Disciplinary Policy in Texas Schools Raises ConcernsBy Larry Abramson, All Things Considered, NPR – June 25

Malique is one of more than 100,000 Texas schoolchildren removed from their regular schools each year and sent to "discipline alternative-education placement," or DAEP…. Nearby in the crowded hallway, public-interest attorney [and Equal Justice Works Fellow] Dustin Rynders works out a plea agreement for a 15-year-old client. It's a scene repeated over and over in courthouses around the state: Students who violate their school's code of conduct must show up in court. Rhynders says hauling students into court leaves a permanent mark on their futures. "One unfortunate effect is that it does establish a criminal record that they would have to reveal later in life when applying for schools and applying for jobs," Rhynders says. "The other thing is that they begin to learn and take in that they're dealing with school officials that aren't willing to work with them."

Public Interest Clearinghouse Selects New Executive Director
Earthtimes.org – June 25

The Public Interest Clearinghouse, a statewide nonprofit working with all segments of the legal community to meet the legal needs of low-income Californians, has selected Julia R. Wilson as its next Executive Director, effective today. … Wilson will also continue her work directing the Legal Aid Association of California, which shares many common goals with the Clearinghouse. Prior to joining LAAC as Director in 2005, Wilson was Directing Attorney and Pro Bono Coordinator at the Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County, responsible for developing the Society’s successful pro bono program and developing connections with law firms around the state. She began her legal career at Legal Aid of San Mateo with a prestigious Equal Justice Works post-graduate fellowship, spending two years working at the cutting edge intersection of welfare reform and the rights of individuals with disabilities.

City Lobbyists Weigh In
The New York Times – June 25

New York City officials managed to stall legislation that would have made it harder for them to lease buildings for school space as part of the city's five-year capital plan. … Advocates for the bill thought they had reached a compromise in the waning days of the session. The deal would have exempted the leases from the state environmental review process and instead required an expedited review involving testing water, soil and air on the properties. "We had worked out what I thought was a kind of sensible compromise," said David Palmer, a staff attorney with New York Lawyers for the Public Interest.

Her long trail of tears ends in joy: How a poor, immigrant mom saved kids from horrid hubby after 5 years
Daily News (NY) – June 24

Marisol Tenesaca lay awake in her lonely Brooklyn room, her heart pounding. Her four young children were 3,000 miles away in Ecuador and about to make a daring escape from their savage father - her husband. If all went according to plan, she would be reunited for the first time in five years with Blanca, 14; Liliana, 12; Andres, 10, and Luis, 9. … According to Tenesaca's lawyer, Carmen Rey, Orellana once beat little Liliana with a belt until she fainted. He deprived the kids of food and made them stay out in the streets until midnight, saying, "They needed street smarts."

Students gain experience in law workshop
Mercury-Register (Oroville,CA) – June 21

The Office of the Family Law Facilitator and the Self Help Assistance and Referral Program (SHARP) crew recently teamed up with AmeriCorps attorneys and law students from all over the state to help people fill out paperwork to represent themselves in court. More than 50 local residents were assisted with learning how to fill out court documents correctly to meet the court's stringent requirements for paperwork. … The program was inspired by Equal Justice Works AmeriCorps attorneys Molly Frank-Meltzer and Kelly Friscia, who determined there was a need to expose urban …

Legal options for Filipinos trafficked into U.S.
By Ivy Suriyopas, Filipino Reporter – June 21

The number of undocumented immigrants in the United States has been a highly discussed topic in the past year. Undocumented immigrants may have entered with legal authorization but overstayed their visa or violated the terms of their visa – or they may have been smuggled or even trafficked into the country.

(Ivy O. Suriyopas is an Equal Justice Works fellow and staff attomey at the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund)

Recipients of aid struggle to repay
Brad Heath, USA TODAY – June 14

In the weeks after Katrina struck, FEMA unleashed an avalanche of disaster aid, sending out checks even when officials knew that some people weren't qualified to receive help. …People who get FEMA aid are warned in writing that they might have to return some of it if the government later decides they were not legally entitled to the money. But Ranie Thompson, a lawyer who handles Katrina cases for the New Orleans Legal Assistance Corp., said many people who got the letters were stunned nonetheless.

$485M overpaid to storm victims
Brad Heath, USA Today – June 14

The Federal Emergency Management Agency overpaid victims of the Gulf Coast hurricanes by at least $485 million and is struggling to reclaim the money from tens of thousands of people it says shouldn't have been given aid, a USA TODAY analysis shows… Crystal Utley, a Mississippi lawyer who coordinates clinics for storm victims, said FEMA should "leave people alone and let them get back on their feet."

National program selects Y. student
Deseret News – June 12

Ruth Checketts, a student at Brigham Young University's J. Reuben Clark Law School, has been selected to participate in the 2007 Equal Justice Works Summer Corps Program. Checketts is one of 350 first- and second-year law students selected to participate in the program out of a nationwide pool of 592 applicants. She joins a select group of only a few BYU students to have ever been accepted into the program.