Davila v. Hammons, Index No. 407163/96 (Sup. Ct., N.Y. Cy., filed Dec. 19, 1996).
This case, filed as a class action, challenges New York City's policy of assigning public assistance recipients to unpaid work in the Work Experience Program (WEP) instead of to education and training. The plaintiffs claim that the city is failing to do adequate assessments, to develop appropriate employability plans and to make assignments pursuant to such plans, in violation of state statute and regulations. In addition, plaintiffs claim that the city is violating state law in assigning people in approved or approvable programs to WEP and in refusing to pay training related expenses for such people. CH # pending.
Plaintiffs' attorneys: Marc Cohan and Christopher Lamb, Center on Social Welfare Policy and Law (Co-counsel are the Legal Aid Society and Davis Polk & Wardwell).
Cressey et al. v. Foster, No. 431846 (19th Judicial District Ct., East Baton Rouge Parish, La., Sept. 30, 1996) (petition for declaratory and injunctive relief).
This case, brought on behalf of an individual threatened with loss of the $50 child support pass-through and two organizations, challenges the state's submission of a state plan on October 1, 1996 to implement the federal Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, P.L. No. 104-193, and its use of emergency rulemaking procedures to eliminate the $50 child support pass-through. Plaintiffs claim that the state submitted to HHS a state plan to implement the federal law without complying with the 45-day comment period required in federal law and in violation of the state Administrative Procedure Act and the due process requirements of the federal and state constitutions. They claim that the use of emergency rulemaking to eliminate the $50 pass-through is contrary to the state Administrative Procedure Act and federal and state due process requirements. Pursuant to an October 30, 1996 consent order, the parties agreed to a schedule for development of a record and plaintiffs withdrew their motion for a hearing on preliminary relief. A court hearing was set for December 9, 1996. Plaintiffs' counsel reports that the state has indicated that 1) it will abandon its Oct. 1 policy of denying aid to legal immigrants and will adopt the federal option to provide TANF aid to legal immigrants; and 2) it will reverse its directive to deny GED and job training for those over 20 until it has complied with rulemaking requirements. CH # pending.
Plaintiffs' attorney: Martha Kegel, Justice Alliance Legal Action Center & ACLU Foundation of Louisiana, P.O. Box 70496, New Orleans, LA 70112, tel. 504 522-0744, fax 504 522-0618.
M.L.B. v. S.L.J., -- U. S. --, 65 L.W. 4035 (Dec. 16, 1996).
The United States Supreme Court has held that equal protection and due process require that Mississippi pay the costs of a record on appeal from an adjudication terminating parental status. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, writing for a six-judge majority, notes that the Constitution does not require the state to provide for appeal. But since the state does allow for an appeal to challenge a factual determination, it cannot prevent a poor person from making that appeal because of her inability to pay for the required record. Applying precedent in the criminal law area, the majority made it clear that its analysis and decision applies to a very narrow class of cases concerning parental status, and does not extend even to other domestic relations matters such as divorce, paternity, and child custody. The majority noted that in Ortwein v. Schwab, 410 U.S. 656 (1973), the Court had summarily affirmed the Oregon Supreme Court in finding no constitutional infirmity in requiring a fee, which an indigent family could not afford to pay, as a prerequisite to an appeal from a reduction in welfare benefits. Justice Clarence Thomas, writing for the dissenters, contended that the majority was not clear as to whether the case was decided on due process or equal protection grounds, and that it could not be won on either ground. He announced that the floodgates are open, in that "the Court has eliminated the least meaningful limit on the free-floating right to appellate assistance."
Plaintiff's attorneys: Danny Lampley, Marina Hsieh, and Steven R. Shapiro, American Civil Liberties Union, 132 West 43rd Street, New York, NY 10036, tel. 212-944-9800; fax 212-869-4314.