As we commemorate the two-year anniversary of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) today, August 16, there is much to celebrate about this historic legislation. The IRA represents the largest-ever climate investment in our country’s history, creating unprecedented opportunities for clean energy savings.
However, we at L4GG are acutely aware that historically marginalized communities often lack the resources to access the IRA’s historic funding opportunities. In response, we have intensified our efforts over the past two years to ensure that the benefits of the IRA reach those who need them most. See what we’ve been up to!
Not enough people are talking about the water crisis in Jackson, MS. On Tuesday, the Mississippi governor declared a state of emergency for Jackson’s water system, the city’s largest treatment plant. Most of the city’s 150,000 residents are without running water, having to rely on bottled water for drinking, showering, brushing their teeth, and cooking.
Lawyers for Good Government (L4GG), the nation’s largest community of attorneys committed to human rights and equal justice for all, and New Georgia Project, a nonpartisan, nonprofit voting rights and civic engagement organization in Georgia, today released a report on ‘ballot selfies’, or the practice of taking photos of oneself at the ballot box and/or with their ballots.
A ballot selfie is when a person takes a photo of themselves holding their marked ballot and usually uploads the photo to a social media account to show friends that they voted, and for whom they voted. Ballot selfies are a great way to promote voting and engage with one’s community, yet many states have laws that prohibit them. Advocacy organizations are concerned that laws prohibiting ballot selfies are tools of voter suppression, and another way to criminalize ordinary behavior.
Click here to download “Selfie-Defense Training: Understanding and Reforming Laws that Ban Photographing and Sharing Your Ballot”
The report found that ballot selfies are completely legal in 28 states, and illegal in 13 states. Five states have laws prohibiting ballot selfies at polling locations, but not when casting a mail-in or absentee ballot. Six states have laws governing ballot selfies that are unclear. The report calls for states to update their laws to explicitly allow voters the right to take a ballot selfie, and prevent voter fraud and bribery without curtailing free speech.
L4GG is proud to release our first-ever report from our Lawyers for Racial Justice initiative. Our report, “Child Farmworkers: Too Young, Vulnerable, & Unprotected,” highlights the lack of regulatory protections for child farmworkers and its racially discriminatory impact on children of color.
Lawyers For Good Government (L4GG), alongside several other human rights organizations, have filed a petition to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) regarding Title 42.
The petition asks the IACHR order the United States to take urgent steps to protect asylum seekers from the risk of irreparable harm caused by the Title 42 policy, and to implement measures to protect other asylum seekers who are or would be subject to Title 42 expulsions.
You can read the petition here.
On Friday, September 24, Lawyers for Good Government (L4GG) and its immigrants’ rights initiative Project Corazon joined a diverse coalition of 28 other organizations to file an amici curiae (“friends of the court”) brief illustrating the particular harm and suffering that Title 42 - a racist Trump-era policy that uses the pretense of the pandemic to expel migrants—inflicts on children and their families.
After the horrific events in Del Rio, Texas, in which hundreds of Haitians seeking safety were rounded up by border agents on horseback using lariats, the UndocuBlack Network issued a letter to President Biden, Vice President Harris, Speaker of the House Pelosi and Majority Leader Schumer to end the war on Black immigrants.
The letter calls for the end of Title 42, as well as support for Haitian immigrants, and investment in a humane and holistic immigration system.
To read the letter, click here.
Since January of 2021, L4GG has been fighting for and securing hundreds of exemptions from Title 42 for extremely vulnerable asylum seekers with medical needs, disabilities, and unaccompanied children.
That's why we’re profoundly disappointed that the Biden Administration is appealing yesterday’s federal court decision to block Title 42 expulsions for families.
After the news that President Biden would be appealing the Federal Courts decision to end Title 42, Lawyers for Good Government joined over 70 other organizations in a sign-on letter urging President Biden to do the right thing and end Title 42.
L4GG will continue to do everything in our power to end the Biden Administration’s misuse of Title 42 to expel migrants without allowing them to seek asylum in flagrant violation of international and domestic law. Title 42 is immoral, illegal and unnecessary.
Read the letter here.
On August 30, 2021, Attorney General Merrick Garland issued a call to action for the legal community, urging that we each step up to help address the looming housing and evictions crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Lawyers for Good Government community of attorneys, law firms, in-house legal departments, and non-profit partners is committed to supporting this effort.
Over three million households are behind on rental payments and could be evicted over the next few months. Renters in the US are disproportionately people of color, and the coming eviction crisis is one that will disproportionately harm underrepresented communities. While the federal government has supplied Emergency Rental Assistance to help keep renters in their homes, only 11 percent of that rental assistance has been used.
If you are an attorney or law student who would like to learn more about opportunities to help keep families in their homes, please fill out this very brief form to sign up for SMS and email alerts from L4GG:
“The legal profession is well positioned to provide support for tenants, landlords, and courts during this crisis. Promoting access to justice to ensure that our justice system delivers outcomes that are fair and accessible to all, irrespective of wealth or status, is one of the highest ideals of the legal profession. ”
L4GG’s Project Corazon has launched the Work Permit Pro Bono Project, a program to assist US-based asylum seekers in applying for Employment Authorization Document (EAD) cards, also known as work permits, helping them to support themselves and their families for the duration of their asylum proceedings.
