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 THE
PUBLIC INTEREST LAW CENTER OF PHILADELPHIA
Affiliated with the Lawyers Committee for Civil
Rights Under Law
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The Law Center could win $500 with your help!
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In
honor of Earth Day, any nonprofit that works on environmental issues
and has 10 reviews or more on
www.greatnonprofits.org
will be entered to win $500 through the Guidestar Green
Giveaway.
Learn about our
Environmental Health & Justice project
Write a review and help us
win!
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Support the Law Center today
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2010
is off to a productive start! Help the Law Center continue the
momentum by making a tax deductible gift.
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LETTER
FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
The Guerin Recreation Center, a compact cement building in South
Philadelphia, was overflowing one late January afternoon as children,
parents, advocates, teachers and Cambodian, Vietnamese, Chinese and
Spanish translators, mingling with police and Philadelphia Human
Relations Commission staff members. I had arrived, with the
others, to listen and to testify about the racial violence in South
Philadelphia High School that broke into public view in late December
and which was already deteriorating into finger-pointing among the
adults.
The testimony we heard was deeply disturbing: indifference to the
broken rib of an eight-year old African American boy. An
Asian-American teenager's jaw broken as he opened his locker.
Small, routine incidents of petty violence in the lunch line but no
adults in sight. Most horrifyingly: a young teacher celebrating
superior test scores with her class, faced with an invasion of 20
people who rushed into her classroom to beat up one of her
students. She wept as she spoke of her lack of power to
intercede.
There were also moments of great power and, dare I say, hope. Two
Asian teenagers spoke about one-on-one meetings with African American
students facilitated by a school program-something they enjoyed but had
never experienced before. A small program where kids gather after
school. The empowerment of speakers who dared to stand up and
address a large group. The civility of the meeting, the first of
eleven to be hosted by the Philadelphia Human Relations Commission.
I write about that winter afternoon because it is a mirror, in so many
ways, on our work here at the Law Center. The problems that we
choose-education, employment, health, housing-- are seemingly
intractable and beset with the evils of indifference and discrimination.
They do not lend themselves to quick fixes, just as school violence
cannot be solved with the deceptively-simple prescription of more cops
and more bars. Instead they require purposeful, focused
attention. They may require a series of small steps, not just
grand gestures, just as stopping school violence may include preventing
the "small" punches and indignities in the lunch line. They
require research to find what works in other places. And they
require no small dose of optimism.
You can read my
testimony from this hearing on our website. And you can read an
article about the hearing on the Philadelphia
Neighborhoods Blog (please note, you will be asked to
acknowledge that you may encounter content suitable only for adults).
As we tackle these complex issues, we remain ever grateful to you, our
most generous donors and volunteers, whom we celebrate on the pages of
our 2009 annual report, available below. You give us the
strength and the wherewithal to continue.
Sincerely,
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Thank You,
Law Center Donors and Volunteers!
 The Law Center's 2009 Annual Report is now online
and in the mail to you - watch out for it in your mailbox, or check it out now online.
The 300+ donors featured on its pages made our progress in
2009 on cases like our Florida medicaid case, featured on the cover
(and at right) possible.
The Law Center would especially like to thank the 46
law firms that supported our work in 2009. We published a
thank you ad in the Legal Intelligencer and you can
view it on our
website.
We also celebrate the hard work and dedication of 43
volunteers who in 2009 donated over 5,000 hours to work on Law Center
projects. One volunteer, Sandra Wang, shared her story in the March
e-newsletter of the Young Lawyers' Division of the Philadelphia Bar
Association. Read it here.
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Attorney
Michael Churchill testifies about new proposed Truancy penalties for
parents
On
March 15, 2010, Michael Churchill testified on SB99 which proposes a
statewide law increasing the fines and providing jail time for parents
of truant, neglected or delinquent students. Michael's testimony,
based in large part on his research in Lebanon, PA where parents and
Law Center clients are challenging a similar law already in effect,
stated that imposing fines on poor parents and threatening or putting them
in jail has not proven effective in eliminating or reducing truancy; in
the most extreme cases, it further disrupts family life when parents
are jailed for failure to pay fines.
Michael's testimony
"Well
intentioned laws can end up hurting" Philadelphia Daily News, Mar
16, 2010
"WILL 'PUNK
PARENTS' FACE THE LAW?" Philadelphia Public Record, March 18, 2010
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Law Center clients, minority-owned bus companies alleging
racial bias by
NJ DOT, advance toward trial
 Several black-owned, Philadelphia-based bus companies
moved closer to trial in late March when they submitted an expert
report showing that New Jersey bus inspectors stopped them for
inspections nearly five times more often than white-owned bus
companies; and that the inspections lasted longer and were more
detailed. The bus companies
allege that New Jersey illegally discriminated against black-owned
buses in running inspections at Atlantic City. "This
is the American dream," said Charles Major (lead plaintiff,
pictured at right) in an interview with the Philadelphia Daily News,
"to start a company, do what you need to do, and then pass it on
to your children or grandchildren; but then because of the bus
inspections, we lost business, or went out of business." The Law Center, in partnership with
Dechert LLP and private practioner Yvette Sterling are pursuing the
lawsuit in federal court in New Jersey.
The Court currently has under consideration a motion to dismiss
filed by the state defendants in November 2009. More...
Bias at the A.C. bus
depot? Philadelphia Daily News, February 10, 2010
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Governor's proposal to
increase school funding advances; School Funding Campaign applauds 
Governor
Edward G. Rendell's proposed 2010-11 budget, including a $354
million increase in basic education funding, advanced with its passage
by the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. The measure
is now being considered by the State Senate. The Pennsylvania School
Funding Campaign (PSFC) applauded the proposed budget because it will
keep Pennsylvania headed in the right direction toward eliminating the
gap in funding between the amount of money spent on public education in
Pennsylvania's school districts and the amount of funding a PA General
Assembly-commissioned "Costing-Out Study" determined was
necessary to educate all Pennsylvania students to reach state
standards. The Law Center serves as a member of the
steering committee of the campaign. More...
Details on the budget
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Law Center preserves family's right to due process against
claim that statute of limitation expired
 On February 18th, an administrative hearing officer ruled
in favor of Law Center client Kentell and permitted his family to
proceed with a due process hearing in the face of the school district's
assertation that the claim was brought too late. Kentell
(pictured at right), is a child with a number of physical and neurological
conditions, including intracranial hemorrhages, cerebral palsy, and
severe neuromuscular scoliosis. The family had previously sought
to have a due process hearing that was withdrawn when Kentell's medical
issues required more immediate attention.
More....
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Law
Center seeks more complete access to records of Decisions
under the IDEA
On
December 15, 2009 the Law Center's Sonja Kerr and volunteer attorney
Manali Shah appealed a decision of the Office of Open Records
("OOR") holding that administrative decisions regarding
gifted children are not available to the public. The Law Center's
client in the case, the mother of a child who is both gifted and has
special needs, submitted a request pursuant to the Right to Know Law
seeking administrative decisions pertaining to 1) gifted students and
2) students who are categorized as both gifted and special needs. More....
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Significant victory for client with disabilities in Alaska
is one of several in Federal District Court
On
February 24th, the Alaska Federal District Court issued an opinion that
simply and resoundingly affirms a hearing officer's decision that our
client, Ben Y, was denied education in the Least Restrictive
Environment; the district court cited the hearing officer's
determination that the LRE violations were "significant."
As a result, our client will receive substantial compensatory relief
and the district must bring in a well-recognized inclusion facilitator
to make sure that the district carries LRE out properly going
forward. Two other Law Center clients, including Dylan
(pictured at right) have also prevailed in Alaska Federal District
court this year.
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The Law Center comments on proposed guidance to reduce
employment barriers caused by criminal record
January 26, 2010 - at the invitation of the Pennsylvania
Human Relations Commission (PHRC), The Law Center submitted comments on
PHRC's new proposed guidance regarding employers' use of criminal
records checks to exclude applicants. Under the guidance, the PHRC will
presume that an employer's policy of excluding applicants based on a record
of a criminal conviction disparately impacts minority applicants.
The guidance is based on the disproportionate impact of such policies
on minorities, particularly in Pennsylvania. In its comments, prepared
by the Law Center's Executive Director Jennifer Clarke and Deferred
Associate Fellow Harry Moseley, the Law Center suggests modifications
designed to encourage employers to tailor more carefully any use of
such record checks. More....
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Environmental
Health and Justice Clinic joins other groups encouraging EPA to take
tougher stance on lead monitoring
The
Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia's Public Health and
Environmental Justice Project has teamed up with various organizations,
including the Natural Resources Defense Council and the American Lung
Association, to urge the EPA to take a tougher stance on the monitoring
of lead in the air. Jointly signed comments by the groups were
submitted to the EPA on February 16, 2010, in support of the EPA's
proposed revisions to its lead ambient air monitoring requirements. More...
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Join us at these upcoming
events:
Pennhurst State School and Hospital Historic Marker
Dedication Ceremony
When: Saturday,
April 10, 2010, 3:45pm (1pm public forum is SOLD OUT)
Where: Rt
724 and Bridge Street, Spring City, PA
Hosted by: The Public Interest Law
Center of Philadelphia, The Pennhurst
Memorial and Preservation Alliance, the Pennsylvania
Humanities Council. and the Pennsylvania
Historical and Museum Commission.
What: The
Law Center and our partners will dedicate a PA historic marker for the Pennhurst
State School and Hospital near the former institution's campus in
commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the landmark settlement
agreement that led to the institution's closure and the rise of
community-based services for individuals with disabilities. Details and
registration...
Education Summit: The Village Takes
Responsibility, Part III
When: Saturday, April 10, 2010, 9:15am - 3:00pm
Where: 92 Greenfield Avenue (Zion Annex), Ardmore, PA 19003
Hosted by: Concerned Black Parents, our clients in Blunt v.
LMSD
Featuring: Lower Merion School District Superintendent Dr.
Christopher McGinley, Dr. Bobbi Shapiro, Director of Student Services
(special education) and Mr. Steve Barbato, Director of Curriculum. The
session will focus on academic achievement and success and special
education.
SAVE THE DATE: "Autism - ABA and Inclusion: Not
Mutually Exclusive"
The first of a series of training and CLE sessions for parents,
attorneys, educators and advocates of kids with disabilities,
hosted by the Law Center's Sonja Kerr.
When: June 22, 2010
Where: United Way Building, 1709
Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, PA 19103
Online registration will open on April 26, 2010.
Yearlong calendar of events coming soon.
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Law Center attorneys active on the lecture circuit in
February and March
 On
March 31, 2010 Tom Gilhool (right), former Law Center Chief Counsel,
spoke on the topic of "Pennsylvania and the Disabilities Rights
Movement" at the Disabilities and Public Policy Community Forum at
Millersville University. He was awarded Millersville University's
Presidential Medallion. This is the university's highest award
and recognizes his distinguished public service to the citizens of the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
 March 11-14 2010 Sonja Kerr, Director,
Disabilities Rights Project and
Becca Devine, Law Center Volunteer Advocate presented at the Council of
Parent Attorneys and Advocates (COPAA) Annual Conference.
Kerr and Devine's presentation for experienced advocates
was entitled "From IEP Table to the Supreme Court-In Depth
Analysis of Forest Grove and Winkelman." It included a
step-by-step analysis of how parent participation shaped the decisions
in those cases. Kerr also gave a separate presentation entitled
"Alternate Ways to Due Process" with tips on ways to resolve
issues with school districts short of a formal administrative hearing.
Conference website
 On
March 3, 2010 Sonja Kerr began co-teaching a 9-week seminar entitled
"Special Education Law" at Drexel University's Earle Mack
School of Law with Professor Terry Jean Seligmann, a well-known writer
in the area of special education law, especially discipline issues.
On February 23,
2010, Sonja Kerr made a presentation to parents and community members
at the Center School, a private school for kids with learning
disabilities. The Center's director wrote to her, "You were very
clear and direct with the information and very accessible to the
audience. Thank you for...keeping it 'down to earth.' That helps to let
parents know they can be in the driver's seat and hopefully it can
begin to reduce their frustrations...The entire Center School community
join[s] me in expressing our heartfelt thanks."
On February 6,
2010, Adam Cutler, Director
of the Law Center's Public Health and Environmental Justice Project
presented as part of a panel entitled: "Creating the
Solutions to the Problems that Plague Our Broken Cities" at a
conference entitled "Reinventing the wheel: Why broken cities stay
broken and new ways civil rights attorneys can fix them,"
presented by the Michigan Journal of Race and Law at the University of
Michigan Law School, Ann Arbor, MI. The transcripts of the
presentations will be published in the journal.
Conference photos
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The Public Interest
Law Center of Philadelphia is dedicated to advancing the Constitutional
promise of equal citizenship to all persons irrespective of race,
ethnicity, national origin, disability, gender or poverty. We use public
education, continuing education of our clients and client organizations,
research, negotiation and, when necessary, the courts to achieve systemic
reforms that advance the central goals of self-advocacy, social justice
and equal protection of the law for all members of society. www.pilcop.org
The Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia is a
registered charitable organization. A copy of the official registration
may be obtained from the Pennsylvania Department of State by calling toll
free within Pennsylvania 1.800.732.0999. Registration does not imply
endorsement.
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