Legal Services of Central New York Fall/Winter 2019 Just Hearsay Newsletter

SPECIAL FEATURE IN THIS ISSUE: “LSCNY Legacy Magazine” Featuring an Interview with former LSCNY Staff Attorney and Syracuse City Court Judge

LANGSTON McKINNEY

J U S T

HEARSAY

T h e Qu a r t e r l y Ne w s l e t t e r o f L e g a l S e r v i c e s o f C e n t r a l N e w Y or k — W i n t e r 2 0 1 9

Bienvenu! Jambo!

Connections Across Cultures

In This Issue Attorney-Teen Client Confidentiality

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From The Director

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New Tenant Protections

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Re-Entry Staff Testimony

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Re-Entry Program: Year In Review

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Busy In Binghamton

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Less Restrictions for Blind Inmate

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Save The Date

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LSCNY Launches FUNraiser

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LSCNY Advocates for Housing Equity

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Welcome New Staff

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LSCNY Legacy Interview:

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Judge Langston McKinney

@therealLSCNY

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By Paul Ciavarri, Advocacy Specialist In late September, two leaders – an elder and a youth leader – of the Syracuse “new American” Congolese community invited me into the home of a new American family from Africa.

The newcomers had settled into the upstairs half of a two family rental home on Syracuse’s North side. The visit was the fruit of relationship-building over the course of an entire year with the Congolese community, primarily around the matter of childhood lead poisoning.

There were three children in the house, about 4 to 16 years old, visited by a number of friends over the next hour, but hardly interrupting the conversation that ensued. The kitchen and living room were sparsely furnished. A table and chairs sat in the first; a used couch, plush seat, and two simple wooden chairs occupied the second.

The mother of the children was working on this early Saturday morning, so the father and I talked. Our words Photo Credit: Jessica Ruiz, Newhouse School, Syracuse University

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and meaning were interpreted by the Congolese leaders. I soon learned that the immigrant father is a French language teacher by training and education. He and his family had, by that point, spent a grand total of one month in the United States of America. As the purpose of my invitation was to inform this family about the reality, and dangers, of lead paint poisoning in Syracuse, we soon turned to that topic. He listened and was good-humored about this tough conversation even as a scowl crossed and re-crossed his face throughout. We discussed how lead poisoning can damage a child’s brain. How, if left undetected, it has high likelihood of creating challenges to a child’s success in school.

Twisting in my chair as I sought to reassure him, we discussed the fact that the house windows (and window frames) were new, there were no cracks in the wall paint, and there was no apparent peeling paint. Still, I strongly suggested he get the house tested to identify hazards that could be hidden from the human eye.

hood lead poisoning. After a presentation of the moving film “Lead Poisoning: the Perfect Predator” (now at: http://www.stoplead.org), three panelists led an emotionally compelling discussion with an attentive audience of about thirty local residents.

Our panelists were three women, all directly dealing with struggles around childhood lead poisoning: (1) Darlene Medley, a mother of three-year old twin boys poisoned by lead in a rental home that the landlord had indicated to her was lead safe; (2) Lisa Saka, Ph.D., a language interven-

Here, in a house which a recommended landlord assured her was “lead safe,” her children’s lead levels were now high enough that her babies’ social and intellectual capabilities may be dramatically reduced for the rest of their lives.

The father asked: “Can you return to test my house next week? Can you test my children tomorrow?” I gave him the phone number of the county health department’s lead poisoning prevention program to request a housing lead test. And we discussed the idea of speaking to his children’s pediatrician about blood lead testing.

Soon, our visit came to a polite close.

Despite the anxiety that had slowly gathered like a fog over our conversation, we parted company outdoors in a bright sunny autumn morning in a spirit of gratitude. And the father’s gracious manner toward a complete stranger, especially one bearing strange news about the home city of his new country, remains indelibly impressed upon the mind.

Lead Poisoning: The Perfect Predator On September 18, on a pleasantly warm evening, LSCNY’s Community Counsel facilitated an event inside ArtRage Gallery in Syracuse: “Lead Poisoning: The Perfect Predator, film and discussion.” With valuable volunteer assistance from community activist Christina Whiteside, and generous support from gallery director Rose Viviano, we had a robust discussion that raised the ire in the room about our community’s collective lack of progress on ending child-

tion teacher for the Syracuse City School District who has taught students challenged by lead poisoning, and; (3) Kelly Mikullitz, Esq., an attorney with the O’Connell & Aronowitz law firm in Albany and director of their Toxic Exposure Litigation group. She arrived from Albany that evening to join our panel.

Mrs. Medley recounted her surprise at learning her twoyear old twins had lead poisoning. Prior to leaving a south side house eventually declared unfit for human habitation, her children’s blood lead levels had been essentially nil.

But after she moved, and into a house of a landlord who was recommended to her by a well-known service provider, the children’s lead levels skyrocketed. The children’s blood testing was done at WIC. Eventually, she received nothing more than a non-descript envelope in the mail from the county health department.

In her busy-ness, she tossed the first two in the trash, thinking them the equivalent of junk mail. The third time, sensing it might be more important than she thought, she opened it. It angered her that here, in a house which a recommended landlord assured her was “lead safe,” her chil-

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Housing insurers are exempt from ‘lead poisoning prevent’ riders in their policies, which often makes a personal injury suit difficult, if not impossible, to pursue.

Photo Credit: Jessica Ruiz, Newhouse School, Syracuse University

dren’s lead levels were now high enough that her babies’ social and intellectual capabilities may be dramatically reduced for the rest of their lives.

Mrs. Medley also spoke of the threat from her landlord to evict her. The threat occurred the evening after she spoke out at the Onondaga County legislature about her anger over the lead poisoning of her two children in a house that others had assured her was safe. (Her story has been told in fuller detail on the Urban CNY digital platform: https:// www.urbancny.com/darlene/).

ed the surprising fact that many home insurance policies exempt lead poisoning from their coverage, which often makes a personal injury suit difficult, if not impossible, to pursue.

Speaking from the Dais Among those in the audience was Eric Kingson, Ph.D., professor of social work from Falk College at Syracuse University. After that evening’s events, he asked Mrs. Medley to speak to current social work students during a day-long conference in downtown Syracuse that would be inside the chambers of the Onondaga County Legislature. And so Dr. Lisa Saka made special note of the different evaluation on November 1 Mrs. Medley spoke from the County Legissteps that are necessary for a learning-impaired child who lature dais to a keenly interested audience about her stois lead poisoned versus one who is not. She pointed out ry, and the distress and desperation of so many parents that a lead poisoned child’s range of impairments can be dealing with childhood lead poisoning. far subtler than one might suspect, and may not be readily determined under common evaluation practices. This Root Cause Investigation difference, and extra evaluation process, came as a surWith hundreds of children poisoned each year in Syracuse, prise to some in the audience. the question inevitably arises “Why is there so much childhood lead poisoning in Syracuse?” One approach to this Additionally, Kelly Mikullitz, Esq., spoke repeatedly to the question is a root cause analysis, a simple tool akin to that need for parents to become educated on the ways they favorite 3 year-old’s activity of greeting every answer with are and aren’t protected from lead poisoning. She includ-

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a “why,” in the hope of seeking causal relationships with each iteration of “why did this problem occur?”

That said, if deteriorating, poorly maintained housing causes so much childhood lead poisoning, why do we have so much housing in poor condition? Our answer: Too many landlords choose not to invest in upgrading their homes.

And why do so many landlords fail to hold themselves to high quality standards? Our cities either cannot or will not hold landlords accountable to high standards.

Why won’t the cities enforce quality standards? Our answer: Because of a weak civil society, which is the ground of self-governance and high standards; a stronger, better organized civil society could place pressure all along the way to protect our children’s health. Well, if a better organized civil society, and greater social capital, is the need, why don’t we go after that? As a matter of fact, parents and community members are doing just that, and recently formed “Families for Lead Freedom Now!”, an initiative with Community Counsel that will be reported on in the coming year.

For now, much work awaits all of us in combatting lead poisoning in our communities. 

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Onondaga County to Provide Space for Confidential Meetings Between Teen Defendants and Lawyers

By Sam Young. Director of Advocacy United States District Court Judge Lawrence Kahn has ruled that Onondaga County unconstitutionally denied teen defendants in Youth Part the right to a confidential meeting with their defense counsel. This violated their Sixth Amendment right to the assistance of counsel in their criminal cases. In JB v. Onondaga County, a class action lawsuit filed by LSCNY earlier this year, LSCNY challenged the Sheriff’s Office’s practice of remaining in the room when teenaged defendants met with their defense counsel.

This practice was ordered to be stopped by the Northern District of New York in a decision dated August 12, 2019. The District Court found that “the Sixth Amendment's assistance-of-counsel guarantee can be meaningfully implemented only if a criminal defendant knows that his communications with his attorney are private and that his lawful preparations for trial are secure against intrusion by the government.”

In his decision, Judge Kahn granted LSCNY’s motion for class certification, finding that lead plaintiff J.B. and LSCNY could represent the class of adolescent and juvenile offenders (16 and 17-year-old defendants) who are in the custody of law enforcement, and are or will be appearing in the Onondaga County Youth Part.

“Given how clearly the Sheriff’s policy violates the Constitution, it is unfortunate that this case had to proceed while young people faced arraignments, bail argument and motion hearings without the full assistance of counsel to which they are entitled.”

- NYS Attorney General Letitia James

Judge Kahn also granted LSCNY’s motion for a preliminary injunction, requiring that Onondaga County make a room available in the courthouse for adolescent offenders to meet privately with their attorneys, and prohibiting the Sheriff’s Office and other law enforcement from remaining in the room when these meetings are taking place. “Forcing prisoners to consult their attorneys in the presence of guards or other prisoners obviously compromises the right to private consultation,” the Court found.

The Judge’s order came shortly after the New York State Attorney General weighed in on the side of the teens. At the invitation of the District Court, New York State Attorney General Letitia James filed a brief arguing that New York regulations do not require constant supervision of the teens

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during attorney-client meetings in Youth Part, and that the County's practice of posting law enforcement officers in the youth part's interview room during attorney-client meetings violates their Sixth Amendment right to counsel. The Attorney General urged that the District Court "issue a preliminary injunction enjoining the practice and directing the County to create interview space that would permit defendants in the Youth Part to meet privately with their attorneys at the courthouse as needed.” In his criticism of County policies, Judge Kahn stated, “given how clearly the Sheriff’s policy violates the Constitution, it is unfortunate that this case had to proceed while young people faced arraignments, bail argument and motion hearings without the full assistance of counsel to which they are entitled.” Josh Cotter, LSCNY’s lead attorney on the case, agreed, stating “I think it’s unfortunate that we even had to bring this lawsuit, but we’re very happy with the judge’s decision and hope the County acts quickly to make sure the constitutional rights of young people in Onondaga County are not violated anymore.”

The Courthouse on State Street in Syracuse

In fact, the County did just that. Very shortly after the District Court issued its sweeping 26-page order, the Plaintiffs and Onondaga County reached a settlement agreement which carves out a space in the Youth Part for private attorney -client meetings and prohibits Sheriff’s deputies from remaining in the room for those meetings. The County also agreed to pay Plaintiffs’ attorneys fees for the litigation. The settlement agreement is expected to be approved by the District Court at a hearing set for January in Albany.  Read more here: Syracuse.com: Lawsuit: Onondaga County sheriff’s office deprives youths of private attorney meetings

Syracuse.com: New York to Onondaga County: Let young inmates meet privately with lawyers

Syracuse.com: Federal judge orders CNY cops out of room where teen suspects first meet attorneys

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From the Director Gideon Finds a Home in New York City

By Dennis Kaufman, Executive Director In Gideon v. Wainwright, the Supreme Court held there is a constitutional right to counsel in a criminal matter. That right has not been extended generally to civil matters. State and municipal legislative bodies across the country are responding. It isn’t exactly a steamroller yet, but the crusade to provide a right to counsel in eviction proceedings is gaining momentum.

Since enacted in New York City in 2017, San Francisco, Cleveland, and Newark have passed legislation creating the right for evictions. Philadelphia and Santa Monica recently joined the chorus. Statewide legislation has been introduced in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Minnesota. Significant activity has occurred in Hawaii, Illinois, Michigan, Washington State, and Washington, D.C. Cities with pending legislation or significant activity include Detroit, Boulder, Kansas City, Los Angeles, and Seattle. At least one bill has been introduced in Congress that would make federal funds available to state and local governments to create eviction right to counsel programs. There are faint rumblings in Albany. More on that later.

What’s going on in New York City? Universal access is being phased in by zip code, with the entire city covered by July 2022. Tenants at or below 200% of the federal poverty line (FPL) are eligible for full service representation. Tenants with higher incomes may get some legal information. About 60% of the tenants represented thus far are at or below the FPL – for a family of three, that’s an annual income of less than $20,420.

At Chief Judge Fiore’s 2019 Statewide Stakeholder Meeting on October 28th, representatives from NYC legal services programs and Hon. Anthony Cannataro, the Administrative Judge for Civil Court of the City of New York, addressed how the law was working and not working based on both statistics compiled by the NYC Office of Civil Justice (OJC) and their impressions. OJC is currently funding nineteen non-profit organizations to provide services. Here are some of the highlights.

New York City Skyline

► Evictions filed, warrants issued, and actual evictions are down. Warrants issued went from about 180,000 in 2013 to 80,000 in 2018. Actual evictions by city marshals were down by 30% during the period. ► Tenants can receive either limited or full service representation. About 70% opt for full service. Citywide, fully represented tenants stay in their homes in 84% of the cases; in the Bronx it is 90%. ► Legal help is available in other than eviction proceedings, such as actions filed in Housing Part for tenants seeking orders to repair and RPAPL Article 7A proceedings which permit groups of tenants in NYC and other downstate counties to seek a court ordered administrator to operate a building.

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There is an increase in motion practice and trials.

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Represented tenants get better settlements.

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The number and quality of the defenses raised has improved, especially warranty of habitability.

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The default rate is down.

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Thus far, legal services staff working on evictions has quadrupled.

OJC recently initiated access to lawyers for tenants in NYC Housing Authority public housing administrative termination of tenancy proceedings. ◆

There are challenges. ◆

Recruiting lawyers and supervisors has been difficult, resulting in lawyers and supervisors with minimal experience.

Mandated representation is a new concept for some civil legal services organizations and affects the workplace culture. ◆

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The courts are overwhelmed, with pressure on courthouse space and court personnel. More judges are needed.

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Neither the law, nor the appropriation of funds allows for on-site social workers.

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The number of post-judgment orders to show cause is still the same.

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There is no authority to file or pay for appeals.

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Providers fear a new mayor or shift in the City Council could reverse gains achieved.

Elsewhere in New York, Yonkers City Court is the site of a pilot project funded by Westchester County Department of Social Services. Legal Services of the Hudson Valley has 1.75 FTE lawyers in the court which has about 7,000 evictions filed annually. That project has fully represented tenants in about 120 cases, with a 100% success rate!

Anything going in in Albany? Bills creating the New York Civil Gideon Act (A6273/S4047) were introduced in 2019 extending right to counsel in civil matters beyond just evictions. The bills are in committee. The NY Legal Services Coalition discussed eviction representation with a friendly Assembly Member who opined that starting with a segment of the population facing eviction, like seniors or veterans, could attract interest. Since many of the successful and pending programs nationwide started with a pilot project, this could be a blueprint.

Two years ago, predicting a right to counsel would have drawn skepticism. Now, maybe not so much. 

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New Tenant Protections Sweep Through New York State LSCNY Provides Training and Resources for Attorneys, Judges and the Community

By Sam Young, Director of Advocacy When New York’s Statewide Housing Security and Tenant Protection Act suddenly became law on June 14, 2019, virtually all landlord-tenant attorneys and housing court judges were caught unaware. The New York State Legislature passed the ground-breaking tenant protection legislation at the end of its legislative session, and most parts of the law went into effect the same day. The new law takes up seventy-four pages of legislative text, and provides significant new protections for tenants throughout the State of New York.

This meant that the attorneys at Legal Services of Central New York, who regularly practice in landlord-tenant courts across thirteen counties, had to quickly come up to speed on the new law, and work to educate the judges and landlord attorneys with whom they practice. Within a week of the law’s effective date, LSCNY had prepared a lengthy summary of the law to use as a tool to educate staff attorneys and the courts. Legal Aid and Legal Services organizations across New York State were all reviewing the law, and collaborating with one another to make sure that attorneys and judges understood the significance of each of the sweeping changes.

“The essence of the law is to provide tenants facing evictions with more time and additional due process to contest their evictions, to pay rents where owed, and to move if necessary,” said LSCNY Director of Advocacy Sam Young.

“After many decades of the law making it increasingly easy for landlords to bring their tenants into court on summary eviction proceedings and regain possession of their property, this new law balances the scales a little more evenly, by inserting additional protections and process into the summary proceeding.”

The most important portions of the new law for upstate New York practice amend the Real Property Law and Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law to provide additional notice to tenants of a potential for eviction at every step in the process. Previously a demand for rent in a non-payment proceeding had to be made on three days notice; now it is fourteen. Tenants had been brought into court within five to twelve days of being served with papers; now the law gives them ten to seventeen days. The law previously provided that tenants could be physically evicted within three days of a court order; tenants now have fourteen days. And, perhaps most significantly, the law now provides for a two week adjournment of trial upon the request of either party. What had been a very truncated process, in which tenants could find themselves evicted from their homes in as little as eleven days, is now a much more procedurally robust process, which can continue from between five weeks to two months. This allows time for the exchange of evidence on contested issues, securing necessary witnesses, and preparing for hearings and trials where appropriate.

The new notices that were required to commence eviction proceedings meant that all of the petitions for the first several weeks after the law went into effect were defective, and had to be dismissed. Attorneys and judges alike were left scratching their heads to familiarize themselves with the requirements of the new law.

In order to aid the bar and bench with this process, LSCNY attorneys worked with colleagues from bar associations, the court system and the magistrates’ associations to design and provide training sessions on the new law. On July 25th, LSCNY Managing Attorney Christopher Smith and Staff Attorneys Bill Niebel and George Haddad and LASMNY attorney

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Erin VanVleck teamed up with the Broome County Bar Association, the Del-Chen-O Women’s Bar Association, and the Office of Court Administration for the Sixth Judicial District to present a continuing legal/judicial education session for 108 members of the bar and judiciary in Binghamton. The next day, Director of Advocacy Sam Young and Managing Attorney Susan Griffith collaborated with the Onondaga County Bar Association and Onondaga County Magistrates Association to present a CLE/CJE to a crowded room of approximately 90 landlord-tenant lawyers and judges in Syracuse, in what appears to have been the OCBA’s best-attended training session of the year. The following week, LSCNY Staff Attorney Willa Payne led a CLE session on the new law, together with staff from the 6th Judicial District and LASMNY. In Oneida County, LSCNY Managing Attorney Melanie Goldberg also conducted training sessions for attorneys and judges on the new law. Altogether, LSCNY staff helped educate several hundred of the attorneys and judges who will be litigating and enforcing the provisions of the new Tenant Protection Act. In addition, Sam Young and Susan Griffith joined with State Assembly Member Pamela Hunter, one of the sponsors of the legislation in the State Assembly, to present community education on the new law to tenants, landlords, and community members. These evening sessions took place in both urban and suburban community centers.

Finally, LSCNY designed and published a “Know Your Rights” flyer, which explained some of the most important provisions of the new law. Written for the lay-person, this flyer was published on social media and in physical format, and has been shared more than 1000 times, and has reached nearly 90,000 people. The interest which this flyer has generated, and the reach which it has achieved, has by far surpassed any other publication or materials which LSCNY has generated to date, according to LSCNY Director of Development and Communications Wendy Rhodes. 

Rental Law Flyer Breaks LSCNY Social Media Record When New York’s new housing laws were passed in June 2019, LSCNY responded immediately by circulating a flyer to the community using social media. On our Facebook page alone it has been shared 1,084 times and has reached a total of 88,697 people. This is by far the most widely circulated post in the history of our Facebook page. It has also been shared on Twitter, Next Door and other forms of social media.

@therealLSCNY

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Re-Entry Staff Testify to NY State Assembly Committee

By Katie Krusey, Staff Attorney On December 10, 2019, Jeff and Katie were proud to represent LSCNY’s Re-Entry Program in a hearing before the Committee on Codes in the New York State Assembly. They were invited to provide written and oral testimony on expanding New York’s sealing statutes.

and the difficult process put into place in order to achieve a successful sealing application.

In the interests of expanding the sealing statute, the Assembly’s Committee on Codes, led by Assembly member Joseph Lentol, held a public hearing on December 10, 2019. In addition to Assembly Member Lentol, nine other Assembly members attended the hearings. Re-Entry advocates from ten organizations testified at the hearing, including the Legal Action Center, the Bronx Defenders, the Legal Aid Society and the Community Service Society of New York. District Attorneys from Albany and Kings Counties also testified in favor of expanding the sealing statute.

Jeff and Katie were proud to be the sole representatives of Upstate New York. Katie testified to the unique challenges facing Upstate New Yorkers in trying to get their convicIn 2017, , New York passed its broadest post-conviction tions sealed. Such difficulties include appearing before non sealing statute. This new law allowed for a person to -attorney judges who have likely never seen a sealing apmake an application to their sentencing court to have up plication before, and the lack of legal assistance available, to two criminal convictions sealed. This was a huge step forward, and finally allowed sealing for some New Yorkers. particularly in rural counties. She was able to highlight some difficulties her clients have faced when attempting to represent themselves on their sealing applications.

Only about one-half of one percent of those eligible have successfully sealed their convictions.

Jeff’s testimony presented a different theme – just how much of a difference having a conviction sealed can make in a one’s life.. Jeff testified about his own experience of living with the lifelong consequences of a criminal conviction, and the roadblocks he’s been fortunate enough to overcome. He also highlighted that he was the exception Advocates soon learned, however, the limits of this new to the statistics, and that most individuals with a criminal law. First, eligibility is very narrow. To be eligible, a perrecord will face unemployment, homelessness and any son’s most recent conviction must be at least 10 years old. number of civil consequences. It is these consequences They can only have 2 criminal convictions, only one of which can be a felony. Finally, many types of convictions render a person ineligible for sealing, including any conviction deemed “violent” under the statute. The process of applying for sealing has also been an impediment for unrepresented individuals. It requires an application to the sentencing court and serving the District Attorney. If the District Attorney objects, the judge will hold a hearing to determine if the sealing is appropriate.

Statewide, this statute has been grossly underutilized. Only about one-half of one percent of those eligible have successfully sealed their convictions. This is likely due to a combination of lack of awareness of the change in the law

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that prevent a person from fully realizing successful reSimply put, everyone should be able to make the arguentry into our communities. If a change in state law means ment that their conviction should be sealed, and the court that more people are able to seal remote, minor conviccan use its discretion to determine if sealing is appropriate. Other suggestions included shorter waiting periods, A well-timed rest stop near Scranton and that the cases be expunged, instead of sealed. resulted in donuts and cool hats.

tions, people’s lives will quite literally be changed forever.

Consensus among those testifying was twofold: the current statute is unwieldy and the eligibility for sealing is too narrow. Advocates argued that the sealing of some convictions should be automatic, and should not require an application to the court. This would eliminate the process of serving the District Attorney, and would dispense with the necessity of a court appearance. Advocates pointed out that other states have automatic sealing statutes. It was also argued that there should be no bar on the number of convictions or types of convictions that could be sealed.

In addition to the discussion of expanding the Raise the Age statute, many groups testified about expanding the Youthful Offender statute. Currently, a child under 19 years old can have certain convictions sealed at the time of sentencing. Advocates testified that the age should be raised to 25 years old, to bring the law in alignment with current research on adolescent brain development. This would allow a youthful indiscretion to be just that – and not a scarlet letter that would follow the child or young adult for the rest of their lives.

Overall, it was exciting and inspiring to join with agencies statewide to advocate for our clients, and push for laws that will help ensure their successful re-entry. We were able to amplify the experiences of our clients, and make the Assembly members aware of the difficulties our clients are facing. The Assembly members seemed engaged and open to our ideas. We are hopeful that the sealing statutes will be expanded, and New Yorkers will finally be able to realize the benefits this law originally intended. ď‚š

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Re-Entry Program: Year In Review

By Jeff VanBuren, Advocacy Specialist

through third party vendors. In an under-regulated field, there are thousands of background check companies that provide information to these employers, with a varying The United States incarcerates degree of accuracy. Criminal background checks are also more people per capita than any relied upon by state licensing agencies such as the Departother country in the world. Ap- ments of Health and Education, as well as landlords. proximately 70 million AmeriDue to the impact the criminal justice system has on lowcans, comprising 21 percent of the population, have at least one income and minority communities, it is a natural fit for criminal conviction. By compari- Legal Services to perform re-entry work. In August 2018, son, this is about the same number of people as have col- Legal Services piloted the Re-Entry Program. Funded by the Onondaga County Bar Association Assigned Counsel lege diplomas. In New York State, approximately 77,000 Program, the general goal of the Re-Entry Project is to help people are confined in prison and local jails, over 95% of clients overcome the civil barriers that are collateral to a whom will return home at some point. criminal conviction. If successful, LSCNY’s Re-Entry ProA disproportionate number of people who are involved in gram will be a model for assigned counsel and public dethe criminal justice system come from our lower income fender programs statewide. and minority communities; criminal convictions notwithstanding it is harder for a person from a poor community Clients come to us from many areas: some are already to find and maintain meaningful employment than it is for LSCNY clients who are referred internally to us; we also meet with clients at the Onondaga County probation office someone with financial means. They suffer from diminished access to the education and technology necessary to biweekly as well as at Jubilee Homes employment prounlock opportunities to employment and the benefits that grams. We have held special outreach events at Meacham Library, Syracuse University and Jubilee Homes. The services we provide are tailored to the needs of each client, but can include the following:

Approximately 70 million Americans, comprising 21 percent of the population, have at least one criminal conviction.

By comparison, this is about the same number of people as have college diplomas.

a steady, living-wage income bring: quality housing, transportation, food - and the stability of knowing that all these things will still be available next week.

The lack of opportunity available to our low-income neighborhoods is exacerbated by the prevalence of criminal convictions among their residents. More than 90% of employers conduct criminal background checks, usually

✓

✓ ✓

✓

✓ ✓ ✓

Obtain and review clients’ NYS and/or FBI RAP sheet and provide client with accurate list of convictions.

Submit request for corrections to RAP sheet when warranted.

Counsel clients on the nexus between employment and criminal conviction history.

Assist clients in applying for and utilizing Certificates of Relief from Disabilities and Certificates of Good Conduct.

If eligible, apply for sealing pursuant to CPL 160.59.

Counsel clients on voting rights and assisting with voter registration process.

Provide representation/assistance to clients who experience obstacles based on criminal history in • Employment • Housing (both private and subsidized)

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✓ Provide representation/assistance to clients who are facing occupational licensing through state agencies, such as Department of Health, Department of Education and the Office for People with Developmental Disabilities.

During the first year that the program was in existence, we served 129 clients. We obtained 108 federal and/or state criminal history reports for these clients, and facilitated corrections on 8 of them. Using these criminal history records (RAP sheets), we were able to provide convictionspecific counseling for our clients as it affects the job application and interview process as well as housing and professional licensing applications. We assisted eight clients in

Georgia Department of Corrections. A murder conviction was certain to result in imprisonment, and a person with a conviction that serious would likely still be incarcerated. By cross checking the full name, date of birth, crime of conviction and other vital statistics included in the commercial background check provided by the landlord, Jeff was able to produce a report for the landlord that all but ascertained that this was a case of mistaken identity and that our client’s “name doppelganger” was still, in fact, in Georgia State prison serving his sentence. With this information in hand, the landlord rescinded their denial and offered the client the next available apartment. Before the apartment was available approximately a week later, we were able to ascertain per the FBI RAP sheet that the client had never been associated with a murder. The client moved into his single-story, handicapped accessible apartment in short order.

Another client came to us with a misdemeanor conviction from 1966. As is required by law, he had been reporting this conviction Many applications include this question on every job application that asked for over 50 years. We represented him on a sealing application to his sentencing court. The District Attorney filing complaints against alleged employment discriminadid not oppose the application, and the judge agreed to tion with the NYS Division of Human rights, successfully seal his conviction. He can now seek employment without petitioned sentencing judges for sealing of 3 clients’ crimihaving to discuss an indiscretion from over 50 years ago. nal records under CPL §160.59, and submitted 13 applicaIn addition to direct client services, we provide technical tions for Certificates of Relief; 9 were granted, 2 denied, assistance to assigned counsel attorneys on the lifelong and 2 are pending. consequences a client may face as a result of their convicThese numbers only tell part of the story, however. A short tion. This technical assistance is used in plea negotiations review of some cases can give better context to our work. to ameliorate the post-conviction roadblocks the client will One of our first clients, Jim, came to us because he had face as a result of their conviction. been denied housing based on a 2014 murder conviction in An example of this work involved a client who was charged Georgia. This was problematic, however, because despite with Falsely Reporting an Incident in the 3rd Degree, a misthe fact that he had a small number of misdemeanor condemeanor. He had no prior criminal convictions, and had victions, he had never been accused, arrested or convicted taken the Correctional Officer exam and Firefighter exams. of murder. He had also never lived in Georgia. Jim had We were able to work with the attorney to lay out what been living in substandard housing in a second-floor apartimpact a conviction would have on his future career. This ment which was difficult for him to navigate as he is a douinformation was used as part of the larger mitigation stratble-amputee with no legs. Jeff fingerprinted Jim and reegy for the case. He completed community service, and his quested his FBI RAP sheet which would include his criminal case was dismissed. records from all states. In light of the fact that this was an urgent situation, however, Jeff also reached out to the

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The Re-Entry Program has also worked on broader advocacy and systemic change. We are members of a statewide Coalition of Re-entry Advocates (CoRA). Through public campaigns, litigation and legislative advocacy, this coalition works to enact change for those affected by the criminal justice system. Most recently, Jeff and Katie were invited to testify to the State Assembly Committee on Codes in an effort to expand the sealing statute and youthful offender statute. We are hopeful that our testimony will help urge the legislature to pass a more expansive sealing statute, and provide relief for more New Yorkers who are burdened with the lifelong stigma of a criminal conviction.

We are proud of the work we have accomplished our first year, and the clients we have been able to help. We look forward to an even greater second year of the program. 

Busy In Binghamton

By Maria Roumiantseva, Staff Attorney Remember that time you were driving to work thinking to yourself, I wonder what’s happening in Binghamton. Me too friend, me too. Well, great for a lull in your day, here’s a compilation of our greatest hits over the last few months.

We’ve been all over our community, on an awareness tour of sorts. After the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act passed in June 2019, our office has been a part of many a talk about the new tenant rights and protections. In July, we participated in a CLE organized by the Broome County Bar Association to educate local legal professionals and judicial staff on the HSTPA. In addition to holding our regular clinics at the American Civic Association and the Lee Barta CenLSCNY Attorneys Chris Smith, Bill Niebel, and George ter, LSCNY Binghamton also led community talks at both Haddad speak at Bar Association Program locations specifically on the new laws in August. Then in September, we presented to a large group of community members at 85 Walnut Street. In October, we spoke at the Southern Tier Homeless Coalition Membership Meeting to local service providers about the changes.

Additional discussions are scheduled in November and December, focused on unemployment insurance benefits and consumer debt.

In addition to our awareness and outreach work, we’re also building skills and marking accomplishments in the office!

George Haddad completed a mediation training through ACCORD, A Center for Dispute Resolution, Inc. He’s doing two required observations and then we’ll have an in-house expert on all things collaborative. Our own Karen Dickerson ran in the Race for Justice 5k, sponsored by Coughlin & Gerhart, LLP to benefit LASMNY. She didn’t tell me what place she took, but she did get a medal and for that we commend her. We commend her even more because it was held on a Sunday morning.

As a whole, LSCNY has been up to a lot down here in the Southern Tier. We regularly present at the Re-Entry Program to make sure people are aware of our services and support. As part of the Broome County Safe Housing Task Force, we recently helped finish the recommendations to the Broome County Executive on Housing Stability. We participate at the monthly meetings for the Southern Tier Homeless Coalition. Recently we assisted with the establishment of the Broome Community Land Trust, which will serve as yet another resource for stable, affordable community held housing in the Southern Tier. 

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LSCNY Sues on behalf of Blind Man Stuck in Restrictive Housing at Local Jail

By Sam Young, Director of Advocacy Onondaga County resident Tayon Wallace, who has been blind for nearly twenty years, pled guilty to a misdemeanor charge in a local criminal court. Mr. Wallace and the District Attorney’s Office reached a plea agreement which included serving a sentence of twelve consecutive weekends at the Jamesville Correctional Facility. What Wallace did not count on, however, was serving that sentence alone in restrictive housing. But when Mr. Wallace reported to the facility for his first weekend, and informed the jail officials that he was legally blind, he was brought to a special housing unit in which he was the only inmate. Throughout the first weekend, he did not hear another inmate, and remained alone in his cell throughout the weekend, coming out for only one hour of recreation time each day.

On the second weekend, Mr. Wallace asked to be placed in general population with the non-disabled weekend inmates, but was again placed in a restrictive housing unit, this time with another inmate with serious mental illness. It was then that Mr. Wallace learned that it was the practice of the Sheriff’s Office to house inmates with serious medical needs in special housing. Concerned that he was not being placed into the general population and being offered the same services as typical inmates, Mr. Wallace complained to his criminal defense lawyer, who spoke with Staff Attorney Josh Cotter at LSCNY. Josh Cotter contacted the administrators at Jamesville Correctional Facility, who confirmed that it was their policy to house people with disabilities and medical needs in separate housing. Cotter informed the administrators that this policy was a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, as the jail was required to house its inmates with disabilities in the least restrictive setting possible, and that Mr. Wallace was able to function in general population, and wished to be housed with the other weekend inmates. The jail administrators declined to change their position, and kept Mr. Wallace in special housing on his third consecutive weekend in Jamesville. That weekend, upon checking in, Mr. Wallace complained to the officers about being placed in special housing, and refused to go to the special housing unit. He was then forcibly transported to the restrictive unit, and issued a disciplinary ticket for his “insubordination.”

After the third weekend of restrictive housing, LSCNY sued Onondaga County Sheriff Eugene Conway and Jamesville Correctional Facility Chief Deputy William Bleyle on Mr. Wallace’s behalf. LSCNY’s complaint, filed by Josh Cotter in United States District Court, claimed that the Sheriff’s Office’s policy of housing Mr. Wallace in segregated housing violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), “by placing him in a restrictive special housing unit, and denying him the benefits, services, and programs available to sighted prisoners simply because he is blind.” The suit claimed that the Sheriff’s Office violated the ADA by denying Mr. Wallace the “opportunity to participate in the same amount of recreation as sighted prisoners, access to the dining hall, and the ability to congregate with other nondisabled prisoners.”

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The lawsuit attracted national press when the story was picked up by the Associated Press, as well as local news organizations. Sam Young, who assisted on the case, was quoted by the AP, explaining that “all that Mr. Wallace is asking is to be housed with the general population, and to be given access to the same programs and services that every non-disabled inmate at the jail receives.”

Days after filing the suit, and prior to his fourth weekend of his sentence, the County Attorney’s Office called LSCNY, seeking to negotiate a settlement of the lawsuit. After a brief settlement discussion, the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office agreed to house Mr. Wallace in general population, and to allow him to use his cane to navigate in the correctional facility. As part of the agreement, Mr. Wallace’s disciplinary ticket was dismissed. As a result of LSCNY’s intervention, Mr. Wallace was able to complete his sentence of weekends in the general population among nondisabled inmates. This case represented a great example of how the successful collaboration between the criminal defense bar and LSCNY can serve to uphold the civil and constitutional rights of people in the criminal justice system, according to Josh Cotter. LSCNY’s Sam Young and Andrew Croom worked on the case along with Cotter. 

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LSCNY Launches Annual FUNraiser Trivia Championship and Game Night Legal Services of Central New York launched its first annual FUNraiser Trivia Championship and Game Night on May 9, 2019 at Sky Armory. With 120 people in attendance the event raised nearly $20,000 to support free legal help for people in need throughout 13 counties of Central New York.

The Blitman King/LSCNY Flying Axes team won bragging rights for the year as champions and took home the coveted Angel Horse trophy. Everyone had a marvelous time with dining stations, pub games, craft beer, an incredible mystery prize game, and competitive trivia. Sponsors included Central New York Community Foundation, Bond Schoeneck & King, Central New York Bankruptcy Bar Association, Whitelaw & Fangio, Ansun Print Pros, Bousquet Holstein PLLC, Blitman & King LLP, Grossman St. Amour CPAs, Hancock Estabrook LLP, Harris-Courage & Grady PLLC, and SKY Armory.

Join us April 23 at O My Darling (321 S Salina, Syracuse, NY 13202) for a fabulous evening of cocktails, delicious food, fun pub games, and competitive trivia! Come on your own to enjoy the evening (we've got your back and will place you into a trivia team) or register as a team with your smartest colleagues and friends in an effort to dominate the trivia championship. Will last year's champions, the Blitman King/LSCNY Flying Axes defend their title or will you snatch it from them?! Whether you are looking for a fun casual night out or gearing-up for a no-holds barred trivia battle, we've got you covered!

Join us April 23 at O My Darling (321 S Salina, Syracuse, NY 13202) for a fabulous evening of cocktails, delicious food, fun pub games, and competitive trivia!

Help us raise crucial funds to provide free legal help for people in need throughout Central New York. Money raised during the FUNraiser will directly support Legal Services of Central New York's work providing free legal help for people who are struggling with cancer, facing eviction, discriminated against at work, refused health care, or face other life-changing civil legal issues. With your support Legal Services of Central New York can help people, defend human dignity, strengthen communities, and secure justice!

Individual tickets are just $75, teams of 7 are $500, and sponsorships range from $1000-$7500. ***The Trivia Round sponsorship is especially popular as you get to pick the category for the round and no other team will know it in advance, but register quickly as there are only 6 rounds of trivia***. Register online at www.lscny.org/FUNraiser or by calling 315-703-6545.

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LSCNY Advocates for Housing Equity

By Wendy Rhodes, Director of Development and Communications Legal Services of Central New York founded the Syracuse Summer Book Club in the summer of 2018 to increase public awareness of crucial issues in our community and to bring us together to create change. Building on the enthusiasm for the 2018 Book Club, which read Dr. Matthew Desmond’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City, we chose Richard Rothstein’s The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America for the 2019 Syracuse Summer Book Club.

This year, 109 people signed-up for the Book Club and 150 people attended the free event at Henninger High School on September 17, 2019 which included a panel discussion with Vincent Love (Blueprint 15), Lanessa Chaplin (NYCLU) and Sally Santangelo (CNY Fair Housing) and an audience Q&A. Additionally, we published an Op-Ed on Syracuse.com, wrote an article for the Central New York Community Foundation blog, and created a timeline of Housing Segregation that was disseminated in print and online, reaching countless more individuals.

The invitation-only policy discussion on September 19 focused on the impact of inclusionary/ exclusionary zoning on housing segregation and on K-12 education. We welcomed a variety of community, city, county, and state leaders including: State Senator Rachel May, Assembly member Pamela Hunter, Deputy Mayor Sharon Owens, Common Council President Helen Hudson, Clay Town Supervisor Damian Ulatowski, Cicero Town Supervisor Mark Venesky, Superintendent Liverpool Schools Mark Potter, and representatives from the Syracuse-Onondaga County Planning Agency, City of Syracuse, Onondaga County, and a variety of government and non-profit organizations.

Sign-up at www.lscny.org/thecoloroflaw to receive updates and to receive advance notice of the 2020 Summer Book Club. LINK to Op-Ed: https://www.syracuse.com/opinion/2019/09/hear-how-segregation-redlining-shapes-i-81debate-commentary.html

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Tom, Sara, Shana, Olivia, Teresa Mark Interview with Tom Morosco, Sara Adams, and Shana Dahlin in the Utica Office

By Amanda Oppermann, Staff Attorney The Utica office has recently acquired three new staff members. Sara Adams and Tom Morosco were both hired as Law Graduates in August. Shana Dahlin was hired in the beginning of September to serve as a Community Outreach Specialist working with lead paint poisoning. I sat down with Sara, Tom, and Shana to ask them a few questions.

Amanda: Thank you all for agreeing to answer some questions for me. My first question is where everyone went to school?

Tom: I went to SUNY Polytechnic for undergrad, and I went to Albany Law School.

Sara: I went to SUNY Cortland and Syracuse University.

Shana: I went to Ithaca.

Amanda: What made you apply for a job with this organization?

Tom: It was one of two jobs in Utica, and since I’m from Utica I wanted to return to Utica. I wanted to do public interest work too, so it was a natural choice.

Sara: I wanted to work in public interest, and it was one of the only public interest jobs I could find in the area.

Shana: In the last few years I have been very active locally with community organizations from the volunteer aspect, and I was actually looking to get into community activism as a job. I was also teaching pre-kindergarten, and I want to advocate for children. I went to this conference for early education, and one of the main workshops was for lead paint in this area. That really opened my eyes, and when I saw this job posting I thought it was the perfect fit.

Amanda: I know you’ve only been here for a few months, but what do you like about working here?

Tom: I personally feel a special kind of connection to this community, and my favorite thing is being a force for positive change in the community.

Sara: I like going to court and being able to be an advocate for people who can’t always advocate for themselves.

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Shana: There’s a lot of things I like. I really enjoy the co-worker dynamic. It’s very chill. I have a lot of autonomy, and that is different from my previous job. I like working in the city of Utica, and being closer to what’s happening downtown.

Amanda: If you could meet one historical/celebrity figure, who would it be?

Tom: Benjamin Butler. He was a Union Civil War General, and he was also an attorney. In my opinion, he is an example of creative lawyering in support of positive social change. He construed the Fugitive Slave Act to help escaped slaves work for the Union army and buy their freedom. He is one of the chief examples of a lawyer being creative, and using the law to affect positive change.

Sara: Madeline Albright.

Shana: That’s tough. I would probably say Anthony Bourdain. I really admire him, and was a fan of all his shows. I also believe in the power of traveling and immersing yourself in other cultures.

Amanda: If you had to smuggle one book onto a desert island, which one would it be?

Sara: Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. It’s so good!

Tom: The Lord of the Rings.

Shana: One of David Sedaris’ books.

Amanda: What is one thing people would be surprised to learn about you?

Sara: I can recite the fifty states in alphabetical order in less than a minute.

Tom: In high school, I used to be a Republican.

Shana: I can speak three languages. Spanish, Korean, and a bit of Italian.

Amanda: If you weren’t a community organizer/lawyer, what would you dream job be?

Shana: A travel writer.

Sara: A journalist.

Tom: Being a lawyer is my dream job. 

Shana Dahlin, Tom Morosco, and Sara Adams

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Interview with Olivia Fontana, Staff Attorney c

by Liz Conger, Staff Attorney I’ve had the good luck to get to know Olivia Fontana, a Syracuse University College of Law graduate who started with Legal Services of Central New York on August 19, 2019. Olivia, a member of TAG, has shadowed with Julie Morse and with me in the months since she started with LSCNY. I was thrilled – but not surprised – to find out on October 23, 2019 that she had passed the bar. She is a delightful person and an excellent addition to the LSCNY team.

Olivia recently answered the following questions for me: Where are you originally from?

I grew up in the Southern Tier in Horseheads and Elmira, NY. Where did you go to school?

I attended Nazareth College and Syracuse Law School. I participated in the 3+3 partnership between Nazareth College and Syracuse Law School.

What sort of activities did you engage in in law school?

During law school I was a part of the Syracuse Public Interest Network (SPIN) and the Advocacy Honor Society (Moot court). The highlight of my time in law school was competing at intercollegiate appellate competitions. I competed in four intercollegiate appellate competitions, attending the Veterans Moot Court Competition and the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition Regionals during my 2L and 3L year.

What prompted you to seek employment in a not-for-profit law firm?

Entering law school, I knew I had an interest in pursuing public interest law and working for a nonprofit. This interest was solidified after interning with Legal Assistance of Western New York and the Volunteer Lawyers Project. These experiences led me to fall in love with the people and culture of nonprofit law.

During my 2L year, I was an Extern for the Volunteer Lawyers Project. I primarily worked on the re-entry law project under Lanessa Owens where I assisted clients in correcting their RAP sheets and applying for certificates of rehabilitation.

Are there any social and/or political issues that you are passionate about?

I have always been passionate about the intersection of mental health Olivia Fontana treatment and our criminal justice system. The closing of state psychiatric facilities and deinstitutionalization in the 1960s led to increased incarceration of individuals struggling with mental health issues. Many of the proposed community-based health centers that were intended to replace state psychiatric facilities were never built and those that were struggled to maintain financial funding when federal money ran out a few years later.

When I was child my father was the psychologist for Elmira Correctional Facility. I witnessed him become increasing frustrated in his attempts to provide effective treatment within the prison environment.

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What are your hobbies/interests?

Over the past year I have spent much of my free time studying and foraging for wild mushrooms. During the fall I have spent almost every weekend out in a state forest looking for interesting mushrooms with my boyfriend. One of the most exciting moments was when we found Lobster Mushrooms (Hypomyces lactifluorum) for the first time. Lobster Mushrooms are fascinating because they are edible and the product of a parasitic ascomycete fungus infecting a common Russula or Lactarius mushroom.

I also enjoy playing guitar and banjo.

What is something that about you that others might find surprising?

I have been learning to play the banjo for the past few years. People tend to find that surprising.

If you could travel anywhere for a month, all expenses paid, where would you go? Why?

I would love to visit anywhere is Asia. I would particularly love to see the Ellora & Ajanta Caves in Maharashtra.

What sort of music do you like to listen to?

I enjoy a wide range of music but I particularly like to listen and play folk music or 60s classic rock. I have always loved John Denver and James Taylor because their songs were the first my dad taught me to play on guitar.

What have you enjoyed the most since starting with Legal Services?

I have been fortunate to shadow some great advocates in fair hearings and landlord tenant court. These experiences really made me excited to represent Legal Services clients.

What have you found surprising about working with Legal Services?

I had no idea that Legal Services provided such wide range of services. I was surprised to learn about the broad spectrum of legal expertise among the staff. ď‚š

Interview with Mark Swan, Accounting Assistant, LSCNY c

by Karen Kelley, Fiscal Manager, LSCNY I recently sat down with Mark to get to know a little bit about him. Mark started work at LSCNY on November 1, 2019, in the Accounting Assistant position. Mark is extremely excited about being here, not only to learn new things, but also to be working near his wife, Katrina, who is a law assistant at LASMNY in Syracuse. Mark is happy to be in downtown Syracuse, rather than downtown Chittenango. There are so many more options for lunch!

KK - So, Mark, where are you originally from?

I’m from western New York, Grand Island. Spent my life there until 2012.

Karen and Liam

KK - Where did you go to school?

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I attended St. Bonaventure. Didn’t complete a degree there, but it’s where I met my wife, Katrina. I received an Associates’ Degree in Accounting from Onondaga Community College.

KK - Hey, that’s a great school! It’s where I got my degree from too! What sort of activities are you in to?

I’ve played hockey my whole life. Played lacrosse, golf and baseball, too. But my favorite sport is hockey. Go Sabres!

KK – So, what’s your favorite color?

Um….

KK – Well, it’s Orange, isn’t it!!

Oh, yeah, that’s right!

KK - So you and Katrina have been married how long?

We’ve been married since 2012. Cinco De Mayo!

KK - Any hobbies or interests?

Well, hockey mostly. Katrina and I have a six-year old son, Ray and a three-year old daughter, Claira. And one on the way any day now. (Anna Maria was born on November 14, 2019!) I like music. I play the guitar. I’m a big Jimmy Buffet fan. Katrina and I have seen him in concert just about every year since 2003. My favorite band is OAR. KK - Who? Of A Revolution. They’re a Dave Matthews kind of band.

KK - Oh. I’ve heard of them! What else?

Well, I like the beach. I love to drive. It’s relaxing for me.

KK - So, if you could travel anywhere, where would that be and why?

Mark with his wife Katrina Swan, who is a Legal Assistant at LASMNY.

When I was young, my Dad worked for HSBC. When I was about ten years old and my brother was about six, we took a trip to Singapore.

We also had the opportunity to go to Hong Kong, Indonesia and Malaysia. I was pretty young to really appreciate the trip, so I would really love the opportunity to visit these locations again as an adult.

KK - What were you doing before you came to LSCNY?

I was working for a bookkeeping firm in Chittenango. Did the books for about 16 different business ventures.

The firm was just a three-person operation. I did the bookkeeping, someone else did payroll for the various businesses we did the books for. And the owner took care of the taxes.

KK - Tell me something surprising about yourself.

Well, even though I am a numbers person, math was my favorite subject in school and I’ve got an accounting degree, Katie handles all the bills!

KK - Well, we are really happy to have you here at LSCNY. May you find every little new lunch place in our surrounding area! And I hope I can teach you a few new things to expand your knowledge and abilities in the accounting arena. 

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Interview with Teresa Jones, Syracuse Office Receptionist c

by Susan Griffith, Managing Attorney If you walk into the Syracuse Office on any day between 10am and 2pm, you are likely to be greeted with a warm smile and an eagerness to help. Teresa Jones started working with us on May 20, 2019. Teresa has a wealth of experience in various clerical and administrative jobs, but was ready to step “outside the box” and experience working in a busy law office.

Teresa is a natural communicator, easily connecting with people and providing a calming presence to people in trouble. She is never afraid of a challenge, and compassion is part of her personality.

A lifelong resident of Syracuse, Teresa is family-oriented, and loves to gather family members together for events and holidays. She loves all kinds of music, and was an early follower of MTV. She enjoys reading, and loves to step out in a great pair of shoes to shop and maybe gamble a bit.

Not to be pinned down, she has three favorite colors: purple, red and turquoise. Her favorite cuisine tends toward a basic “steak and potatoes” kind of menu. And she does have a favorite office supply–the lowly pencil sharpener.

Syracuse receptionist Teresa Jones

When asked what others may not know about her, she says she “wants to save the world.” Actually, that will not be a big surprise to her friends and colleagues at LSCNY. Welcome, Teresa! 

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SPECIAL FEATURE

Special Insert featuring the voices from the history of LSCNY Remember Sunday Parade Magazine? Stars?

Well, for a limited time, Just Hearsay has added our own “insert” section! Legacy Magazine is a history periodical about Legal Services of Central New York. Each issue will include an interview with someone who played a formative role in the establishment and growth of LSCNY. For this inaugural edition, Sam spent a great deal of time with former Onondaga Neighborhood Legal Services and retired Syracuse City Court Judge Langston McKinney.

Most people know that Judge Langston McKinney was a Syracuse City Court Judge for over 20 years, and that he was the region’s first African American Judge. But few know that he started out at Onondaga Neighborhood Legal Services, the predecessor to Legal Services of Central New York. Sam and Judge McKinney spoke about his experiences as a young lawyer at ONLS. SY:

What made you want to be a lawyer when you enrolled in law school in 1968?

LM:

Good question. In 1968, the short version of it is, I kind of started law school with the intent to utilize my undergraduate degree as a chemist, and the experience that I had working with the United States Army testing and evaluating with the chemical corps, and the year with Carrier, to become a patent attorney with Carrier

SY:

And how did that work out for you?

LM:

Well, it was the confluence of two factors. It was 1968 when I started law school, when the doors were open to hippies, freaks, weirdos, blacks and women. And I came to the conscious decision, that I could never ever work for corporate America. Because it was corporate America that was the enemy. In every way, shape and fashion, corporate America was perpetuating all the vestiges of slavery. All the injustice, in some way, could be traced to capitalistic greed, through the corporations.

SY:

How diverse was Syracuse University Law School at that time?

LM:

Yeah. In the law school when we started, our enrollment enhanced the black student enrollment at Syracuse University by 400%. There was one black person in the law school before we started, and there was one woman before we were started. After we started there were five black people and five women. The very interesting thing is, they used to take photographs of the law school class, and they used to hang them in the hallway of the third floor of the law school. You could actually walk down the hallway, and you would see nothing at all but white men. And then at one point an occasional black person, and an occasional woman, but not a lot.

Then, some time around 1968, long hair, moustaches, afros, all of these things started. The result of having all of these people flood the law school at one point meant that the profession was undergoing a change.

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SY:

When did you work at Onondaga Neighborhood Legal Services, and in what capacity?

LM:

I began working at Onondaga Neighborhood Legal Services full time when I got a “Reggie” Fellowship after I graduated, and was placed at Legal Services.

SY:

What was a Reggie Fellowship?

LM:

Reginald Hebert Smith Community Lawyer Fellowship. It was an organization whose aim was to train lawyers to work in the community, to help to alleviate some of the measures of oppression and injustice that were visited upon people in marginalized communities–how to work most effectively with people to eliminate some of the basic and fundamental ills that were most oppressive–where the rubber meets the road.

SY:

So tell me about your introduction to Onondaga Neighborhood Legal Services.

LM:

When I started working for Legal Services, they were on the ground already. They were doing things in an innovative way. The guy to whom I was assigned was the guy who was the first Reggie--Richard Ellison. And one of his colleagues was a young woman named Carolyn Peck. Ellison represented Peck in a famous case that is still good law today: Peck v. Stone (Judge Parker J. Stone, a Syracuse City Court Judge), where she challenged the propriety of a judge telling a lawyer how to dress. Ellison was the lawyer of record, Peck was the plaintiff in that case. And they invalidated the notion that a judge could tell somebody that you can’t wear a mini-skirt in my courtroom.

Another case that didn’t get all the play is that somewhere around 1969 or so, the replevin statute in New York State was attacked in a case called Laprease v. Raymours Furniture Company. It was invalidated as being unconstitutional. At one point furniture companies used to repossess used furniture, just for the sake of taking it away from the person who was supposed to be buying it, and destroying it. And we were able to fashion an argument that the statute was unconstitutional. Even as applied, there was something that was inherently wrong with the notion that a mother with children, who was in dire need of the furniture, would have it taken away from her because of an inability to pay, simply so that they could destroy the furniture. There was no resale market for used furniture, and there was damn-sure no resale market for used furniture from poor people.

SY:

So what was Onondaga Neighborhood Legal Services like as an office back then?

LM:

I have very little to compare with, other than my summer down in Albany, Georgia working in a small law firm.One of the things that set us apart: we didn’t adhere too much to this dress code standard. So people from Legal Services sometimes wore jeans to work, and sometimes wore no ties. Not everybody, but sometimes it would happen. And we stood out.

As a matter of fact, what was held over our heads was, if you want to be lawyers, what are you going to tell the Character and Fitness Committee? We’re going to tell them that we’re not doing anything to violate the law.

It’s been validated that we can dress as we see appropriate, and we’re not going to let that stop us.

The most classic thing that I can relate to you about my times with Legal Services is that I had an audience with a county court judge once. We were masters of the Order to Show Cause. If there was a problem and you wanted to attack it, draw up an Order to Show Cause. It brings attention to the problem, and gets you immediate relief. You get a chance to talk to a judge ex parte about your case and its glorious merits. So I took an application for something over to Judge Aloi, who was the County Court Judge at the time. I took this Order to Show Cause over to Judge Aloi to sign, and I was able to convince him. I think he unwillingly signed it, but as I was leaving, he says: “Why are you people going through all of these changes, making all of this trouble? I am a law and order person.” I took this to mean that he was a Republican, and he bought into this stuff that Spiro Agnew and Richard Nixon were saying and doing. I turned to him and I said, “Your Honor, I’m not so sure that

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you will ever be a person who believes more in law and order than I am. I spend 95% of my time in Court trying to get corporate America to become law abiding, and to comply with the Constitution of the United States.

I really do believe in law and order just as much as, if not more than, you do. And that’s why we’re having this conversation today, and we have a concurrence of opinion, because you just affixed your signature to this Order. So we must be doing something that may be right.” And it went just like that. And I wasn’t being sassy, and I wasn’t being disrespectful. I was being honest, and exchanging ideas with him. I’m not going to necessarily became an ally, but he became less of a foe.

SY:

He had a grudging respect?

LM:

Yeah! And that’s who we were. We weren’t out to make enemies. We were out, as much as we could, to eliminate these barriers to justice, that everybody purported to be about, just reminding them, it’s more than what you see here in court. And these are people who we’re talking about, these are not just numbers, not just cases, these are people, and these are fellow citizens, fellow Americans.

SY:

How long did you spend at ONLS?

LM:

I stayed there until 1973. Four calendar years, I was working either part time or full time.

SY:

Where were the offices back then?

LM:

The main office was at 827 E. Genesee Street, at the corner of Genesee, across from Phoebe’s. And there was a Westside office on the corner of West and Gifford Streets, across the street from Nojaim’s, and we had a Southside office that was off Salina Street, and somewhere around what is now Martin Luther King Blvd. We had these neighborhood offices, because we felt that it was easier to get people to come to the neighborhood offices than to take public transportation or get a ride to come downtown.

SY:

Were these storefront offices?

LM:

Basically.

SY:

What was memorable about the work that you were doing at the time?

LM:

I’m probably hyper-sensitive to the notion of being a part of a team that has the same goals. We all weren’t doing exactly the same thing, but we knew what everybody else was doing, and we shared our workload with everybody else. We were always open to suggestions and/or criticisms or questions about how best to do things. It was a team kind of thing. If there was somebody who had expertise or tactical skills that were involved in getting a just result, you listened to that person.

One of the things that I really want to share with you, because to me it exemplifies and it won’t ever make the history books–we had a problem at one time with respect to Niagara Mohawk shutting off lights and gas on poor people. They were a quasi-governmental agency, so they weren’t bound by traditional notions of due process and so forth. They had a monopoly, and so we wanted to attack the monopoly. The best way to bring the monster down is to get it at its feet. We knew that the notice requirements were bad–there was no requirement for notice. And we had sessions where we would talk about the best way to deal with this. The best way to deal with this is–find an elderly white woman, who is in some way disabled, who depends upon the power to provide medical services, who is for some reason delinquent in the payment of her bill, but the delinquency is not due to any fault of hers, but has to do with a check that’s supposed to come in, but is kind of late.

So what do you do? Now everyone who works for the office is looking for this ideal [plaintiff.] If you run across someone who might fit this thing–this may be a case.

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And these Legal Services offices used to communicate with eachother. So we’re talking to people in New Jersey, we’re talking to people in different places. “Are you have guys having a problem with your local utility?

What do you think about bringing a class action lawsuit?” The things was, we can’t beat them with all of their slick lawyers, but we might be able to put together a lawsuit that can overcome all of this stuff, if we are careful.

So we decided to convene a meeting in Chicago–a think tank–to strategize how best to do this...Here are the ideal circumstances. If anybody comes close to or comes up with the ideal circumstances, notify so-and-so in Philadelphia, we have teams working on the paperwork right now. And we were very proud of this. And within months, Niagara Mohawk contacted us, and said they wanted to talk about changing the way notice was given, and what were we looking for. The office in Philadelphia got contacted by the local municipality – apparently somebody leaked that legal services was having a convention in Chicago, and they were talking about how to bring the system down to its knees, and they said we can’t afford to have that happen, let’s talk to them. And they talked, and we were able to structure a means that became relatively uniform with respect to the termination notice and termination methodology.

LM:

We were able to achieve the goals just by the mere threat of it, without ever filing a lawsuit. They don’t give legal services credit for this, I’ve never seen it mentioned.

SY:

How much of the priority of ONLS was placed on what was then called law reform, and how much was day-today service cases that impacted individual lives?

LM:

In my estimation that’s a two-fold response. You had to keep a finger on the pulse of the day to day stuff, just to be aware of the of the patterns and practices that were there. If you just take a look at each individual case, the patterns may not emerge. So we all talked to each other, we all knew what was going on. And we began to say: “Wait a minute!” There was some bad landlords, and they held a lot of properties that were in our neighborhoods. It was two guys. We said, let’s do some research as to what their holdings are, what they’re doing, how many times someone has had to go out and address a complaint with respect to vermin, etc. And we begin to see the pattern. You’re not going to see the pattern when one tenant says “I got roaches in my apartment.” Okay, wait a minute. They have sixteen apartments in a given area, and they’ve had fifteen different complaints, 60 different visits in the course of X months. They’re a nuisance! It’s not the apartments that are nuisances, it’s the landlord, for creating conditions that are district wide, that they fail to address. So you can go after them. And sometimes, if we looked closely enough, we found there were some landlords who were actually real estate agents. They were licensed by the State of New York to do a given duty. Let’s go to the licensing people and bring it to their attention that they ain’t good landlords.

SY:

It’ really funny that you say this, because we’re having the same conversations today.

What’s your best memory from ONLS? LM:

ONLS moved its main office to downtown. It closed up a couple of the branch offices, and had one office downtown–433 S. Warren Street. Every Friday afternoon at 4 o’clock the office would close. At 3:30 they would dispatch somebody to get beers and a tub full of ice to keep the beers in. They put the tub of beer in the center of the floor, and everyone had chairs. And this was just a session for the lawyers to gripe and to share ideas or whatever. You were part of a team. The rule was, no titles. Everybody is on a first name basis.

You got a bitch with someone, air it right here, right now. It does not continue, it will not slow us down. We can’t afford to have any of us slowing down. And you also got to be able to wake us up.

Or, I just want to share this: one or two of us as lawyers are not communicating as effectively with our clients

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as we should. I had a conversation with one client who felt that she was disrespected by a lawyer. We’ve got to always remember that these are our clients, these are people, and we address them as Mr. So-and-So, Ms. So-and So, or whatever. We try to command their respect. We always err on the side of being too respectful to our clients, and we should. And we could say that.

SY:

So did this session work to clear the air, and resolve issues, and decompress?

LM:

Yeah, yeah. There’s a certain level of informality. (Former Executive Director) Minna Buck was there for every meeting, Bill (Andrews) was there, and whoever the subsequent directors were, they were all on a first name basis. And so you can talk. And things got aired, and it was good.

SY:

How did the work you were doing at the time differ from legal services work that goes on today, throughout the community?

LM:

One of the things that we were blessed to have is, it was like going into a virgin forest, that’s never, ever been cut. You ain’t got to look for it, it’s like any tree would do. This forest has never been discovered, no trees have ever been cut down. So, damn near anywhere you turned, you could see the fruits of injustice were always within reach. It was just fun being able to take your little legal services hatchet, and chop that son of a bitch down relatively easily. And you got pretty adept at it.

Now the system that opposes what you do and what your colleagues do is much more sophisticated. More rules are in place to ensconce the injustice. More firewalls are there to make sure that the roots cannot be attacked. That’s the nature of the beast. But when I was coming along, it was like being in a virgin forest, you don’t have to look for the wood.

When we were young, it was a lot more fun. Again, it’s the virgin forest. Chopping down trees was fun. And we were given the freedom to chop down trees–these are the trees of injustice. Let’s clear the forest of these . . . trees. Let’s do it. It was just fun. And the notion of small victories, really valuable as far as establishing client confidence in you, and your establishing confidence for your clients to be confident in their capabilities. And if we ally ourselves, we all feel good about these little victories, and then we look around one day, this forest is going to be a whole lot clearer than it used to be, because we chose to do it together. And the next thought, automatically, is “where is the next tree?”

SY:

On the other hand, we do have the benefit of some good case law these days, that was made by some prior generations of foresters.

LM:

The law is a dynamic thing. The things that we were doing then you can’t necessarily do now. You may have to switch your approach. The basis thesis, however, is: be aware of what the injustices are, and when you start to attack them, you have to be able to trace them to their roots. Usually, in a capitalistic society, all you have to do is follow the money.

I don’t know what the institutional problems are now, but I know that poverty is still with us. We made some steps at minimizing or eliminating parts of poverty, but you know that if you eliminate something here, something else pops up over there. Racism–but it’s more ingrown, and it’s harder to root out. And it finds many other facades under which it can be masqueraded, before the layer of racism shows its ugly face.

SY:

What’s the relationship between fighting racism and fighting poverty?

LM:

If you’re going to fight poverty, you fight it with the understanding that the more poverty that I can eliminate, the more of a certain kind of racism that is a part of the poverty will be eliminated. Take away one without tak-

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ing away the other, it doesn’t do what you want it to do. Ultimately what you want to do as a legal services lawyer is to empower your clients. You want to enable your client to deal with some of the issues that are visited upon them because of their race and/or poverty. You want to be able to have them have some sense of understanding that they can and may be able to navigate their way through some very difficult situations, if they commit their resources, and the resources that are available to them, to try to do something about it, it’s never ever hopeless. And if you can get that message across, that’s a victory.

SY:

Was client-centered representation a value back in those days?

LM:

No, this was before client-centered representation was born. This whole thing about the law is dynamic–it changes. I mean it’s morphed into that. But if you take a look at the clay that that’s made from, it’s the same stuff that we were talking about. We used to try to convey to our clients, they can do anything that they can to us, they can’t control everything that we do, because we’ve got the numbers. They can’t do everything that they want to do, because we’ve got the numbers. They are afraid of us in this respect–that if we ever organize to the extent that we can, there’s going to be a downfall on the way. But they’re not going to let that happen.

But if we periodically show that we know how to utilize the strength that we have and the numbers that we have, we represent a formidable foe for them. We can’t afford to let ourselves go the same way as the collective bargaining movement, the Labor movement, but we have to have strident voices about injustice, and make sure that the flame never goes out. That’s your responsibility, and that of your contemporaries–that you fuel the flame of hope in your clients, and you make them understand, that the law is supposed to be a tool for you to make your lives better. And what you’re doing-- you’re trying to eliminate some conditions that visit upon your client community, that the whole system of justice has got no business trafficking in at all.

SY:

Talk about becoming a judge, and why you wanted to do that, after spending the first part of your career working directly with clients.

LM:

I kind of backed into this judge thing too. It wasn’t necessarily by design. But it was something I thought that maybe I could bring a little bit of this relatively unique training and experience to another level in the delivery of justice. I don’t know if we had anybody else from Legal Services who had gotten to the bench. And I knew that we had a different understanding of what the law was, and what it was supposed to be, and how it affected the lives of the people who were subject to it. The thought processes were not unique to me, but they were different from the traditional thought that most judges come with. So it probably wouldn’t hurt to have someone on the bench like me, who thought like me.

SY:

You were elected for the first time in 1987?

LM:

I was appointed in 1986. My first day in office was January 1, 1987, and I had to run in the next election in 1987. I ran in the next election, and won by 7 votes or so.

Here’s another legal services connection: I was appointed to the bench in 1986. In 1987, another person was appointed to the bench–Tony Gigliotti, and he had been a former director of legal services. He and I shared adjacent chambers. We had two legal services people on the bench at the same time in city court. What I noticed immediately when I got there, we brought at least to the Landlord-Tenant term a different understanding of what landlord tenant law was about. And sometimes we would talk about what our understanding was, and our differences with other people’s understanding. But the bottom line was it helped to expand a fairer and more just appreciation for some of the nuances of the landlord-tenant law that might effect the tenants.

SY:

What unique perspective would you say you brought to the bench?

LM:

Everybody brings to the bench nothing more than the sum and substance of the set of their experiences that

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they have gone through during the entirety of their lives. One experience for me, and Sam, you’ve experienced this I’m sure, is doing something on behalf of a client, and having the client appreciate you, as a person, who is doing something for them, with them. You’re trying to tweak something in them and say, together we can lick this problem, together we can make this problem go away forever. I don’t do any kind of tricks, and I don’t have any kind of magical capabilities, but collectively, we can make this thing go away. And the “aha” moment that the client experiences–most of my clients at Legal Services have never been in a room with some authority figure who says: “Let’s do this–us.” This is not your problem, it’s our problem. Let’s come to some kind of solution where we feel good about what we’ve done. That’s a moving experience. It puts a lock on you forever that says, I would like to experience that again. Every client represents an opportunity for those feelings to be revived and strengthened inside. It’s a nice feeling–to think I can do something for somebody, with somebody.

SY:

So how did you translate that value to how you interacted with the people who came before you when you were on the bench?

LM:

I can talk to you because you’re with Legal Services, you know what it is. This ain’t no case! That’s a person right there! This is a person who has a family, they have friends who love them, they love people. They’re just like I am, except they’re wearing a mantle of poverty, and all of its . . .oppresive side-effects. And if given a chance, they would immediately throw that mantle away if they could. It won’t get into the text books, because no one can teach you how to be more empathetic with your client. But that’s one of the things you learn: I’m more successful the more I understand my client and what my client is going through, and my client appreciates me more, and I appreciate my client more, and all that other good stuff. And so you warm up to

Judge Langston McKinney

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this empathy thing, and you can’t help but carry that to the bench.

When we started the treatment court, it was with the realization that these were not people who needed punishment, these were people who needed care! So you can’t look at someone and say, okay, how am I going to punish this person? What is the best mechanism by which this person can be linked with opportunities, so that they can rid themselves of this problem, and how that ridding themselves of that problem can be nurtured by the care that either I will direct them to, or will help them to enable themselves to obtain. You go home every day and you realize, most people don’t like living [messed] up lives, and a lot of times, if you can point to them and say, here is a way out of this, a significant number of them will gladly grab your hand, and say either “show me how”, or “let me follow you and I’ll do it.” Every once in a while they don’t follow as faithfully, but the notion is they’re going to come back.

I used to say, the easiest way to get someone involved in non-criminal conduct is to appreciate the virtues that come from being able to reach into your pocket and have money on pay-day, secure in the knowledge that I got this legitimately. Okay? There is a law-abiding and productive citizen right there. Okay? This is my money, I earned it. And I got money from last week’s paycheck still in my pocket. And I don’t have to worry if I hear a siren coming or anything, because I’m not doing anything that would jeopardize it.

SY:

.

Thank you, Judge McKinney, for reminiscing with me, and for the work you’ve done over your career in the cause of justice. 