countries, are the newest anti-poverty, development activity of the poor to be applauded by international institutions and economists. Exceeding foreign aid and private investment to many developing countries, remittances are being hailed as a new, untapped resource with powerful poverty alleviation and potential development attributes. After presenting the poverty, developmental, and economic characteristics of this new transnational connection between immigrants and their loved ones, as well as the dangerous effects of excessive remittance regulation, this Article argues that remittances should be understood as an anti-poverty tool, but not as a route to development.

A colleague of mine, Ken Anderson, put up a post on Opinio Juris about my article and one on remittance securitization by Heather Hughes. 

The BBC has posted an 18 minute BizDaily podcast on remittances that aired on Dec. 1, 2008.  The big issue involving remittances this year is the effect that the economic troubles in the U.S. will have on remittance levels.  The Migration Policy Institute made this, "Remittance Patterns in Flux," the 3rd of the 10 biggest migration issues of 2008. 

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

Costs of Higher Education

A headline from the New York Times today tells the story, "College May Become Unaffordable for Most in U.S." (by Tamar Levin), Dec. 3, 2008.  The associated graphic is here.  Relatedly, on Nov. 30, Tamar Levin's article about foreign study, "Going off to College for Less (Passport Required)" was published by the NYTimes. 

For postings and articles related to the rise in law school costs, see:

• William D. Henderson & Andrew P. Morriss, "What Law School Rankings Don't Say About Costly Choices," National Law Journal, Apr. 16, 2008
• A Columbia Law School explanation for why law school costs so much.
• Equal Justice Works' page on educational debt/public interest path.
• George C. Leef, "Why Law School Costs So Much," Regulation Spring 2003 [2 page article on SSRN].
• N. William Hines, "Ten Major Changes in Legal Education Over the Past 25 Years," AALS website [listing and discussing cost as number 8 in a list of ten changes]. 

-Thanks to Leiter's Law School Reports for the heads up.  E.R. erosser@wcl.american.edu

Native American and Rural Economic Development

For those interested in economic development of Indian tribes or of Indian reservations, a new article highlights the ways in which tribes and rural communities face similar economic development challenges and that both should do more to take advantage of existing funding streams/resources.  The article is Joanna M. Wagner, Improving Native American Equal Access to Federal Funding for Economic Development Through Partnerships with Rural Communities, 32 Am. Indian L. Rev. 525 (2008).  The American Indian Law Review does not have the paper available though its site, so for now Lexis and Westlaw are the only ways to get the article. 

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

Two new Connecticut Public Interest Law Journal articles of interest

Two articles of interest:

1. Jane Gravelle & Jennifer Gravelle, Taxing Poor Families: The Evolution of Treatment Under the Federal Income Tax, 7 Conn. Pub. Int. L.J. 35 (2008). 
2. Tan N. Nguyen, An Affair to Forget: Law School's Deleterious Effect on Student's Public Interest Aspirations, 7 Conn. Pub. Int. L.J. 95 (2008) [very short with a slight focus on Northeastern]. 

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