Poverty
Expungement: The Missing Federal Piece
May 10, 2023
While states have created their own expungement laws, nothing similar exists under federal law. In this blog post, staff member Diana Kawka explores federal expungement law and offers solutions to solve this gap.
Continue ReadingMinimum Wage and the Tipping Culture Divide
January 18, 2021
Annali Cler* On November 3rd, voters flocked to the polls, and election results gripped the nation for the following week. Although the presidential race captured headlines, another important vote occurred that day. In Florida, voters approved an amendment to the state’s minimum wage. Florida’s minimum wage for non-tipped employees will increase to $15 by 2026,…
Continue ReadingParking While Poor: The Disparate Impact of Municipal Fines During the COVID-19 Pandemic
February 11, 2021
The city of Minneapolis may be inadvertently spreading COVID-19 through its current vehicle ticketing and towing policies, with a disproportionate impact on low-income residents.
Continue ReadingPPP Loans: A Plethora of Profits Program for the Big, A Penny-Pinching Peril for the Small
April 25, 2021
“The PPP loan program has undoubtedly helped businesses across America. However, in times of global panic, this country needs to come together and help those most in need, and that is not what the PPP loan program is doing today.”
Continue ReadingWho’s Benefiting from Attorney General Settlement Agreements?
June 3, 2021
Anna Berglund* Lately, when we read about state Attorneys General (AGs) in the news, we hear about them suing battleground states to try to overturn election results[1] or suing the Trump administration 138 times—almost double the number of times the Obama and Bush administrations were sued—over various policies.[2] Although state AGs are increasingly ramping…
Continue ReadingSigning Away Your Right to Parent: How Safety Plans Evade Due Process Requirements in Child Welfare Proceedings
April 20, 2022
By Eleanor Khirallah While safety plans are supposedly voluntary and lack the court’s involvement, there have been many questions about the coercion involved in having parents sign these agreements. This is particularly true because these plans may be used to deprive parents of their right to custody of their children without due process of law.
Continue ReadingGentrification, Displacement, and Disparate Impact Liability: How Gentrification Theory is Not Cognizable Under the Fair Housing Act
May 2, 2022
by Adam Mikell* In the United States, the topic of housing has an ugly history comprised of decades of government-sanctioned discrimination and segregation carried out through racially-motivated practices such as “neighborhood composition” rules, racial covenants, steering, and redlining. In 1968—the tail end of the Civil Rights Movement—the Fair Housing Act (FHA) was passed to…
Continue ReadingPurging False Narratives Around Cash Bail
October 28, 2022
By Christian Purnell. With Illinois’ Pretrial Fairness Act (PFA) set to take effect in a matter of months, opponents are stepping up their efforts to spread misinformation about the law on social media. Homing in on a provision of the PFA that abolishes cash bail in the state’s pretrial system, Twitter trolls, and even…
Continue ReadingUnhoused and Handcuffed
January 13, 2023
By Eleanor Khirallah Under the guise of addressing homelessness and mental illness in New York City, on Tuesday, November 28, 2022, Mayor Eric Adams announced a new directive that allows the involuntary hospitalization of people suspected to be mentally ill on the street or subway. The city directive authorizes peace officers and police officers to…
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