LEGAL ACTION CENTER

Need-to-Know News: July 29, 2011

July 29, 2011

If you haven't already, please see our federal action alert focused on the the Second Chance Reauthorization Act! LAC and HIRE celebrated passage of the original legislation in 2008 because it authorizes grants that help states and communities begin to address the problem of mass incarceration and the needs of people returning home. Now, we need your help urging Senator Charles Schumer to co-sponsor the legislation to reauthorize it.   Follow this link to act now!
Thanks to those of you who responded to our call for comments to the EEOC on the racially discriminatory impact of criminal records in employment screening. Follow this link for transcripts and video from the hearing on the issue, or check out the ACLU's coverage of the event.

State

A group including our partners at the Brennan Center wrote to the State Legislative Task Force on Demographic Research and Reapportionment this week urging it to comply with a new state law requiring that inmates be counted in their home districts, not where they are incarcerated. The letter, coming after reports that the task force was not planning to follow the new law until the resolution of lawsuit challenging it, was supported by an editorial in The New York Times.

National

In a move to address the needs of veterans returning home, the Army is looking to hire 130 substance-abuse counselor positions by October 1.
At its annual convention this week, the NAACP issued a resolution titled, “A Call to End the War on Drugs, Allocate Funding to Investigate Substance Abuse Treatment, Education, and Opportunities in Communities of Color for A Better Tomorrow,” and issued a statement criticizing the drug war as discriminatory, costly, and counterproductive.
To memorialize the singer Amy Winehouse, who died last week, her family is setting up a foundation to help those struggling with substance abuse.
The State Senate in Louisiana has voted against proposal to require drug testing of welfare recipients who receive cash assistance.
Under a proposal before the Human Rights Commission in San Francisco, private employers and landlords would be barred from disqualifying applicants because of their criminal records.
Delaware officials are starting a study of the state's criminal justice system to find ways to lower incarceration and recidivism rates.