Law Commons^™

Early Childhood Development And The Replication Of Poverty, Clare Huntington

Faculty Scholarship

Traditional understandings of federalism suggest that states are likely to take varying approaches to important policy questions, particularly in areas as sensitive as family law. And indeed, there are patterns of convergence and divergence in state approaches to supporting early childhood development. Surprisingly, however, the divergences do not always follow predictable political lines. These similarities and differences raise a puzzle that deserves attention by scholars and advocates.

In the United States, differences in early childhood play a key role in replicating poverty. Clear evidence establishes that child development in the first five years of life lays essential groundwork for future …

"I Do For My Kids": Negotiating Race And Racial Inequality In Family Court, Tonya L. Brito, David J. Pate Jr., Jia-Hui Stefanie Wong

Fordham Law Review

Socio-legal scholarship examining issues of access to justice is currently experiencing a renaissance. Renewed inquiry into this field is urgently needed. Studies confirm that only 20 percent of the legal needs of low- income communities are met and that the vast majority of unrepresented litigants are low income, creating what some call a “justice gap” that has become even more urgent in recent years. State tribunals that deal with high-stakes issues particularly relevant to low-income residents, such as family courts and housing courts, are seeing an increasing number of litigants, the majority of whom are unrepresented.

"First Food" Justice: Racial Disparities In Infant Feeding As Food Oppression, Andrea Freeman

Fordham Law Review

Tabitha Walrond gave birth to Tyler Isaac Walrond on June 27, 1997, when Tabitha, a black woman from the Bronx, was nineteen years old. Four months before the birth, Tabitha, who received New York public assistance, attempted to enroll Tyler in her health insurance plan (HIP), but encountered a mountain of bureaucratic red tape and errors. After several trips to three different offices in the city, Tabitha still could not get a Medicaid card for Tyler. Tabitha’s city caseworker informed her that she would have to wait until after Tyler’s social security card and birth certificate arrived to get the …

Tangled Up In Law: The Jurisprudence Of Bob Dylan, Michael L. Perlin

Fordham Urban Law Journal

In this Article, I will try to create a topography of Bob-as-jurisprudential scholar by looking at selected Dylan songs in these discrete areas of law (and law-and-society): civil rights; inequality of the criminal justice system; institutions; governmental/judicial corruption; equality and emancipation (political and economic); poverty, the environment, and inequality of the civil justice system; and the role of lawyers and the legal process.

Creeping Impoverization: Material Conditions, Income Inequality, And Erisa Pedagogy Early In The 21st Century, Maria O'Brien Hylton

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Essay argues that the current trend focusing on the law and economics theory does a disservice to the full-spectrum of legal issues. Law and economics, according to the author, is a value -neutral approach to the law. It fails to take into account poverty and other social values when thinking about the law. Finally, law schools should recalibrate their approach and, in some instances, take social values into account when teaching the law.

Poverty, Inequality, And Class In The Structural Constitutional Law Course, Stephen Loffredo

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Article argues that poverty and income inequality issues should be taught in a constitutional law course. Furthermore, it argues that these issues should not only be considered when discussing due process, equal protection, the First Amendment, but in also within the context of structural constitutional law, i.e. separation of powers and federalism.

Community Development Clinics: What Does Poverty Have To Do With Them?, Alicia Alvarez

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Essay argues that in a legal community development clinic, professors should "do more than teach students to be good transactional lawyers." Legal clinic professors should "focus their efforts on the elimination and reduction of poverty."

Poverty Law And Civil Procedure: Rethinking The First-Year Course, Helen Hershkoff

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Essay argues that poverty and inequality issues should be integrated into first-year civil procedure courses. It examines what framework could be achieved to examine these issues in a civil procedure context. And finally, it connects the author's proposed approach with the broader mission of legal education.

Land Use And Housing Policies To Reduce Concentrated Poverty And Racial Segregation, Myron Orfield

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Article recommends that land use and housing policies be marshaled to reduce residential racial segregation and concentrated poverty. It argues secondly, that state legislatures must adopt a coordinated policy approach. This Article uses Oregon's comprehensive land use legislation as a paradigmatic example of policies that effectively promote affordable housing and decrease urban sprawl. Finally, the article discusses nine policies that the author believes are necessary to promote stable metropolitan living patterns.

The Biblical Prophets As Lawyers For The Poor, Thomas L. Shaffer

Fordham Urban Law Journal

Lawyers practicing poverty law often lack mentors and role models. This author discusses how biblical figures, who served poor people, could be mentors and role models for lawyers practicing poverty law. Prophets, and particularly prophets-as-lawyers, redefine power relationships. Shaffer discusses his personal journey through out his career in using religious guidance to help him better understand his career. He also discuss his teachings to his law students of the value of learning from prophets in their legal careers.

Client Choices, Community Values: Why Faith-Based Legal Services Providers Are Good For Poverty Law, Melanie D. Acevedo

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

International Debt Forgiveness And Global Poverty Reduction, Chantal Thomas

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This article discusses the relationship between the international debt crisis and global poverty. The author argues for an expansion of coordinated international effort, bolstered by fundamental principles of public international law, to address global poverty by substantially reducing the foreign-denominated debt owed by developing countries to modernized countries and financial institutions.

International Debt Forgiveness And Global Poverty Reduction, Chantal Thomas

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This article discusses the relationship between the international debt crisis and global poverty. The author argues for an expansion of coordinated international effort, bolstered by fundamental principles of public international law, to address global poverty by substantially reducing the foreign-denominated debt owed by developing countries to modernized countries and financial institutions.

A Call To Context: The Professional Challenges Of Cause Lawyering At The Intersection Of Race, Space, And Poverty, John O. Calmore

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

From Representing "Clients" To Serving "Recipients": Transforming The Role Of The Iv-D Child Support Enforcement Attorney, Barbara Glesner Fines

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Civil Disturbances: Battles For Justice In New York City

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Collection contains a number of essays that are a part of Civil Disturbances, a collaborative project between artists and lawyers that commemorates various public interest law suits and social justice efforts in New York City. The project itself consists of twenty signs, each representing one specific case, that were designed to be both provoking and informative. This specific Collection contains printings of eight of the signs, as well as separate writings on issues and cases including: disabled people's accessibility to the Empire State Building, child welfare, children's rights, women and the FDNY, rights of the homeless, and welfare benefits. …

A Citizen Lawyer's Moral, Religious, And Professional Responsibility For The Administration Of Justice For The Poor, Mary Ann Dantuono

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Christian Lawyer's Mandate To Provide Pro Bono Publico Service, Nitza Milagros Escalera

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Practice Of Law As A Vocation Or Calling, Timothy W. Floyd

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Discernment Of (The Law Student's) Vocation In Law, David L. Gregory

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Religious Symbols And Religious Garb In The Courtroom: A Catholic Lawyer And The Church's Social Teaching, F. Giba-Matthews

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Report Of Working Group #3, Stacy R. Horth-Neubert

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Color At Century's End: Race In Law, Policy, And Politics, Christopher Edley, Jr.

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Opening Address For The Seventh Annual Stein Center Symposium On Contemporary Urban Challenges, Peter Edelman

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This article is a published version of the opening address of Peter Edelman at the Seventh Annual Stein Center Symposium on Contemporary Urban Challenges, which identifies the challenges in lawyering to the poor and proposes approaches for lawyers to reduce poverty. Peter Edelman's speech challenges the private Bar to take on greater responsibility in helping to formulate policy that will work to eradicate the plight of the poor, calls for greater lawyer involvement in policy adaptation and implementation, identifies new roles that lawyers can and should play in helping to build and strengthen community institutions, and maintains that community building …

Lawyering For Poor Communities In The Twenty-First Century, Matthew Diller

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Symposium focuses on a renewed focus on community lawyering. Finding new ways to work with and engage poor communities is among the most important pieces of any new agenda for poverty law. By focusing on the goal of building community institutions and organizations, poverty lawyers can help poor communities in a number of vital ways. First, they can help communities create structures for the provision of services that government has failed to provide. Thus, poverty lawyers can provide much needed legal representation in the establishment of community-based housing, health care, day care and other programs that meet vital needs. …

Agenda: The Practice Of Law As A Vocation Or Calling: Group #3

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Report Of Working Group #7, S. Chris Church

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Agenda: Pro Bono And Service Obligations: Group #7

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Elusive Quest For Global Justice, Edward B. Foley

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Urban Crisis And The Federal Government's Retreat: Catalyzing Public Policy Choices To Save Our Cities, David R. Jones

Fordham Urban Law Journal

Sections of our cities have been abandoned to a host of poverty-related social ills whose causes have as much to do with the state of the national and regional economies, structural changes in the job market, and political decision-making as they have to do with individual life-histories and personal misfortune. Bleak outcomes are not inevitable and can be reversed by understanding why faulty policy options were adopted and what it will take to formulate new policies. This essay argues for the need of proactive solutions like in combating our urban povery problem by using, (1) a "Marshall Plan" for cities, …