National Center for Law and Economic Justice

Did you know there is a bill to help workers get back stolen wages -- unpaid tips, overtime, break time, and sick time? It’s called the Securing Wages Earned Against Theft bill and it has the votes to pass... but just needs to be put to a vote! Take action today with over a hundred organizations and tell NY Senate and Assembly leaders to move the bill: http://sweatnys.org/times-running-out-take-action-today/

We partnered with Southern Poverty Law Center, National Health Law Program, Disability Rights Louisiana, and O’Melveny & Myers LLP to make sure Medicaid-eligible youth in Louisiana get emergency mental health treatment, crisis intervention services, and intensive home and community-based services to youth with mental health or behavioral needs.

June 1 was the first day of Hurricane Season. NCLEJ continues our advocacy to ensure state and federal agencies are meeting the needs of low-income individuals and people with disabilities in their response to natural disasters. Read more: https://nclej.org//inadequte-response-hurricanes-laura-zeta

We need to make sure that over 600,000 part-time workers in New York can get the benefits they deserve. Currently, New York’s unemployment insurance system disincentivizes part-time workers from returning to work by withholding benefits even when these workers make meager earnings. The legislature has passed a bill, S1042-A / A2355-A, to fix this. Urge Governor Cuomo to sign a bill to stop withholding benefits for low-wage workers: https://unitedtoday.org/ny-partialui-lett...er/ If passed, $208 million per month could go to workers.

Celebrate May Day TODAY in NYC at these two actions! Join Laundry Workers Center to support laundry workers at noon at Canal and Baxter before 2pm Union Square May Day rally.

Celebrate May Day tomorrow at these two actions in NYC! Join Laundry Workers Center to support laundry workers at noon at Canal and Baxter before 2pm Union Square May Day rally.

One rare verdict will not fundamentally change public safety nor make this country safer for Black people... We need full accountability for law enforcement, whole scale changes in the criminal justice system, and an end to the discriminatory economic exploitation of communities of color. -Dennis Parker, NCLEJ Executive Director Read more: http://ow.ly/o70150Evmkl Photo Credit: Chad Davis | Wikimedia Commons

Victory! Driver’s license suspension reform was signed into NY law. Here’s what you need to know: https://finesandfeesjusticecenter.org//2/03/DLSRA-FAQs.pdf

Meet our newest staff members: Senior Attorney Anjana Malhotra and Director of Philanthropy Tamara Vasan. We’re so excited to welcome them to the NCLEJ family. Read more: https://nclej.org/staff

We join in solidarity with Black-led movements calling for the immediate end to the abusive and illegal policing of the Black community. https://nclej.org/n/honor-daunte-wright-end-police-violence

So much of wealth inequality has its basis in housing discrimination and the country’s failure to address fair access to housing. -Dennis Parker Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com//hud-biden-fair-housing-ru/

We are so proud of the work against debtor’s prison that our current Board Vice Chair, Martha Morgan and former Board members Hank and Faya Rose Sanders lead. J...oin National Center for Law and Economic Justice tonight in honoring them! https://mailchi.mp//statement-on-recent-news-events-328423 See more

Thank you Selendy & Gay PLLC for your immense support to NCLEJ’s virtual benefit! We couldn’t make it happen without you. https://nclej.org/award-benefit

Thank you Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP for generously supporting NCLEJ’s virtual benefit! We couldn’t make it happen without you. https://nclej.org/award-benefit

Thank you Dentons US LLP for generously supporting NCLEJ’s virtual benefit! We couldn’t make it happen without you. https://nclej.org/award-benefit

Thank you Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton for generously supporting NCLEJ’s virtual benefit! We couldn’t make it happen without you. https://nclej.org/award-benefit

This year, we are: Waiting longer than usual for the results Counting every vote Rejecting politicians who falsely claim early victory ... Only a full vote count will reflect the will of the majority of American voters: https://nclej.org/news/count-every-vote #CountEveryVote #ProtectTheResults #Election2020

Victory in Michigan for people with disabilities! In a case litigated by NCLEJ and Legal Services of South Central Michigan, the Sixth Circuit held that forcing people with disabilities to remain isolated in their homes is a violation of their rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act. #ADA30 #Olmstead

The @CFPB’s debt collection rule doesn't stop debt collectors from scaring consumers into paying on old, time-barred debt #ZombieDebt for which they are no longer, or never were, responsible. #FairDebtCollection

Victory! Our plaintiffs Migrant Justice / Justicia Migrante and supporters are marching to the Burlington federal courthouse right now. They are announcing a settlement in our case to sue Immigration and Customs Enforcement and stop ICE’s unlawful surveillance, harassment, and arrest of immigrant community leaders targeted for their First Amendment protected speech. ICE thought that they could silence immigrants, but the community is stronger than ever. Read our press release: https://nclej.org/n/migrant-justice-settles-ice-retaliation

Victory for immigrant farmworkers in Vermont! Watch our plaintiffs from Migrant Justice / Justicia Migrante+ NCLEJ attorney Leah Lotto today at 12pmET announce a settlement in a First Amendment lawsuit against ICE to stop unlawful targeting of human rights defenders: https://www.facebook.com/migrantjustice/posts/1014995345673801

New Yorkers of color deserve a more just New York State court system. In this newly-released independent review of the New York State court systems, a judge said systemic reluctance to devote resources to high-volume New York City courts which primarily serve indigent people of color is "the very definition of institutional bias." Read the full review: http://www.nycourts.gov//SpecialAdviserEqualJusticeReport.

Instead of managing a pandemic and providing relief to so many suffering from natural disasters, the White House and the Senate have pursued one goalelevating Justice Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. This single-minded pursuit, days before the election, leaves Black and brown communities with no meaningful pandemic relief, health care workers without sufficient personal protective equipment, and all of us mourning hundreds of thousands we’ve lost. NCLEJ condemns the confirmation of Justice Barrett to the Supreme Court:

This month, NCLEJ board member Deborah Archer published a brilliant article discussing ways that the built environment perpetuates exclusion and segregation, reviewed here by Prof. Sarah Schindler. https://property.jotwell.com/tear-it-all-down-highways-as-/

This year, October is voting month. We’re using every tool to create a future where our communities don’t just survive but thrive. Now we’re making our plan. To vote. Make your voting plan today!... https://www.riseup4justice.org/vote See more

Victory for SNAP recipients nationwide! Yesterday a federal court blocked rules that would have deprived hundreds of thousands of people of essential benefits. Read more here: https://nclej.org/news/victory-snap-recipients

It’s time for Governor Cuomo to sign the Driver’s License Suspension Reform Act. Hundreds of thousands of low-income New Yorkers are forced to choose between living for a year or longer without transportation or risk criminal charges by continuing to drive. This discriminatory practice needs to end! Learn more: drivenbyjustice.org

Did you know NY has a rationing policy for ventilators? As Covid-19 spikes this Fall, according to the policy, New Yorkers with disabilities -- especially personal ventilator users seeking medical care at a hospital -- could lose access. That’s why @NCLEJ and @disabilityrightsnewyork filed a case to change the New York State Department of Health Ventilator Allocation Guidelines. Many states, like Alabama, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee, have resolved administrative complaints t...o address discrimination against people with disabilities in their ventilator allocation policies. But Governor Cuomo refused so we had to sue NY. Rationing policies are dangerous, unfair, and devalue the medical needs of people with disabilities, low-income people, and people of color. We want Governor Cuomo to change the policy to ensure that personal ventilator users who seek medical care at a hospital will not have their ventilators taken from them. #NoBodyIsDisposable #HandsOffOurVents