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Dear Friend of the Washington Lawyers' Committee,
Our thoughts this weekend are with the people impacted by hurricanes Harvey and Irma. Rebuilding will be a very long process and many families will face legal crisis—particularly those in poverty, with undocumented immigration status, or who were already subject to discrimination in housing and employment.
August in DC is usually a quiet month, but ours was far from restful. Read below about our efforts to address the affordable housing crisis for families, the abusive isolation practices in federal prisons, and the failure of the Social Security Administration to be accessible to the blind.
Thank you for partnering with us on these important litigation and policy initiatives.
Jonathan Smith
Executive Director, Washington Lawyers' Committee
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If you or someone you know has experienced any act of hate or bias because of their race, gender, national origin, religion, or disability, the Washington Lawyers’ Committee is ready to help. Please contact us at ReportHate@washlaw.org.
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Barry Farm Residents Fight Discriminatory Redevelopment
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DC does not have nearly enough affordable housing, particularly for families. Development and gentrification are accelerating displacement and segregation in the District. One historic community affected by these changes is Barry Farm.
Barry Farm is 432-unit public housing complex located in Southeast DC, in the process of being converted into a mixed-income, mixed-use development that will exclude more than 150 families by decreasing the number of affordable family-sized units. Almost all Barry Farm residents are African American. In recent years, in anticipation of the redevelopment, the District of Columbia Housing Authority (“DCHA”) has allowed Barry Farm units to fall into a gross state of disrepair, forcing families to leave or reside in deplorable conditions.
The Committee and co-counsel Foley & Lardner LLP are challenging the discriminatory redevelopment by the DCHA and its private developer partners. We are suing on behalf of resident families of Barry Farm, the Barry Farm Tenants and Allies Association, and community-based organization Empower DC. Read more about the case here.
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Class Actions Challenge Brutal Practices in Federal Prison
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Solitary confinement or other forms of isolation has become commonplace in the nation's prisons. Prisoners are held in isolation for years, and in many cases, decades. Isolation is cruel and harmful to anyone, but especially for prisoners with mental illness.
The Committee is litigating two class actions challenging isolation of prisoners with mental illness at the federal prison in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania (Lewisburg). Conditions at Lewisburg are among the most brutal and inhumane of any prison in the U.S. DC prisoners at Lewisburg are returning to our community with little or no transition assistance, demonstrating the dysfunction created by federalization of the District's criminal legal system. More…
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Board Spotlight: Ted Howard
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Ted Howard is a Washington Lawyers’ Committee Board Member, former WLC Co-Chair, and recipient of our Wiley A. Branton Award for his deep commitment to equal justice and civil rights. He is also Pro Bono Partner at Wiley Rein LLP and one of the nicest people you will ever meet. Ted spoke with us about how junior lawyers can make pro bono a part of their everyday practice, how one oral argument led to a landmark settlement for 1200 women prisoners who were receiving unconstitutionally inadequate medical care, and how he cherishes the quiet sunrise over the Capitol every week.
More…
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Blind Sue SSA Over Inaccessible Kiosks
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The Social Security Administration serves 56 million Americans, many with disabilities. Accessibility to Social Security is critical to ensuring that all eligible applicants can apply and all recipients are served. In August, the National Federation of the Blind and two blind individuals sued to ensure that people who are blind have access to Social Security services. We represent them in the lawsuit against the Social Security Administration for its failure to make its touchscreen kiosks accessible to its blind users. “This issue highlights a systemic concern in the blind community regarding digital accessibility,” said Jonathan Smith. More…
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