Will Justice Spring Forward in 2009?

Dear friends,

As the meltdown of our global economic system continues to cause widespread suffering among many who had little to lose, there is a strong tendency to blame communities that are already vulnerable, instead of examining the root causes of inequity and injustice.

We believe that the solution to unemployment, downsizing, and the loss of homes is not reactionary scapegoating, but rather a movement toward a fuller and more integrated vision of justice and human rights for everyone.

In spite of these struggles, there are inspiring stories of communities coming together to realize this vision of justice and human rights. Earlier this year, in Chatham County, NC - a rural community in central North Carolina - leaders, citizens, and activists passed a bold resolution to protect the county's immigrant residents from 287(g) agreements. Faced with a backlash by anti-immigrant groups, the community reaffirmed its support when over 100 residents attended the County Commission meeting to thank them for their leadership in securing the right of all residents in their community to live without fear.

SCSJ continues our regional advocacy to advance immigrant rights and to assist immigrants threatened with deportation by providing pro-bono legal representation in the immigration courts. Unlike defendants in the criminal court system, there is no right to free court appointed counsel in the immigration court system. Only about one-third of those caught up in the system have any kind of legal representation.

SCSJ is currently assisting several clients, most of whom were put into deportation proceedings after being arrested under the 287(g) program. In a recent case, SCSJ negotiated the release of a young man who was in jail on a driving related offense and awaiting his deportation hearing while his 7-month old son, a US citizen, was in a local hospital recuperating from a liver transplant. SCSJ worked with hospital staff and local immigrant rights groups and successfully secured his release on his own recognizance.

His quick release enabled him to help his wife, who was trying to take care of the baby and their 2 1/2 year old son, also a U.S. citizen, on her own - which involved multiple trips to the hospital for follow-up care. SCSJ is continuing to work with this family to try to obtain permanent status for the father in the U.S.

"The work SCSJ is doing on this issue is critically important at this time. The current government policy is tearing families apart. It is gratifying when we get to help put one back together."
Marty Rosenbluth, SCSJ Immigration Staff Attorney

IN THIS ISSUE

>> TAKE ACTION AGAINST RACIAL PROFILING
Attend a Checkpoint Monitoring Training this Saturday in Chapel Hill
Gang leaders in Greensboro are working to reduce gang violence in Greensboro
So why is the Greensboro PD targeting them?
>> Support The Right to A Healthy Community
Oppose Environmental Injustice in New Hill, NC
>> BUILDING SANTUARY, SAFETY, AND HARM FREE ZONES IN EVERY COMMUNITY
Harm Free Zone Roundtable Report from March 14, 2008
SCSJ seeks Spanish-speaking volunteers to help with case intake and support in the office
>> UNC Community Organizing Students Partner with SCSJ
>> Resources: A Guide to Change in Durham:
Create the Change Durham's Guide to Community Organizing

IN THE NEWS

"March, rally push 14 point progressive agenda," WRAL, February 15, 2009.
"Secure Communities: 287(g) with lipstick?" Matt Saldena, Independent Weekly, Jan., 23, 2009.
"NC Legislature must make boundary changes again," AP, Gary Robertson, March 9, 2009.
"Residents set to fight Navy's OLF with all they've got," Virginia-Pilot, Feb. 17, 2009.

SCSJ IN THE COURTROOM

>> Bartlett v. Strickland
>> Hope v. NC

TAKE ACTION AGAINST RACIAL PROFILING

>> Attend a Checkpoint Monitoring Training this Saturday in Chapel Hill, NC

On Saturday March 21, SCSJ and the ACLU are offering training on how to monitor checkpoints to document possible instances of racial profiling. Last month the ACLU and the UNC School of Law Immigration and Human Rights Clinic released a report that found that the 287(g) program has "created a climate of racial profiling and community insecurity."

Watch the YouTube video by two videographers who documented abuse and terror inflicted by the police at this traffic stop in Maricopa County Arizona. You can also sign a petition at MomsRising.org.

>> Gang leaders in Greensboro are working to reduce gang violence.
Why is the Greensboro PD targeting them?

In November 2008, the Southern Coalition for Social Justice signed a legal retainer with the Beloved Community Center, the Pulpit Forum, and the Almighty Latin Kings and Queens Nation to defend members against alleged assault, harassment, provocation, and profiling by the Greensboro Police Department.

Earlier that year, the organizations had come together to call for a peace and an end to gang violence in Greensboro. According to Reverend Nelson Johnson of the Beloved Community Center, the Gang Task Force of the Greensboro Police Department has engaged in "harassment, provocation, [and] abuse… the gang squad's actions have created a dangerous situation."

Over the past three months, SCSJ attorney Chris Brook has represented members of the Latin Kings and Queens in several hearings. In February, a judge held that a security guard at the Greensboro bus depot was guilty of assaulting our client Russell Kilfoil and was ordered to pay restitution.

Read more in these Yes! Weekly articles by Jordan Green
"Jorge Cornell called for gang peace… so why does he look like a marked man?" November 19, 2009.
"IMPERFECT Justice," January 14, 2009.

Support The Right to A Healthy Community:
>> Oppose Environmental Injustice in New Hill, NC

New Hill, NC is a rural community in Western Wake County, located near the Shearon Harris nuclear power plant. Even though the area is already home to one of only three nuclear power plants in North Carolina, the surrounding municipalities want to burden residents with a sewage treatment plant that would not serve their community, which is still predominantly dependent on septic systems. SCSJ recently agreed to represent New Hill, which is over 80% African American, in this environmental justice issue.

BUILDING SANTUARY, SAFETY, AND HARM FREE ZONES IN EVERY COMMUNITY:
>> Harm Free Zone Roundtable Report from March 14, 2008

Believing that genuine security derives from strong relationships between community members, an understanding of power and inequality inside and outside our communities, and spaces for dialogue and growth, SCSJ is a partner in the Harm Free Zone Organizing Committee. This effort will provide tools and trainings to local communities to strengthen their capacity to confront and transform state violence and interpersonal conflict.

The purpose of the HFZ is to reduce our community's reliance on police and prisons as a solution to social, economic and political problems. On March 14, over 30 community members gathered at the Stanford Warren Library in Durham to participate in a roundtable about the need for and development of Harm Free Zones.

>> SCSJ seeks Spanish-speaking volunteers to help with case intake

The Southern Coalition for Justice is currently the only non-profit legal organization offering pro bono defense against removal services for undocumented persons. This has resulted in a HIGH volume of calls to our office. We are currently seeking Spanish-speaking volunteers to help answer phones and do basic intake during office hours. Please contact Jillian at Jillian@southerncoalition.org if you would like to volunteer.

>> Students in Marisol Jimenez McGee's community organizing course partnered with SCSJ this semester! Students are working on Black land loss prevention, supporting community organizing in Durham, building a solidarity committee in the Triangle to help the Gates County Citizens Against OLF, and organizing a checkpoint monitoring training. SCSJ is excited to have the support of this dedicated class and instructor.

>> RESOURCE: Create the Change Durham's Guide to Community-Based Organizing in Durham

The Create the Change Guide to Durham Community Organization is a resource compiled and created by the Southern Coalition for Social Justice. This guide provides information about some of the many organizations in Durham working for community change. If you would like to order copies, contact Jillian@southerncoalition.org.

SCSJ IN THE COURTROOM

Bartlett v. Strickland

On Monday, March 9, the Supreme Court issued a ruling in the Bartlett v. Strickland case and set back years of progress towards full and fair inclusion that black voters have made in North Carolina and around the country. The opinion by Justice Kennedy is an unsupported interpretation of the Federal Voting Rights Act that undermines the original purpose of the 1982 Amendments to the Voting Rights Act. The opinion says that the intentional dismantling of a coalition district, with the intent to discriminate against minority voters, would violate the Constitution, but where districts simply have that effect, without proof of intent, there is no Voting Rights Act violation.

With a slim 5 to 4 majority, the Court's action dismantled North Carolina House District 18, in Pender and New Hanover Counties. Pender County was originally split off from New Hanover County in order to dilute the voting strength of black voters in that area of the state. The immediate and practical effect in North Carolina will be limited to Pender and surrounding counties. However, as the dissenting Justices noted, the Voting Rights Act "protects not merely the right of minority voters to put ballots in a box, but to claim a fair number of districts in which their votes can be effective."

With this decision, Justice Souter warns, "the plurality has eliminated the protection of §2 for the districts that best vindicate the goals of the statute, and has done all it can to force the States to perpetuate racially concentrated districts."

SCSJ also agrees with Justice Ginsburg, who said this decision puts the ball back in Congress' court - it is time to reinvigorate the Voting Rights Act, amend Section 2 to clarify Congress' intent, and ensure that its promise is fully realized for all minority voters throughout the country.

Hope v. NC

Recently the ability of attorneys employed by a non-profits to represent plaintiffs in public interest litigation was challenged by the Attorney General's office, representing the State of North Carolina, on the grounds that state law prohibits corporations from practicing law. In this particular case, Hope, et. al. v. North Carolina, et al., the plaintiffs are professional corporations in the health care industry seeking to vindicate their due process rights under the North Carolina Constitution. The State moved to disqualify the attorneys representing the Plaintiffs on the grounds that, as employees of the North Carolina Institute for Constitutional Law, their legal representation violates the state prohibition on corporations engaging in the practice of law. See N.C. Gen. Stat. § 84-5.

In response, a diverse group of non-profit public interest legal organizations filed an amicus brief in the trial court, drafted by SCSJ. This ruling could significantly impact important services and advocacy tools for some of North Carolina's most vulnerable residents, as some legal services operate programs for the elderly and in domestic violence circumstances. Environmental protection groups do important legal work for the public good. Their right to represent these clients is protected by the First Amendment, and should be recognized in state law.

At this time the Court has ruled that under state law the attorneys could not practice law in the name of their employer, instead, they could only appear in the case in their personal capacities. This issue remains a concern for public interest law organizations in the state.

Campaigns and community efforts for lasting change are in full swing this spring. Be a part of the movement to build a strong human rights culture in the South - community by community - and make a donation to the Southern Coalition for Social Justice.

Send in your secure tax deductible donation to the Southern Coalition for Social Justice today!

Checks can be made payable to Southern Coalition for Social Justice and mailed to:
SCSJ, 115 Market St., Ste 470, Durham, NC 27701

Thank you for your continued support.

Anita, Marty, Elena, Jillian, Tionya, Chris, and the Board

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Staff Attorney Marty Rosenbluth testifies at Chatham County Commissioner Meeting on the use of 287(g) in other counties.

Chatham County residents at Commissioner meeting to support resolution to protect immigrant community from 287(g) agreements.

Gates County Citizens Against OLF attended the third annual Historic Thousands on Jones Street in Raleigh on February 14, 2009.

VOICES FROM THE SOUTH ON

Voices of Gates County
by Joanna Field

Black Brown Unity Conference - Greensboro, NC
by Independent Voices

Will Johnston County, NC Take A Stand Against Torture?
by Independent Voices

We would like to thank the following organizations for their financial support:

The Ford Foundation

Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation

Fund for Southern Communities

Fleisher-Bierstein Foundation

Triangle Community Foundation

Southern Poverty Law Center

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