Guild News page 3 NLG Brown Bag Lunch Program page 4 Obama’s Foreign Policy page 5 Health Reform in America 2010 page 6 NLG Happy Hour in Pictures page 7 Obama’s Mortgage Modification Program page 8 President Obama and the LGBT Community page 9 NLG Students in Action page 10 Mass Dissent February 2010 www.nlgmass.org Vol. 33, No. 1 Obama One Year Later February 2010 Page 1 In this issue of Mass Dissent we take a look, a year later, at the Obama administra- tion. Many of us had great hopes, great expectations, and great energy when, first, Barack Obama made a serious run for the Democratic Party nomina- tion, then when he won it; and at least some of us were ecstat- ic when he actually won the Presidency. So, what do we say a year later? First in this issue is Judy Somberg’s analysis of Obama’s foreign policy – perhaps the single area, because of candi- date Obama’s Afghanistan rhet- oric, about which progressives felt most uneasy. Judy’s article confirms our early doubts; though, to be fair, there is not now the raw, aggressive unilat- eralism that characterized the prior administration. Next are articles on domes- tic policy. Guild friend Cathy Dunham writes on Obama’s health care reform efforts, explaining what progressives have advocated for, how short of that current undertakings have fallen, but why we should still be pleased with the admin- istration’s efforts. Nadine Cohen writes on the administra- tion’s faint efforts to help dis- tressed homeowners, efforts she concludes have been an utter failure to date. Finally, Tony Benningfield writes on Obama’s efforts to support the rights of the lesbian, gay, bisex- ual and transgender community, another area where the new administration’s efforts have disappointed. But we keep our perspec- tive. We have an African- American President, and he has been in office only a year. His agenda has been strikingly ambitious – it has been almost two decades since any President took on health care – and it should not surprise us as well that it has been thoroughly cen- trist. But even that centrist agenda has unleashed a response from the right that must alarm us. It must be our mission to bring equal pressure from the left, and to realize, when all is said and done, that there is a much more compati- ble presence in the White House than we have seen in years. And as Tony suggests in his article, while our "friend" in the White House has not met all (or even most) of our hopes, the alternative to him is almost surely much worse. - Tony Benningfield & David Kelston - In This Edition BOARD MEETING February 16, 6:00 pm 14 Beacon St., 1st Fl. Boston Massachusetts Chapter National Lawyers Guild 14 Beacon St., Boston, MA 02108
Transcript
Guild Newspage 3
NLG Brown Bag LunchProgram
page 4
Obama’s Foreign Policypage 5
Health Reform in America 2010page 6
NLG Happy Hour in Picturespage 7
Obama’s MortgageModification Program
page 8
President Obama and theLGBT Community
page 9
NLG Students in Actionpage 10
Mass DissentFebruary 2010 www.nlgmass.org Vol. 33, No. 1
Obama One Year Later
February 2010 Page 1
In this issue of MassDissent we take a look, a yearlater, at the Obama administra-tion. Many of us had greathopes, great expectations, andgreat energy when, first, BarackObama made a serious run forthe Democratic Party nomina-tion, then when he won it; andat least some of us were ecstat-ic when he actually won thePresidency.
So, what do we say a yearlater?
First in this issue is JudySomberg’s analysis of Obama’sforeign policy – perhaps thesingle area, because of candi-date Obama’s Afghanistan rhet-oric, about which progressivesfelt most uneasy. Judy’s articleconfirms our early doubts;though, to be fair, there is notnow the raw, aggressive unilat-eralism that characterized theprior administration.
Next are articles on domes-tic policy. Guild friend CathyDunham writes on Obama’shealth care reform efforts,explaining what progressiveshave advocated for, how shortof that current undertakingshave fallen, but why we shouldstill be pleased with the admin-istration’s efforts. NadineCohen writes on the administra-tion’s faint efforts to help dis-
tressed homeowners, efforts sheconcludes have been an utterfailure to date. Finally, TonyBenningfield writes onObama’s efforts to support therights of the lesbian, gay, bisex-ual and transgender community,another area where the newadministration’s efforts havedisappointed.
But we keep our perspec-tive. We have an African-American President, and he hasbeen in office only a year. Hisagenda has been strikinglyambitious – it has been almosttwo decades since any Presidenttook on health care – and itshould not surprise us as wellthat it has been thoroughly cen-trist. But even that centristagenda has unleashed aresponse from the right thatmust alarm us. It must be ourmission to bring equal pressurefrom the left, and to realize,when all is said and done, thatthere is a much more compati-ble presence in the WhiteHouse than we have seen inyears. And as Tony suggests inhis article, while our "friend" inthe White House has not met all(or even most) of our hopes, thealternative to him is almostsurely much worse.
- Tony Benningfield & David Kelston -
In This Edition
BOARD MEETING
February 16, 6:00 pm
14 Beacon St., 1st Fl.Boston
Massachusetts Chapter National Lawyers Guild 14 Beacon St., Boston, MA 02108
February 2010 Mass Dissent Page 2
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
CHAIRPERSONSNeil Berman, Common Sense Legal Counseling
Barb Dougan, FAMM
TREASURERSPatricia Cantor
Jeff Petrucelly, Petrucelly, Nadler & Norris
MEMBERSLaura Alfring, Juvenile Justice Center
Tony Benningfield, solo practitioner
Hillary Farber, Northeastern University
Jeff Feuer, Goldstein & Feuer
Ilana Greenstein, Kaplan O’Sullivan Friedman
Myong Joun, Law Offices of Myong Joun
David Kelston, Adkins, Kelston, Zavez
Mary Lu Mendonça, Suffolk Lawyers for Justice
Halim Moris, Moris & O’Shea
Eleanor Newhoff, GBLS
Judy Somberg, solo practitioner
Bonnie Tenneriello, MCLS
Carl Williams, CPCS Public Defenders
LAW STUDENT REPRESENTATIVESMargaret Aylward, Suffolk
Margaret Ciborowski, New England
Justinian Doreste Guzman, Harvard
Marissa Vahlsing, Harvard
Jillian Tuck, Northeastern
STAFF
EXECUTIVE DIRECTORUrszula Masny-Latos
LRS COORDINATOR/ADMIN. ASSIST.Sara DeConde
STREET LAW CLINIC COORDINATORSMargaret Aylward
Charu Verma
Mass Dissent (ISSN 0887-8536) is publishedmonthly except January, May, July and Augustby the National Lawyers Guild, Mass. Chapter,14 Beacon St., Suite 407, Boston, MA 02108.Second-class postage paid at Boston, MA.POSTMASTER: Send address changes toMass Dissent, NLG, 14 Beacon St., Suite 407,Boston, MA 02108.
Street Law Clinic Project: The Street Law Clinic project providesworkshops for Massachusetts organizations that address legal needs ofvarious communities. Legal education workshops on 4th AmendmentRights (Stop & Search), Landlord/Tenant Disputes, Workers’ Rights,Civil Disobedience Defense, Bankruptcy Law, Foreclosure PreventionLaw, and Immigration Law are held at community organizations, youthcenters, labor unions, shelters, and pre-release centers. If you are a Guildattorney, law student, or legal worker interested in leading a workshop,please contact the project at 617-723-4330 or [email protected].
Lawyer Referral Service Panel (LRS): Members of the panel provide legalservices at reasonable rates. Referral Service Administrative/OversightCommittee members: Neil Berman, Neil Burns, Joshua Goldstein, JeremyRobin, and Azizah Yasin. For more information, contact the Referral ServiceCoordinator at 617-227-7008 or [email protected].
Foreclosure Prevention Task Force: Created in June 2008, the TaskForce’s goal is threefold: (1) to draft and introduce policies that addressissues that homeowners and tenants of foreclosed on houses face, (2) toprovide legal assistance to these homeowners and tenants, and (3) toconduct legal clinics for them. If you are interested in working with theTask Force, please call the office at 617-227-7335.
Independent Civilian Review Board: In coalition with the AmericanFriends Service Committee and Greater Boston Civil Rights Coalition,the NLG has been pushing for the creation of an independent civilianboard to review complaints against Boston police officers. To getinvolved in the campaign, please contact the office at 617-227-7335.
NLG National Immigration Project: Works to defend and extend thehuman and civil rights of all immigrants, both documented and undocu-mented. The Committee works in coalition with community groups toorganize support for immigrant rights in the face of right-wing politicalattacks. For more information contact the NLG National ImmigrationProject at 617-227-9727.
NLG Military Law Task Force: Provides legal advice and assistanceto those in the military and to others, especially members of the GIRightsHotline, who are counseling military personnel on their rights. It alsoprovides legal support and helps to find local legal referrals when need-ed. The MLTF and the Hotline exchange many questions and informa-tion through their listserves. For advice and information, GI’s can call877-447-4487. To get involved, please contact Neil Berman ([email protected]) or Marguerite Helen ([email protected]).
COALITIONS:
Jobs with Justice, a coalition-based organization addressing workers'rights. The NLG is a member of Jobs with Justice; any interested Guildmembers can attend meetings & events.
Join a Guild Committee
February 2010 Mass Dissent Page 3
ARTICLES FOR MASS DISSENT
The March issue of Mass Dissent will focus on criminal justice policy.
If you are interested in submitting an article, essay, analysis, or art work (cartoons, pictures) related to the topic,please e-mail the articles to [email protected].
The deadline for articles is February 15, 2010.
GUILD NEWSThe
NLG Massachusetts Chapter’s Happy Hour - for Guildmembers and non-Guild members - takes place on the2nd Wednesday of every month, 6:30 - 8:00pm, atKennedy’s Mid-Town Pub (44 Province St., 2nd Fl.,Boston, close to Suffolk Law School), and will follow theNLG Presents... event. Next Happy Hour will be onFebruary 10, 2010. Please join us.
AllGuild members are invited to the Chapter’s AnnualMeeting on Tuesday, March 16. We will start at 5:30 pmwith a cozy (and wonderfully stuffed) reception and contin-ue with the meeting at 6:00 pm. At the meeting, theChapter will elect new Officers and members of the Boardof Directors. We will also have a presentation on the cur-rent crisis in Haiti by local Haitian activists.
NLG HAPPY HOUR ANNUAL MEETING
Street Law Clinic Report
The following Guild member conducted trainings for law stu-dents and/or clinics for members of Boston area communityorganizations and agencies:
January 19: Foreclosure/Eviction Preventiontraining at Suffolk Law School, by Jeff Feuer.
January 25: Immigration Law presentation at BUSchool of Law, by Ellen Kief.
January 25: Immigration Law clinic at Mass.Association of Portuguese Speakers in Cambridge,by Amy Wax.
January 27: Stop & Search training at BU School ofLaw, by Bob Cohen.
January 28: Foreclosure/Eviction Prevention train-ing at BC School of Law, by Deborah Roher.
February 3: Workers Rights clinic at TheWorkplace in Boston, by Mark Stern.
Starting in February, we are changing the formatof the NLG Brown Bag Lunch from the usual“Lunch & Learn” to a “Think & Drink” discus-sion taking place before our monthly happy hour(2nd Wednesday). We’ll gather at Kennedy’s at5:30 pm for our discussion, and those who wishmay stay for the Happy Hour at 6:30 pm.
with BBaarrbb DDoouuggaannWednesday, February 10, 2010
5:30 - 6:30 PMKennedy’s Midtown 44 Province St.,2nd Fl.,
Boston(next to Suffolk Law School, off Bromfield St.)
Barbara Dougan, Director of MassachusettsFamilies Against Mandatory Minimums, will talkabout pending legislation to reform harsh drug sen-tencing laws and why change is urgently needed. (Co-Sponsored with Community Change.)
OFFICE NEEDED:
Guild attorney and his partner are looking to rent an office space neardowntown. Ideally - two small office rooms, with access to a confer-ence room; alternatively - one large office room that fits two attorneys. Please contact Halim Moris, Esq. at (617) 357-9800.
GUILD MEMBERS IN ACTION
MICHAEL AVERY has been elected to the Board ofGovernors of the Society of American Law Teachers(SALT), a national organization of liberal and pro-gressive law professors. CONGRATULATIONS!
And in case you missed the JanuaryBrown Bag…
“Saving Homes: Lawyers andActivists Partner Against Foreclosures”
On January 12, 2010 Nadine Cohen,Managing Attorney of the Consumer RightsUnit of GBLS, and Guild practitioner JeffFeuer, discussed the work of the Guild’sForeclosure Prevention Task Force andother efforts by activists and lawyers to helplow-income residents keep their homes.Massachusetts is far from immune from thenational catastrophe, with foreclosure initia-tions increasing by 28.1% in 2009. TheObama administration’s Home AffordableModification Program has been a nearcomplete failure (see article on page 8). There were about28,000 foreclosures in Massachusetts alone in 2009.
The legal news was largely bad, with extremely few legalremedies in Massachusetts and banks largely unwilling tonegotiate (or even speak with counsel). Legislative proposalsmay offer some relief. For example the Tenant Protection Billwould keep tenants and possibly foreclosed homeowners inplace if the buyer was not occupying the property, and a judicialforeclosure bill would for the first time subject foreclosures tojudicial review. But the speakers agreed that the greatest
impact has come not from legal or legislative action but frompolitical action aimed at forcing the banks to the table. Wewere fortunate to be joined by Steve Meachem and others fromCity Life/Vida Urbana, a community organization pioneering theuse of protests, blockades and occupation to force banks tonegotiate with owners and keep tenants – with legal represen-tation from Guild attorneys. Boston Community Capital hasworked with City Life to buy foreclosed properties to sell backto foreclosed homeowners. This successful model of commu-nity empowerment was a beacon of hope amidst a distressingnational picture. - Bonnie Tenneriello -
February 2010 Mass Dissent Page 4
2010 NLG TESTIMONIAL DINNER
At the January meeting, the NLG MassachusettsChapter Board of directors decided on this year’sTestimonial Dinner Honorees. We are proud to announcethat the 2010 NLG Honorees are: Jill Soffiyah Elijah &Howard Cooper (lawyers), Dan Kesselbrenner (legalworker), Charlotte Noss & Josh Raisler-Cohn (students).
Soffiyah Elijah is Deputy Director of the CriminalJustice Institute at Harvard Law School, where she con-centrates on “the urgent needs of the powerless, voicelessand indigent” in the criminal justice system. Soffiyah hasrepresented numerous political prisoners and socialactivists, most recently the San Francisco 8/Black Panthers.
Howard Cooper, a partner at Boston’s Todd &Weld, is one of the Massachusetts’ most prominent litiga-tors. He has distinguished himself defending the rightsof minorities, including the Islamic community in its epicbattle to build a Mosque in Roxbury, and the poor anddisabled in suburban towns seeking housing and servic-es. Howard is a member and sustainer of the Guild.
Dan Kesselbrenner is the Executive Director of theNLG National Immigration Project and a long-time
Guild member. He is a nationally recognized expert onthe immigration consequences of criminal convictions.Dan has devoted his life to advancing and defendingimmigrants’ rights.
Charlie Noss is a third year Northeastern law stu-dent and has been very active in the Guild. Among otheractivities, she provided leadership on campaigns support-ing Northeastern Janitors in improving their union contract.During her first year of law school, she did an outstandingjob as a coordinator of the NLG Street Law Clinic.
Josh Raisler-Cohn, a third year Northeastern stu-dent, has been active in the Guild for 10 years as a legalworker and student. Through legal observing and advo-cacy he has worked to support prisoners, activists andorganizers, criminal defendants, low income people, ten-ants, and others targeted by state.
We are honored to have such accomplished legalprofessionals in our Guild community. We hope you willjoin us in honoring this year’s NLG Awardees and attendthe 2010 Testimonial Dinner, which will be held onFriday, May 7, 6:00 pm, at the Colonnade Hotel.
Nadine Cohen (first left) and Jeff Feuer (second left) conduct the January Brown Bagluncheon. Photo by Judy Somberg
NLG BROWN BAG LUNCHEON SERIES
f there was much to be excitedabout during Obama’s cam-
paign for the presidency, it wascertainly not because of his artic-ulated foreign policy views.Although he said the Iraq war wasa mistake and that he would with-draw US troops as soon as possi-ble, he was clear that he wouldescalate the war in Afghanistan.Obama was going to continuewhat Bush had called “fighting ter-rorism,” but he was sharpeningthe terminology and speaking ofthe particular groups the U.S.would be targeting. Nonetheless,many of us hoped - and somehowbelieved - that there would be anew approach to foreign policy, arelinquishment of the belief thatthe US was entitled to be the solearbiter and enforcer of justice inthe world. Would the U.S. beginto work multilaterally with othercountries? Within the UN?Would it begin to look to interna-tional law and human rights lawinstead of corporate interests as abasis for our foreign policy?
The high point of our short-lived hopes for Obama was per-haps his June speech in Egypt,where he spoke of respect for theMuslim world and did seem to bearticulating a desire to end hostili-ties and to adopt a multilateralapproach to regional conflicts.Obama had raised hopes for thepeople in Latin America with hisspeech at the Summit of theAmericas in April 2009 when hesaid the U.S. would seek an “equalpartnership” and begin “engage-ment based on mutual respectand common interests and sharedvalues.” This took place shortlyafter Obama had eased restric-tions on Cuban Americans’ abilityto travel and to send remittances
back home. Then, in June, theUS yielded to demands for Cuba’sreadmission to the OAS after a47-year suspension. Thereseemed to be some real action toback up the noble orations thatObama was known for.
But by October 9, when it wasannounced that Obama had wonthe 2009 Nobel Peace Prize,many people had already becomedisaffected. There was a generalfeeling of “How could this be?”,since Obama had proven himselfto be a president of war, not ofpeace. And if any hope remainedit was certainly dashed by hisNobel speech on December 10,when he articulated clearly hisdefense of war and was lauded bymany leading conservatives.
Hopes for a rapid de-escala-tion of the war in Iraq proved futilewith the announcement inFebruary that U.S. combat troopswould be withdrawn slowly overthe next 18 months. At the sametime the troop buildup inAfghanistan was increasing rapid-ly. Just nine days before hisNobel speech, Obamaannounced he was sending30,000 more troops toAfghanistan. And missile strikes inPakistan, carried out viaunmanned drones, caused hun-dreds of deaths of civilians andunknown numbers of new recruitsto join the anti-American insur-gents. What exactly are our for-eign policy goals in Iraq,Afghanistan, and Pakistan? Willfighting “terrorism” help the peo-ple of the region, lead to demo-cratic governments, or makeAmericans safer? And now itappears that Yemen may be thenext country where our harsh andineffective interventions are likelyto lead to an increase rather thana decrease in anti-US attacks.
Obama’s policy in Israel/
Palestine began with some prom-ise. In his first days in office,Obama signaled his intention tomake rapid progress towardachieving peace with high-profilephone calls to PalestinianAuthority President MahmoudAbbas and then-Israeli PrimeMinister Ehud Olmert. He quicklyappointed former Senator GeorgeMitchell to be Special Envoy forMiddle East Peace. Obama fol-lowed these initial moves bydemanding that Israel stop allnew settlement activity. But hesoon backed off when IsraeliPrime Minister BenjaminNetanyahu called for only a partialfreeze on settlement building andby his actions made clear that hehad no intention of negotiating apeace in the foreseeable future.Meanwhile, in Gaza, the U.S..took no action to ease the plight ofthe 1.5 million Palestinians livingthere in horrendous conditions,almost totally cut off from food,medicines, and building supplies.Now, Obama refuses to acknowl-edge the validity of the GoldstoneReport.
What about Iran? Obamaseems to be engaging in seriousdiplomacy to reach our statedgoal of keeping Iran from devel-oping and using nuclearweapons. But how can that goalbe met when the U.S. is unwillingto reaffirm and seriously carry outits obligations under the NuclearNon-Proliferation Treaty, andwhen it won’t challenge Israel – aknown nuclear power – about itsrefusal to sign?
Perhaps the biggest disap-pointment has been Obama’s pol-icy toward Latin America. Here,real opportunities exist for work-ing alongside the countries withoil and other natural resources weso desire --– or for that matter, with
February 2010 Mass Dissent Page 5
Obama’s Foreign Policy One Year Later
Continued on page 10
by Judy Somberg
I
arack Obama ran forPresident on a centrist, rela-
tively cautious, health reform plat-form that promised to reduce thenumber of uninsured people,improve health care quality, andencourage efficiency and effec-tiveness in the delivery of healthcare. As he entered office, heplaced health reform as a highdomestic priority, second only toeconomic stabilization. Hopesand expectations escalated. Thefact that Democrats controlledboth the House and the Senatecontributed to the belief thatmajor structural reform was onthe way, far more ambitious thanthe President’s original platform.
The reform would includeuniversal coverage, with bothemployer and individual man-dates, in addition to significantexpansions to Medicaid andMedicare. Reformers believedthat an employer mandate wouldrequire that larger employersmake a substantial contribution tothe cost of an employee’s healthinsurance premiums, with a sig-nificant penalty for those who didnot comply. The individual man-date, it was hoped, required thateveryone who could find afford-able insurance must purchase it.The individual mandate wouldalso be enforced with significantpenalties for those who did notcomply. Provisions for majorexpansion of the Medicaid pro-gram, a state and federal partner-ship providing care to poor anddisabled people, would bring over15 million new uninsured peopleinto coverage.
Quality would be improved,again it was hoped, by the sup-
port of research to better distin-guish health care practices thatactually worked from those thatdidn’t, and put that knowledge towork in shaping care and financ-ing policies. The newAdministration also made thecost of health care a central eco-nomic issue early in 2009. Healthcare costs have risen at two andthree times the inflation rate forthe past twenty years. The costsof Medicare, Medicaid and healthinsurance for public employeeswas squeezing all funding flexibil-ity out of local, state and federalbudgets to the detriment of otherhigh public priorities such as edu-cation and job creation.
Many in the progressive com-munity saw moving to a “singlepayer” system as a logical andfair solution to the cost, equityand quality problems. In manyother industrialized countries,oversight and financing of healthcare is delegated to governmentor quasi-governmental entitiesthat regulate and negotiate theshape, cost and quality of servic-es, pharmaceuticals and medicalequipment. Physicians, hospitalsand other caregivers are reim-bursed for their services througha predictable and transparentprocess.
In contrast, the United Stateshas a mix of public and privateplans that vary from state tostate, even from county to county.Little or no public input exists.Our market-driven system hasresulted in a situation where over40 million uninsured Americanshave no coverage on a given day(perhaps double that numberover the course of a year), prima-rily because of the cost of cover-age, and another under-insured65 million Americans struggle to
afford the quality of coverage thatwill protect them from financialruin. We spend substantiallymore and get less in terms ofquality, equity and life expectan-cy.
But a “single payer” approachfavored by progressives (physi-cians, too!) was dismissed earlyon by congressional Democraticleaders as being politically infea-sible. Progressives then pinnedtheir hopes on winning a “publicoption” in the array of new cover-age plans to be required in thenew system. They thought that apublic option would have theadvantage of lowering overheadcosts associated with traditionalinsurance industry marketing,exclusionary underwriting, andprofits models. The hope was fora public option to compete withprivate plans to drive down theoverall cost of premiums. Oneexample of this approach was theFederal Employee HealthBenefits program.
But the length and nastinessof the year-long debate on fea-tures of a bill exposed deep divi-sions among Democrats, pre-sented an easy target forRepublicans, became a source ofconcern among the public atlarge over cost and size, and anorganizing principle for a newpolitical force in American politics,the right-leaning tea party move-ment.
The final version of a bill, ifthere is to be one, will be drawnfrom the separate bills that theHouse and Senate passed inlate-2009. The prospects for a“public option” are dim. Theemployer mandate has beenshrunk to a modest requirementfor large employers to contribute
February 2010 Mass Dissent Page 6
B
If You Can’t Be with the One You Love, Love the OneYou’re with: Health Reform in America 2010
by Catherine M. Dunham
Continued on page 7
February 2010 Mass Dissent Page 7
to coverage of their employees,or pay a minimal fine. There istroublesome new languageregarding access to abortionservices.
What, then, is to like in aprobable compromise fromamong watered down versions ofhealth reform?
Insurers will no longer beable to drop or deny coverage topeople who develop serious orchronic illnesses. Most low- andlower-middle income familiesshould be able to afford decentinsurance coverage. Over 30million Americans will be newlycovered. Investments will bemade to effectiveness research
so that investments in care andprevention can be made morewisely. This package representssignificant progress that justifiessupport.
Despite leadership byPresident Obama, as well asHouse and Senate DemocraticParty leaders and others, reformwill not reduce the flow of moneyand control to powerful industrygroups such as insurers, hospi-tals, pharmaceutical companiesand physicians. These are battlesfor another day. The Presidentand the Congress probablyunderestimated the political diffi-culty of advancing the cause ofreform in this economic environ-ment. The war between interestgroups over the details of the leg-
islation has grown tiresome. It istime to move on to other pressingpriorities related to jobs, theeconomy and peace. We need totake the gains of anticipated leg-islation and use them as buildingblocks for a more affordable andhigher quality health care systemfor all Americans.
Health Reform in America 2010
Catherine M. Dunham isPresident of the Access Project, anational health reform researchand advocacy organization. In1988 she was an architect of oneof the first state universal healthplans in her capacity as policycoordinator for then-Massachusetts Governor MichaelS. Dukakis.
Continued from page 6
NLG JANUARY HAPPY HOUR
The first NLG Happy Hour of 2010was on January 13. As always, theevent brought together a nice group ofGuild members and friends who spentWednesday evening enjoying eachothers company, snacking on freeappetizers, and sipping refreshing bev-erages.
It’s hard to believe, but this is
our third year of operation. When theHappy Hour program was launched,in October 2007, no one envision it assuch a success.
If you haven’t participated yet,please give it a try and come to thenext one - February 10, 5:30pm,Kennedy’s Mid-Town Pub (44Province St., 2nd Fl., Boston).(l.-r.): Danny Beck, Carl Williams, Mary Lu Mendonça, Tom Zito & Dan Pond
(Northeastern) Photos by Urszula Masny-Latos
(l.-r.) Edward Kammerer, Elizabeth Kelleher, NeilBerman, Doug Bobcock
February 2010 Mass Dissent Page 8
n March 2009, the Obamaadministration unveiled a new
initiative touted as a way to stopmortgage foreclosures. The HomeAffordable Modification Program(“HAMP”) was supposed to help 3to 4 million homeowners avoidforeclosure. The plan was simple– lenders and servicers (the com-panies that collect the mortgagepayments for the owners of themortgages) were going to get gov-ernment money for reducinghomeowners’ mortgage paymentsto make them affordable.Servicers were supposed to lowerhomeowners’ payments down to31% of household income byreducing interest rates for fiveyears and adding arrears to theend of the loans. Not great, but itwas hoped that it would providesome relief for struggling home-owners, particularly those withadjustable mortgages whose pay-ments were increasing. Well, todate only 31,000 out of 728,000trial modifications have been madepermanent. In fact, in the Boston,Cambridge, Quincy metropolitanarea, just 1.6% of loans have beenmodified under the HAMP pro-gram. Yet for the 9th straightmonth, more than 300,000 proper-ties in the U.S. have entered fore-closure, according to Realty Trac;and there have been 3,826 newforeclosures begun inMassachusetts in the past 60days, as reported by ForeslosuresMass.com. Almost 26,000Massachusetts homeowners wentinto foreclosure during the first 11months of 2009, up 28% from thesame period in 2008, according todata from the Warren Group.
Despite the enormous needfor relief, homeowners are getting
very little help from the HAMP loanmodification program. Borrowerswho have made all required pay-ments under their trial modifica-tions are being rejected for perma-nent modifications – often with noinformation as to why. An elderlycouple in Pembroke, who both losttheir jobs after paying their mort-gage faithfully for 14 years, wastold they were not going to get apermanent modification becausethey made their trial payments tooearly! A disabled Somervillewoman who was scammed into ahigh cost, adjustable rate mort-gage, was told after making all ofher trial modification payments,that her income was not sufficientto support the modified payments,despite the fact that she submitteddetailed documentation of herincome prior to getting the trialmodification. Under what rationaltheory does a bank decide thatsomeone can’t afford $1,600 amonth, and yet require them to pay$2,400 a month?
Other borrowers have actuallyhad their homes foreclosed onafter making all their trial modifica-tion payments and while waitingfor a decision on a permanent loanmodification. There have beenseveral lawsuits challengingdenials of HAMP modifications,but a California judge recentlyruled that qualified borrowersunder the HAMP program are only“incidental beneficiaries” and haveno enforceable rights under themodification agreements. Exactlywho, then, is supposed to benefitby a loan modification?
So what went wrong with theObama administration’s well-inten-tioned plan? For one, it is totallyvoluntary. It was hoped that bypaying servicers for each loanmodification they made, theywould be induced into participat-
ing. But servicers make moremoney on non-performing loans,and the few thousand dollars theyget for each loan modification isnot a big incentive. Once againWall Street wins out over MainStreet.
There needs to be a meaning-ful federal program to help home-owners who were lured into mort-gages they could never afford,those who lost their jobs and needsome temporary help to pay theirmortgage, and those whose mort-gages are way more than theirproperties are worth. If we cangive trillions of taxpayer dollars tohelp the financial institutions thatcreated this economic mess, whycan’t we figure out a way to helphomeowners keep their homes?The foreclosure crisis is a largepart of our economic meltdown,yet we have not focused on stop-ping foreclosures. Banks shouldbe required to write down loanprincipal to the actual value of thehome, and modify loans in a time-ly fashion to stop foreclosures thatcontinue to weaken our economy.In addition, the bankruptcy lawsneed to be changed to allowhomeowners the ability to modifytheir loans. It’s unconscionablethat businesses are allowed torestructure all sorts of debts by fil-ing bankruptcy, yet the Americanhomeowner is not afforded thesame right to restructure theirhome mortgage to stay in theirhome. Hard working, strugglinghomeowners deserve at least thesame consideration given to thebanks when they were in crisis.
We need to be outraged at thelack of help for homeowners facingforeclosure. In Massachusetts, weneed to support foreclosure legis-lation that would allow tenants andformer homeowners to stay in their
The Obama Mortgage Modification Program:A Dismal Failure
by Nadine Cohen
I
Continued on page 10
February 2010 Mass Dissent Page 9
n May 17, 2004, theCommonwealth of
Massachusetts became the firststate to issue same-sex marriagelicenses. Currently, four otherstates, Connecticut, Iowa,Vermont, and New Hampshire,now also issue these same-sexmarriage licenses.
Within the context that theCommonwealth of Massachusettshas been a national leader on cer-tain issues important to the les-bian, gay, bisexual, and transgen-der (“LGBT”) community and thatthe LGBT community largely sup-ported President Obama’s candi-dacy, the question whetherPresident Obama kept his cam-paign promises on LGBT issuesduring his first year in office cannow be asked.
MarriageThen-candidate Obama statedthat he believes that marriage isbetween a “man and a woman”and that he is “not in favor of gaymarriage.” He went on to statethat he supports civil unions thatwould carry equal legal standingto that of marriage, but hebelieves that decisions about thetitle of marriage should be left tothe states.
Although then-candidateObama did not make any cam-paign promises regarding mar-riage per-se, he did promise to"repeal the Defense of MarriageAct (“DOMA”) and enact legisla-tion that would ensure that the1,100+ federal legal rights andbenefits currently provided on thebasis of marital status are extend-ed to same-sex couples in civilunions and other legally-recog-nized unions." DOMA states thatthe federal government definesmarriage as between a man and awoman and that no state needs to
treat a same-sex relationship as amarriage, even if the relationshipis considered a marriage in anoth-er state.
President Obama’s actions onthis topic have been mixed.President Obama’s administrationhas defended the constitutionalityof DOMA, stating that "theDepartment of Justice has longfollowed the practice of defendingfederal statutes as long as rea-sonable arguments can be madein support of their constitutionality,even if the department disagreeswith a particular statute as a policymatter." The administration wenton to say that it does “not supportDOMA as a matter of policy,believes that it is discriminatory,and supports its repeal.” InSeptember 2009, legislators in theHouse of Representatives intro-duced a bill that would repealDOMA. This bill has 97 co-spon-sors, but it appears to lack anystrong support from PresidentObama.
FamilyThen-candidate Obama promisedto “use the bully pulpit to urgestates to treat same-sex coupleswith full equality in their family andadoption laws." It appears thatoutside of some supportive com-ments to gay rights groups,President Obama has failed totake any hard stances on thisissue in his first year in office.
EmploymentThen-candidate Obama promisedto “place the weight of (his) admin-istration behind...a fully inclusiveEmployment Non-DiscriminationAct to outlaw workplace discrimi-nation on the basis of sexual ori-entation and gender identity." Thispast summer, legislators in theHouse of Representatives and theSenate introduced legislation thatwould make it illegal to fire, refuseto hire, or refuse to promote a per-son based on sexual identity or
gender identity, with certainexceptions. These proposed actsare still in committee.
Recently, President Obamahas signed an executive order list-ing gender identity among theclasses protected by the federalEqual Employment Opportunitypolicies preventing discriminationof federal employees based ongender identity. President Obamaalso has extended some benefits,but not health care, to partners offederal gay employees.
Hate CrimesThen-candidate Obama promisedto “place the weight of (his) admin-istration behind the enactment ofthe Matthew Shepard Act to out-law hate crimes." This bill wassigned in October.
MilitaryThen-candidate Obama promisedto call for the repeal of the “Don’tAsk, Don’t Tell” policy of the mili-tary. This policy needs to berepealed by Congress, andPresident Obama has not beenwilling to make it a priority now.
ConclusionIn November, a coalition of liberalactivists and websites announcedthat they will not donate anymoney to the Democratic NationalCommittee, Organizing forAmerica, or the Obama campaignuntil the president's campaignpromises to the LGBT communityare fulfilled. This coalition statedthat President Obama must repealDOMA, sign the EmploymentNon-Discrimination Act, andrepeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."Now, a year into PresidentObama’s presidency, the coalitionof liberal activists and websitesstill have strong justification fortheir stance. It appears that only asmall percentage of the LGBTcommunity, members who arefederal employees or partners offederal employees, have seen any
by Tony Benningield
President Obama and the LGBT Community
O
Continued on page 10
February 2010 Mass Dissent Page 10
Tony Benningfield is a member of the Mass Chapter Boardof Directors and a solo-prectitioner in Somerville.
Obama’s Foreign Policy
Obama and the LGBT Community
Mortgage Modification Program
NORTHEASTERNThe Northeastern NLG chapter finished2009 with a party celebrating the end offinals. It was a wonderful opportunity forthe incoming upperclassmen to get toknow the 1Ls and share ideas for theupcoming year. Congratulations go out toNLG member Charlotte Noss, whoreceived a Skadden fellowship to work atthe Wage Justice Center in Los Angeles,where she will focus on combating wagetheft against low-wage immigrant workers.
So far, 2010 is shaping up to be agreat year:• We met with Sujatha Baliga, the 2010Daynard Fellow, who shared her experi-ence working to reform the criminal jus-tice system through restorative justice.• Corporina, one of the Hyatt staff fired inthe recent scandal, attended an NLG meet-
ing and shared her story. We are currentlywriting a statement pledging to boycott theHyatt, as well as trying to garner support forour position within the law school.• A group of NLG members will beattending RebLaw, a conference thatbrings together practitioners, law stu-dents, and community advocates to dis-cuss progressive approaches to law andsocial change.• We are planning fundraising eventsto help the relief effort in Haiti, as well asworking with other NUSL organizationson a joint campaign.
SUFFOLKThe Suffolk NLG chapter ended lastsemester with a well-attendedForeclosure/Eviction street law trainingled by Attorney Neil Berman.
The spring semester is in full bloom atSuffolk Guild…even if the weather isn’tcooperating.
This semester, we are planning to:• host several SLC trainings; • sponsor student “meetings” to dis-cuss Guild campaigns and projects. • host a series of student debates.The debates will feature a Guild memberdebating a colleague from the FederalistSociety. We hope to use these debatesas way to educate the Suffolk communi-ty to the types of topics that interest Guildmembers.
To continue a “new” tradition, we willalso host a Guild party at Prof. MichaelAvery’s house. These parties are alwaysa wonderful way for students to get toknow each other and to meet other Guildmembers.
NLG STUDENTS IN ACTION
Continued from page 5 Continued from page 8
Continued from page 9
Nadine Cohen, a Guild member, is the Managing Attorneyof the Consumer Rights Unit of GBLS and represents low-income homeowners facing foreclosure.
foreclosed homes until the property is sold to someone whowill actually be living in the home; legislation to create a judi-cial foreclosure process; mandatory mediation before fore-closures are permitted; and a temporary moratorium on fore-closures.
all countries -- rather than continuing our typicaldemonization with false claims of human rights vio-lations to soften up the American public for possiblemilitary and economic intervention. If there are anyquestions about whether this is our tactic, considerthe fact that we choose to ignore the human rightsrecords of our “allies”, for example, Colombia,Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Israel. And when a realopportunity came along for Obama to refuse toaccept the overthrow of a democratically electedgovernment – in Honduras – Obama instead threwaway the opportunity after making small, ineffectivegestures to reinstate the democratic government.
It’s true that there are reformers in the Obamagovernment who are trying to change our foreignpolicy. There have been some appointments ofmore progressive voices and some decent appoint-ments held up in Congress. But with foreign policyvery much established by the president, we canand should expect much more.
The April issue of Mass Dissent will be devot-ed to foreign policy issues, and that will be achance to explore this topic in greater depth.Please contact us if you are interested in writing anarticle.
Judy Somberg, a Cambridge solo-practitioner, is amember of the NLG International Committee andserves on the Chapter Board.
real change to their daily lives, while the vast majority of theLGBT community still does not have the right to form fami-lies, receive protection from employment discrimination, oreven serve their country openly in a time of two wars.Simply, the daily lives of the vast majority of the LGBT com-munity have not changed in any real way. The dilemmanow facing this coalition and community is to choose to con-tinue to support a “friend” in the White House, a “friend” whohas not satisfied the hopes of and the promises to the LGBTcommunity, or to pull the support away from this “friend.”Unfortunately, there may not be much of a choice as futurecandidates will most likely be enemies.
February 2010 Mass Dissent Page 11
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Adkins, Kelston & Zavez • Anonymous • MichaelAvery • Susan Barney & Kamal Ahmed • SamuelBerk • Neil Berman • Steven Buckley • HowardCooper • Andrew Cornell & Shelley Kroll • BarbDougan • Melinda Drew & Jeff Feuer • CarolynFederoff • Howard Friedman • Roger Geller •Lee Goldstein & Ken Quat • Benjie Hiller •Stephen Hrones • Myong Joun • MartinKantrovitz • Nancy Kelly & John Willshire-Carrera• David Kelston • Leslee Klein & Mark Stern •Petrucelly, Nadler & Norris • Hank Phillippi Ryan& Jonathan Shapiro • Allan Rodgers • MartinRosenthal • Sharryn Ross • Anne Sills &Howard Silverman • Judy Somberg • Stern,Shapiro, Weissberg & Garin
The Sustainer Program is one of the most important Chapter’s initiativesto secure its future existence. Please consider joining the Program.
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