LeeAnn Hall: What’s at Stake in the Supreme Court Today?

Today the Supreme Court is hearing arguments in United States v. Texas, the case that will decide whether President Obama’s 2014 executive actions on immigration were constitutional.

What’s at stake? Millions of immigrants and their families could see relief and move forward with their lives free from the fear of deportation if the Supreme Court shows moral leadership and allows the President’s immigration actions to go ahead.Continue reading “LeeAnn Hall: What’s at Stake in the Supreme Court Today?”

Community Organizing Groups Applaud FHFA Principal Reduction Policy

For Immediate Release
April 15, 2016
Kathy Mulady, kathy@allianceforajustsociety.org
Jacob Swenson-Lengyel, jacob@npa-us.org

Community Organizing Groups Applaud FHFA Principal Reduction Policy

Yesterday, the Fair Housing Finance Agency announced a principal reduction modification program that will help up to 33,000 borrowers. In response, Alliance for a Just Society and National People’s Action released the following statement:
“The Alliance for a Just Society and National People’s Action applaud the Fair Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) for beginning to provide relief to thousands of families trapped in underwater mortgages.

Continue reading “Community Organizing Groups Applaud FHFA Principal Reduction Policy”

Colleges Squeezing Out Less Profitable Home State Students

A change in funding at state colleges and universities is starting to change who makes up the student body. In-state students, even with perfect grades and impressive lists of extra-curricular activities, are being passed over in favor of out-of-state students willing to pay three times the tuition.

A scathing report last month accused the California State University system of admitting too many out-of-state students, and reducing opportunities for California residents to attend college in their own state.

Continue reading “Colleges Squeezing Out Less Profitable Home State Students”

Gerrymandered Out of a Voice and a Vote

As the election season picks up steam, the matter of voting rights is making its way back into the mainstream media. Voters need to have their voices, and their votes counted. However, many of the newest congressional districts have been drawn in a way that limits the voice and voting power of people of color, which has repercussions for our democracy beyond the violation of personal rights.

Gerrymandering is the deliberate manipulation of district lines in favor of one party or class. It’s partially to blame for our current political climate. Gerrymandering not only creates extreme polarization and weakens the votes of moderates and minorities, it also reinforces racial stereotyping and housing segregation. Politicians capitalize on this disparity by creating fewer districts with high concentrations of minorities to erode representative power of people of color at both the state and federal level.

Continue reading “Gerrymandered Out of a Voice and a Vote”

LeeAnn Hall: Supreme Court Verdict Assures Unions Can Continue to Help Workers

The Alliance for a Just Society released the following statement from Executive Director LeeAnn Hall in response to Tuesday’s 4-4 Supreme Court verdict in the Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association case. The decision lets stand a lower court ruling upholding public sector unions’ ability to collect “fair share” fees to cover the costs of collective bargaining:

“Today’s outcome is an important victory for teachers, public service workers, and the communities that benefit from the services they provide. Public service unions will be able  to continue helping workers come together in collective bargaining to win better pay, benefits, and work environments.Continue reading “LeeAnn Hall: Supreme Court Verdict Assures Unions Can Continue to Help Workers”

Debt-Trap Debbie Swimming With the Loan Sharks

Debt-Trap Debbie needs to stop shilling for predatory payday lenders who siphon $8 billion in fees and interest each year from those who can least afford it.

That was the message delivered this week to Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s doorstep at the Democratic National Committee, which she chairs, by a hundred grassroots leaders from National People’s Action, Alliance for a Just Society, USAction, and allies.

Decrying the “Sharknado” of debt brought on by the loan shark industry, the leaders arrived with more than 13,000 signatures calling on Wasserman Schultz to stop accepting money from the payday lending industry and stop sponsoring legislation that prioritizes predatory lenders over everyday families.Continue reading “Debt-Trap Debbie Swimming With the Loan Sharks”

New Report: Disenfranchised by Debt

For Immediate Release
March 8, 2016
Contact: Kathy Mulady
Communications Director
(206) 992-8787
kathy@allianceforajustsociety.org

Washington D.C. – Poverty isn’t supposed to be a barrier to voting in the United States, at least according to the Constitution.

Yet, more than 50 years after poll taxes were prohibited by the Voting Rights Act of 1965, people with criminal convictions in at least 30 states are still being barred from voting because they are too poor to pay their jail fines and fees.Continue reading “New Report: Disenfranchised by Debt”

Tools to End the Prison to Poverty Pipeline

A prison sentence often doesn’t end on the day of release. For many people with conviction records, their sentence will continue for years to come with barriers to employment and housing.

Research in the report, “Jobs after Jail: Ending the prison to poverty pipeline,” by the Alliance for a Just Society, show that states have an average of 123 mandatory bans and restrictions preventing people with felony convictions from employment in certain occupations or from obtaining certain occupational or business licenses.Continue reading “Tools to End the Prison to Poverty Pipeline”

LeeAnn Hall’s Statement on CFPB Actions Against Citibank

For Immediate Release
Feb. 23, 2016
Contact: Kathy Mulady,
Communications Director
kathy@allianceorajustsociety.org

Statement from LeeAnn Hall on CFPB actions against Citibank

The Alliance for a Just Society released the following statement from executive director LeeAnn Hall following today’s announcement by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) outlining enforcement actions against Citibank for illegal debt sales and debt collection practices:

“We’re encouraged to see the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau take enforcement action to hold Citibank accountable for these illegal activities,” said LeeAnn Hall, Executive director for the Alliance for a Just Society.Continue reading “LeeAnn Hall’s Statement on CFPB Actions Against Citibank”

Jobs After Jail: Ending the Prison to Poverty Pipeline

For Immediate Release

Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2016
Contact: Kathy Mulady
Communications director
(206) 992-8787
kathy@allianceforajustsociety.org

Jobs After Jail: Ending the Prison to Poverty Pipeline

State regulations bar formerly incarcerated workers from good jobs and a chance at stability

Each year an average of 630,000 people are released from state and federal prisons – for many, their prison record will be a life sentence of poverty and low wages.Continue reading “Jobs After Jail: Ending the Prison to Poverty Pipeline”