Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Social Welfare Law Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 11 of 11

Full-Text Articles in Social Welfare Law

Debt Bondage: How Private Collection Agencies Keep The Formerly Incarcerated Tethered To The Criminal Justice System, Bryan L. Adamson Apr 2020

Debt Bondage: How Private Collection Agencies Keep The Formerly Incarcerated Tethered To The Criminal Justice System, Bryan L. Adamson

Northwestern Journal of Law & Social Policy

This Article examines the constitutionality of statutes which allow courts to transfer outstanding legal financial obligations to private debt collection agencies. In Washington State, the clerk of courts can transfer the legal financial obligation of a formerly incarcerated person if he or she is only thirty days late making a payment. Upon transfer, the debt collection agencies can assess a “collection fee” of up to 50% of the first $100.000 of the unpaid legal financial obligation, and up to 35% of the unpaid debt over $100,000. This fee becomes part of the LFO debt imposed at sentencing, and like that …


Environmental Justice In Little Village: A Case For Reforming Chicago’S Zoning Law, Charles Isaacs Apr 2020

Environmental Justice In Little Village: A Case For Reforming Chicago’S Zoning Law, Charles Isaacs

Northwestern Journal of Law & Social Policy

Chicago’s Little Village community bears the heavy burden of environmental injustice and racism. The residents are mostly immigrants and people of color who live with low levels of income, limited access to healthcare, and disproportionate levels of dangerous air pollution. Before its retirement, Little Village’s Crawford coal-burning power plant was the lead source of air pollution, contributing to 41 deaths, 550 emergency room visits, and 2,800 asthma attacks per year. After the plant’s retirement, community members wanted a say on the future use of the lot, only to be closed out when a corporation, Hilco Redevelopment Partners, bought the lot …


Families Belong Together: The Path To Family Sanctity In Public Housing, Mckayla Stokes Jan 2020

Families Belong Together: The Path To Family Sanctity In Public Housing, Mckayla Stokes

Northwestern Journal of Law & Social Policy

In its 2015 landmark civil rights decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, the Supreme Court finally held that the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of the United States Constitution guarantee same-sex couples’ marital equality. The Court’s unprecedented declaration that the right to marry is a fundamental right under the Due Process Clause strengthened married couples’ right to privacy because it subjects government actions infringing on marital unions to heightened scrutiny. The Supreme Court has the option to minimize the impact of Obergefell by interpreting the right to marriage very narrowly—as only encompassing the right to enter into a state-recognized union …


The Pursuit Of Comprehensive Education Funding Reform Via Litigation, Lisa Scruggs Jan 2020

The Pursuit Of Comprehensive Education Funding Reform Via Litigation, Lisa Scruggs

Northwestern Journal of Law & Social Policy

No abstract provided.


Panel Discussion: The Right To Education: With Liberty, Justice, And Education For All? Jan 2020

Panel Discussion: The Right To Education: With Liberty, Justice, And Education For All?

Northwestern Journal of Law & Social Policy

No abstract provided.


A Class Action Lawsuit For The Right To A Minimum Education In Detroit, Carter G. Phillips Jan 2020

A Class Action Lawsuit For The Right To A Minimum Education In Detroit, Carter G. Phillips

Northwestern Journal of Law & Social Policy

No abstract provided.


Localism, Labels, And Animal Welfare, Samuel R. Wiseman Jan 2018

Localism, Labels, And Animal Welfare, Samuel R. Wiseman

Northwestern Journal of Law & Social Policy

The law does relatively little to improve the welfare of animals raised for food. In the short term, at least, market-based solutions appear to have more promise as a means of promoting farm animal welfare, as consumers increasingly seek out local and humanely-raised meat and eggs. To aid consumers in identifying these products, certification systems of varying degrees of rigor exist, but even these are of little use to consumers in the restaurant context, which accounts for a large percentage of meat consumption. Patrons see only finished meals, making fraud difficult to detect, and a recent newspaper investigation suggests that …


Soda Taxes As A Legal And Social Movement, David A. Dana, Janice Nadler Jan 2018

Soda Taxes As A Legal And Social Movement, David A. Dana, Janice Nadler

Northwestern Journal of Law & Social Policy

No abstract provided.


Access To Justice Through Limited Legal Assistance, Deborah L. Rhode, Kevin Eaton, Anna Porto Jan 2018

Access To Justice Through Limited Legal Assistance, Deborah L. Rhode, Kevin Eaton, Anna Porto

Northwestern Journal of Human Rights

This article describes an empirical survey of a limited legal assistance program designed to assist low-income individuals with family law matters. It begins by exploring the need for such research, given the nation’s shameful level of unmet legal needs, and the lack of rigorous evaluation of strategies designed to address those needs. The article discussion then describes the methodology of a survey of Alaska Legal Services’ limited legal assistance program, and the survey’s major findings. Among the most critical conclusions are that limited assistance is a cost-effective use of resources, but that more effort should center on provision of hands-on …


Looking At Justice Through A Lens Of Healing And Reconnection, Annalise Buth, Lynn Cohn Oct 2017

Looking At Justice Through A Lens Of Healing And Reconnection, Annalise Buth, Lynn Cohn

Northwestern Journal of Law & Social Policy

No abstract provided.


South Africa's National Credit Act: A Possible Model For The Proper Role Of Interest Rate Ceilings For Microfinance, Megan Whittaker Jan 2008

South Africa's National Credit Act: A Possible Model For The Proper Role Of Interest Rate Ceilings For Microfinance, Megan Whittaker

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

This comment will discuss the current debate regarding the proper role of interest rate ceilings in microfinance and how the South African National Credit Act should serve as a model for future studies of microcredit systems in developing countries. Part II will discuss the controversy over interest rate ceilings in microfinance, setting concerns regarding the effect of ceilings on the viability of microfinance institutions against the need to protect marginalized consumers from predatory lending. Part III will analyze various alternatives to usury laws that microfinance experts have proposed, with an emphasis on supervisory and regulatory systems as the most promising …