Equal Justice Society News

Tax cuts for wealthy individuals. Increased spending on weapons. Budget deficits. Less money for health care for poor people. An under funded educational system in disrepair. Not a hint of windfall profits tax.

What is wrong with this picture? Everything -- unless you are one of Grover Norquist's friends. And this dire situation did not come about as the result of happenstance or bad national karma. There is a method to this madness.

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Save the Date: Thursday, April 6 at UC Berkeley
Symposium on the Impact of Proposition 209
Eva Paterson will be the keynote speaker at this timely forum analyzing the effects of Proposition 209, examining the litigation that challenged Proposition 209 and providing insight into how Proposition 209 has impacted various communities of color. Sponsored by Berkeley La Raza La Journal. Join the EJS mailing list to receive further information on this event.

Notes on the Right: Starving the Beast

By Lee Cokorinos

"We are the party of ideas," Karl Rove told a rapt audience at the New York State Conservative Party convention during the 2004 presidential campaign. "We are seizing the Mantle of Idealism."

Today, as some of the right's top activists inside and outside government plead guilty to corruption and influence peddling charges, face indictment and trial, and probably jail, idealism is hardly the first word that springs to mind. Rove helped build the conservative movement by bringing together the big money people on the Right with the conservative ideologues who staffed its extensive network of think tanks and media capacities, and connecting them with key Republican politicians. But the chickens of Rove's fusion of high ideas, dirty politics and corporate cash are coming home to roost.

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Fight Back with EJS - Become a Member!

By Miguel Gavaldon
Director of Development

Recognized by the national civil rights community as a formidable advocacy organization after only three years in existence, the Equal Justice Society - in the words of President Eva Paterson - "is here to stay."

Advocates like you have made our rapid growth possible. Because of your support we have been able to take strong positions on key racial justice issues and to organize leaders across multiple disciplines for strategic action.

Also in this article: Zuni Café's Surprise Fundraiser!

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Hurricane Katrina: EJS Responds with Lawsuit; U.N. Petition Aims to Expose and Redress Impact on African American Community

By Shannon Seibert
Law and Communications Irmas Fellow

In the months following Hurricane Katrina, the Equal Justice Society worked to ensure more just treatment of evacuees and those whose lives were forever altered in the aftermath of the storm. In November, EJS filed a class action suit, as co-counsel with the Public Interest Law Project, Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and law firms from New York and New Orleans against FEMA in Louisiana's Eastern District Court. The following month, EJS submitted a petition to the United Nations and several United States agencies demanding redress for victims of Katrina.

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California Senators Support Filibuster of Alito; Coalition Warns of Danger to Civil Rights

By Elaine Elinson
Newsletter Editor

When President Bush gave his State of the Union address on January 31, there was a new Supreme Court justice sitting in the front row who will be key in implementing the Bush agenda for many years to come. Judge Samuel Alito’s elevation to the court shifts the Supreme Court far to the right.

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EJS Brief Supports Campaign Spending Limits in Supreme Court
Aims to Protect Rights of Voters and Candidates of Color

By Kimberly Thomas Rapp
Director of Law and Public Policy

On February 28, the U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments in Randall v. Sorrell, No. 04-1528, on the constitutionality of campaign spending limits.

In an amicus brief filed with the court, the Equal Justice Society uses legal and social science research to illustrate that the increasing cost of campaigns recreates racial and economic disparity often to the exclusion of Americans of color. "We are urging the Court to uphold spending limits by ruling that governments have compelling interests in giving voice to all - regardless of race or income - by promoting full and meaningful participation in our political process by all members of the electorate, and that such governmental interests are sufficient to support limits on campaign spending," explained EJS President Eva Paterson.

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EJS Supports SF Mayor's Action Against Racist and Sexist Police Videos

By Rico Oyola
Associate Director of Projects and Coalitions

At a December 15 meeting in San Francisco City Hall, EJS staffers Miguel Gavaldon and Rico Oyola joined other civil rights leaders at a meeting with Mayor Gavin Newsom to recommend steps that the city could take to deal with the police officers who participated in the production of videos that mocked minorities and portrayed women as sex objects.

The Mayor was transparent with his frustration at the police video, stating, "This was an attack on the community."

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EJS Launches Constance Baker Motley Fellowship

By David Salniker
Director of Finance and Administration

At the EJS second annual fundraiser on December 2 at San Francisco's City Club, EJS President Eva Paterson announced the launch of a law fellowship in honor of the Honorable Constance Baker Motley, the first African-American woman to serve on the Federal Bench. The event featured a video tribute to Judge Motley, from her memorial service at Riverside Church in New York.

"We are honored to have had Judge Motley as one of our early and strong supporters," said Paterson, who explained that the fellowship is aimed at attracting recent law school graduates to the intersection of civil rights and social policy.

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Port Chicago in Print and Music

Marcus Shelby and his Jazz Orchestra will launch their new CD, Port Chicago, at Yoshi's Jazz Club on February 21 and 22 in Oakland. EJS commissioned the renowned jazz bass player and composer create a musical tribute to the African American sailors who were tried for mutiny following their work stoppage after an explosion at Port Chicago (just north of San Francisco) during World War II.

The jazz suite is based on The Port Chicago Mutiny, a book by UC Berkeley professor and Black Scholar editor Dr. Robert Allen. After being out of print for several years, EJS is collaborating with Heyday Press to republish the Dr. Allen's book.

Called "a gripping exposé of a shocking injustice," by Publishers Weekly and "a compelling tale," by the Boston Globe, The Port Chicago Mutiny is a thorough and engrossing work of U.S. history and civil rights literature. With a new epilogue from the author, The Port Chicago Mutiny raises questions about the powers of the military, about the prosecution of civil disobedience, and about the rights of the individual-issues as relevant today as they were sixty years ago.