Public Interest Law Firm: What's New

PILF Supports Act to Reform Credit Card Industry

PILF, together with other state and national organizations, supports the "Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009", a measure that would amend the Consumer Credit Protection Act to ban abusive credit practices, enhance consumer disclosures and protect underage consumers. By limiting credit card penalty fees and eliminating unjustified interest rate hikes, as well as other limitations on practices used by credit card issuers, this act will restore fairness to the credit card marketplace and will make significant progress toward eliminating the most abusive practices burdening cardholders today.  Many of PILF’s clients and potential clients will benefit greatly from passage of this important piece of legislation.

Letter of support for S. 414, the "Credit CARD Act of 2009": Click Here

PILF Supports Act to Cap Interest Rates for Consumer Credit

PILF, together with over one hundred other state and national organizations, applauds U.S. Senator Richard Durbin for introducing the “Protecting Consumers from Unreasonable Credit Rates Act”, a measure that would stop a wide range of lending abuses by capping interest rates for consumer credit at 36 percent annually.  By limiting the total cost of consumer credit to 36 percent, Congress will keep billions of dollars in the hands of low and moderate-income consumers, helping to stimulate the economy without costing taxpayers a penny.  Many of PILF’s clients and potential clients will benefit greatly from passage of this important piece of legislation.

Letter of support to Sen. Richard Durbin:

Click Here

San José Passes Affordable Housing Ordinance after PILF Advocacy-December 9

The San José City Council approved, on December 9, 2008, a measure that will result in the creation of hundreds of additional affordable homes every year in the city, as well as generate significant funds for housing for the poorest members of our community.  The measure will extend inclusionary housing requirements from the current redevelopment areas to the whole of San José.  Law Foundation staff, including Diana Castillo, Melissa Morris, and James Zahradka, were heavily involved in this process since its initiation 16 months ago.  The Law Foundation’s input resulted in substantive improvements to the proposed policy, was lauded by Councilmembers and staff, and cited by the City Attorney from the dais on a critical issue.

Media: 

ABC 7: http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local/south_bay&id=6547727

Memorandum re legal issues around inclusionary housing:

Update to IZ Legal Issues Memo Dec.10, 2007

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PILF Issues Report after Monitoring of over 150 Poll Sites in Santa Clara County - November 12

PILF led an unprecedented coordinated effort to monitor over 150 polling places in Santa Clara County during the November 2008 Presidential Election.  PILF led a team of volunteer poll monitors who were trained to identify problems encountered by voters, focusing on any lack of translated voting materials or bilingual poll workers.  Monitors were also trained to observe other problems such as improper identification checks or broken voting machines.  On November 12, 2008, PILF issued a preliminary report outlining the problems that poll monitors observed on Election Day, citing significant concerns with numerous problems observed in the Presidential Election and asked to work with the Registrar to ensure that these problems do not prevent voters from casting ballots in future elections. 

Under the federal Voting Rights Act and the California Elections Code, county election officials must provide language assistance in a number of ways, including translated voting guides, translated ballots and signs, bilingual poll workers, and voter hotlines staffed by bilingual operators.  Some preliminary findings regarding language access reveal:

• At least 30 of the polling sites did not have or did not display bilingual sample ballots, voter bill of rights, or how-to-vote instruction cards. 
• Election Officers at 47 of the sites did not have, were not aware of, or did not display a handout regarding the language assistance hotline for the ROV. 
• Thirty-nine poll sites did not display bilingual provisional voting instructions.
• At 7 poll sites, Bilingual Election Officers failed to appear.  In several instances, our monitoring staff had to call the Registrar of Voters for replacement bilingual poll workers.   
• Monitors found that Bilingual Election Officers routinely failed to wear a badge identifying their language capability.  We found this problem at 23 poll sites. 

“For many limited English proficient voters, access to language assistance is the determining factor in whether they can cast a ballot,” said Kyra Kazantzis, Directing Attorney of PILF.  “In light of the growing linguistic diversity of California’s population, robust voter participation can be achieved only if jurisdictions fully comply with their legal obligation to provide language assistance.” 

Poll monitors also made observations and anecdotal findings with respect to identification checks, voting machines, and provisional balloting, including the following:

• In at least 4 poll sites, Election Officers inappropriately asked voters to show identification; and, in at least 1 instance, the Precinct Inspector mistakenly believed that all voters must present identification before voting. 

• Twelve polling sites that Law Foundation monitors visited had broken voting machines.  Another broken machine was reported by another community agency.

• Frequently, Election Officers did not explain the difference between provisional ballots and regular ballots to voters; they also failed to provide voters with information about their options before furnishing provisional ballots. 

• In at least 2 precincts, voters whose names did not appear in the address index were forced to vote provisionally even though their names appeared on the official roster.  In those instances, the Precinct Inspectors mistakenly believed that voters’ names had to appear on both lists. 

Leslie Cook, Voting Rights Project Manager at PILF, stated, “In addition to language barriers, immigrant voters face other barriers to exercising their vote.  First-time voters often go to the wrong polling place or have difficulty using voting machines.”  Federal law protects such voters’ right to vote by requiring poll sites to offer provisional ballots when appropriate and accessible voting machines.

“The key now is to work with Santa Clara County election officials to develop troubleshooting mechanisms to allow the registrar to more quickly respond to problems such as poll worker no-shows and voting machine failures on Election Day,” said Kazantzis.  “It is equally important for election officials to continually work on improving poll worker trainings with regard to language assistance and other federal requirements, and to provide translations of all election materials, especially provisional ballot materials.”

Media:

Preliminary Poll Monitoring Report: 

Preliminary_Poll_Monitoring_Report Nov 2008

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Settlement Filed on Behalf of Individuals with Mental Health Disabilities Will Allow Choice of Residential Care—November 12

A groundbreaking settlement that will benefit seniors with disabilities throughout California—represented by PILF and the law firm of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP—was filed with the Superior Court on November 12, 2008.  The settlement will remove a regulatory barrier imposed by the State of California’s Department of Social Services that has prevented seniors with mental health disabilities from accessing or remaining in housing that is best suited to their needs.

The suit filed by the non-profit California Association of Mental Health Patients’ Rights Advocates alleged that the State’s regulation barring people over 59 years of age from being admitted to Adult Residential Facilities discriminated against individuals with mental health disabilities whose needs would be best served in those facilities.  The complaint alleged that this discriminatory regulation forced seniors with mental disabilities to languish in housing environments—including locked facilities—that were not suited to their health needs.  The complaint further alleged that the regulation, as implemented by state employees, forced seniors with mental health disabilities to face eviction from homes that had met their critical residential care needs for years. 

Jim Raphael, President of the California Association of Mental Health Patients’ Rights Advocates, said that “Not all individuals who are 60 or over need care in a Residential Care Facility for the Elderly.  In fact, some of our clients who faced being forced into care homes for the elderly were at high risk of transfer trauma or emotional decompensation because of the lack of social interaction in such homes.”

The State denied the allegations of illegal conduct but agreed to settle the lawsuit and amend the regulation in question to remove the language that gave rise to the suit.  As part of the settlement, the State agreed to adopt policies that will assure its compliance with the new regulation, including notice and training to DSS staff and licensees.  “After more than two years of litigation, we believe the defendants came to understand that the regulation was harmful to residents of the state and needed to be changed,” stated Patrick King of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP.  “We were able to work with opposing counsel and committed employees from California’s Department of Social Services to craft a settlement that protects and respects the needs of elderly adults with mental health disabilities.”

“This settlement will assure that seniors with disabilities will not be denied the housing that’s best suited to their needs,” said PILF directing attorney Kyra Kazantzis.  “It’s a common-sense solution to a policy that was causing harm to too many of California’s most vulnerable residents.”

Settlement Agreement:

CAMHPRA Settlement-Executed

Attachment to Settlement Agreement: 

ARF AGE REGS

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                                                  Last Updated April 24, 2009