Lawyers Committee For Civil Rights Of The San Francisco Bay Area

Programs: Racial justice-criminal justiceafter years of advocacy bringing the end to the punitive practice of taking away drivers licenses just because people were too poor to pay a ticket, lawyers committee for civil rights helped achieve some breakthrough reforms in california. Starting july 1, 2017, courts can no longer suspend drivers licenses for failure to pay citations. Our 2017 report, paying more for being poor: bias and disparity in californias traffic court system, lccr documented that african-americans in the bay area were 4-16 times more likely to be arrested related to failure to pay a ticket. This reform will stop one unnecessary type of entry into the criminal justice system, in addition to allowing hundreds of thousands of californians to keep their licenses and therefore their jobs. One in four americans has a criminal record, and it is 2 to 3 times as difficult to get a job with a criminal record. Lccrs racial justice program provides a path to employment. Lccrs second chance legal clinic assists clients who are working to overcome barriers to employment and housing due to past arrest and conviction records. The clinic provides free reentry legal serviceswith the possibility of placement with a pro bono attorney for additional representation, where neededin areas such as: criminal record remedies (expungement), housing and employment rights, occupational licensing, criminal background reports, public and private housing applications and denials, and drivers license suspensions. In addition to providing clinic services on site at lccr offices, the clinic also operates in the community onsite at partner organizations such as hospitality house, goodwill industries, and momagic. During the past year, the clinic managed intakes from more than 92 clients in over 107 employment, housing, drivers license suspensions and occupational licensing-related matters, including immigrant seeking post-conviction relief. The clinic also provided know-your-rights workshops and pro bono attorney trainings to over 265 members of the community, attorneys, law students, and service providers, including several large record clearance events in partnership with episcopal charities, project homeless connect, and the san francisco adult probation department. Lccr staff are also investigating racial disparities in, and helping plan reforms for, criminal fines and fees, towing, and infraction enforcement, as well as participating in the statewide bail reform effort. Lccr has stepped up its investigations of police harassment, and planning stop and frisk litigation to prevent unconstitutional and racially biased police practices. Racial justice-educationsince august of last year, lccr has attempted to expand its educational advocacy to address education equity issues that impact students of color, english learners (el) and immigrant students. In the area of discipline reform, we have worked as a co-sponsor on senate bill 607, a bill that would amend the education code to address the overuse of suspensions for minor and subjectively imposed offenses based on defiance/disruption pursuant to educ. Code 48900(k). Suspensions based on section 48900(k) raise serious concerns about their disproportionate impact on students of color and other vulnerable student groups. We have been investigating the discipline practices of modesto city school district, which based on data we have obtained through public records act requests, is disproportionately targeting african american students for exclusion. We also filed a complaint with the office for civil rights (ocr) against fremont union high school district for failing to take appropriate action on behalf of an african american student who was racially harassed on almost a daily basis by other students. Ocr accepted our complaint for investigation. Finally, we recently filed a complaint with ocr alleging that the sequoia union high school district was discriminating against students of color and those with disabilities with respect to its discipline policies and practices. With respect to the rights of el and immigrant students, we filed an ocr complaint challenging san mateo union high school districts residency policies which serve to prevent undocumented students from enrolling in school. In our case, a young student was denied enrollment for some seven months until we intervened. We also recently filed a complaint with californias attorney generals office challenging the enrollment practices of some 75 school districts that are unlawfully inquiring about the citizenship status and/or social security numbers of children when they attempt to enroll in school. The attorney generals office is currently investigating our complaint. In a related matter, lccr has worked on assembly bill 699 as a co-sponsor. If passed, this bill would prohibit: 1) discrimination, harassment or bullying based on a students actual or perceived immigration status; 2) schools from collecting information regarding the immigration status of students or their family members; and, 3) school site access to ice agents for any purpose unless there is a valid judicial warrant. We also filed a complaint against sequoia union high school district alleging that the district discriminated against el students by excluding them from participating in a field trip to visit colleges. Finally, we recently sent a demand letter to modesto city schools challenging its failure to provide notice concerning student immunizations to parents and students in languages other than english.

immigrant justicelccrs immigrant justice program is designed to address the unmet legal needs of immigrants and, in doing so, to combat the civil rights issues plaguing the current immigration enforcement system. The program aims to empower immigrants who face significant barriers to fair treatment and civic engagement by challenging particularly unjust systemic processes. The strategy involves advocating directly for asylum seekers, engaging in impact litigation, and advancing fair and just immigration policies. Lccrs asylum program screens and matches refugees in need of asylum with volunteer attorneys, and it supports their representation with trainings, case materials, and close mentorship. When needed, volunteer interpreters are also matched with the representation teams. The individuals represented are low-income residents of northern california who have fled persecution and torture in their home countries and who would otherwise go without counsel. Our volunteer attorneys often dedicate several years to an asylum case. One of our pro bono volunteer teams recently secured a life-changing asylum victory for a young christian woman seeking to avoid being returned to syria. She was previously living in damascusnow the epicenter of syrias civil war. Several of her family members have fled the country, and those who remain are in constant fear of bombings, shootings, and imprisonment. Lccr volunteer attorneys submitted an asylum application on her behalf in 2015 with the us citizenship immigration services showing that she would face religious and gender-based persecution if she were forced to return to syria. After submitting the application, the volunteer attorneys compiled supporting documents and diligently prepared their client for an interview with an asylum officer. Her application was approved on july 31, 2017. Now, she not only is protected from deportation to syria, but also is on a path to citizenship in the united states. In the past year, the program intensively screened over 175 cases in order to match clients with pro bono attorneys for representation. Lccr provided 12 trainings and workshops on asylum and immigrant rights issues to over 263 attorneys, paralegals, interpreters, law students, psychologists, and community members. The program continues to provide regular updates to its signature training manual for practitioners. Recognizing that the need for increased pro bono legal services for immigrants at risk for deportation is acute, lccr further concentrated its efforts to scale the availability of civil counsel to counter wrongful deportations. In collaboration with americorps/vista, equal justice works, and an alliance of bay area organizations, lccr expanded its program to provide direct representation to unaccompanied minors who are especially vulnerable to the increasingly punitive immigration system.

economic justiceas part of lccrs ongoing effort to strengthen low-income community and improve the economic security of communities of color, lccrs legal services for entrepreneurs program (lse) provides pro bono business law services to low-income people interested in starting or expanding small businesses (mom and pop shops) where gentrification is a force for displacement, and those that invest directly in economically distressed neighborhoods. During the past year, the program provided legal services to over 276 micro entrepreneurs through workshops and trainings. The program partnered with community organizations to provide clinics serving more than 177 small business clients through regular monthly clinics in alameda, marin, san francisco, san mateo and other counties. For example, one client, a holistic healing school, had a judgment entered against them in an unlawful detainer proceeding and faced a sheriff lockout in a matter of days. Lse reviewed the case and matched the school with an attorney. With lses support, the attorney was able to successfully negotiate a settlement agreement that reinstated the schools lease and provided it with a path forward to remain in their location long term. Lse continues to inform and empower small business owners through a series of workshops and other technical assistance. One recent example was an employment law basics workshop held at oaklands city hall. There, lse taught a room full of oakland small business owners the basics of california wage and hour law, including oakland specific requirements implemented via measure ff.