Legal Rights Center News
The Legal Rights Center
has returned to the North Side! Our
Community Advocate is available at Oak
Park Center
every Thursday, between 4-5, to talk about your legal problem
and receive requests for our
services. For our complete intake
schedule, press here.
October 2011
The
problem with increasing criminal penalties
for non-alcohol related automobile accidents, however tragic the
results, and
the need for greater consideration of restorative justice in such
circumstances, was the subject of a Star Tribune guest editorial by the
Legal
Rights Center’s Executive Director, Michael Friedman.
Read it here.
September2011
At a statewide meeting
highlighting best practices in juvenile justice, LRC Executive Director
Michael
Friedman co-presented with Julie Young-Burns of the Minneapolis Public
Schools
about our unique project partnership which helps restore to good
standing students
who have been recommended for expulsion.
The presentation followed on the heels of the University
of Minnesota
releasing its interim
evaluation report of the project, which concluded:
Overall, it
appears that student
and parent/guardian participation in the [project] is a positive
experience. In addition to the
significant increase in students reporting that they make good choices
about
how to act even when they are upset, we also noted some positive trends
in
terms of student behavioral outcomes including slight increases in
positive
feelings about school and adults at school, feeling safer at school,
and
increases in talking to family members about school and people they are
dating.
Results also showed encouraging trends in student behavioral changes
including
a significant reduction in fighting and a slight reduction in cutting
classes
or skipping school. In addition to feeling their child is safer at
school and
increases in parent/guardian reports that they know someone they could
ask if
they have concerns about a problem at their child’s school, results
indicate
positive trends in how often parents/guardians talk to their children
about
school and friends or someone they are dating, how often they talk with
their
child’s teachers, and their awareness of community supports.
The University of Minnesota has been
chosen to give a poster presentation about this successful project at
the November
2011 meeting of the American Society of Criminology.
August 2011
In
a malicious punishment of a child case in
which our client had deep remorse for the consequences of his actions,
our
attorney – with the help of the client’s own testimony – successfully
explained
to the jury why this was a crime without willful intent. The corporal
punishment used was similar to what the defendant had received as a
child, and
reflected the historical impact of slavery and its aftermath,
descending from
the fear that children behaving less than perfectly in public could
create
dangers for themselves or others. The
case well exemplifies the Legal Rights Center’s
ability to help juries understand and contextualize the unique
circumstances
experienced by every single defendant.
July 2011
Letter received from a former client
(excerpt):
“I’m writing to touch base … I’m still sorry for taking that
drink and
getting behind the wheel of a car. I’ve
completed a program at [omitted]. I’ve
been attending meetings at [omitted].
I want you to know how grateful I am for Legal Rights
Center, especially you
and [the volunteer law clerk]. I’m still
on the bracelet and sober.”
May 2011
As a community-based
organization
serving the public interest, the Legal Rights
Center
often benefits from hosting individuals who receive special funding to
perform
work on our behalf and under our supervision.
This month, two sponsored interns are beginning their
projects at the Legal
Rights Center and another is
wrapping up hers.
Eric Dietz, a summer law
clerk from Hamline
University Law School,
has
been
granted
a public interest fellowship from the Minnesota Justice Foundation to
assist
with juvenile defense cases and youth legal education.
Lauren Elizabeth R. Johnson is the recipient
of the Chuck
Green
Civic
Engagement Fellowship from Macalester College. This summer, she will help enhance public
awareness of the Legal
Rights Center’s
work, both for development and community education purposes. Humphrey Institute intern, Leah Entenmann,
will soon complete her UM-CURA
sponsored project in which she analyzes the
impact of political factions within the Somali community on accessing
eligible
legal assistance.
The Legal Rights
Center
thanks these individuals and their sponsoring organizations.
April 2011
The Juvenile Justice
Coalition of Minnesota
released the Minnesota
Diversion
Guidebook, a publication summarizing best practices for when
and
how to divert juvenile cases away from delinquency proceedings. The work group advising the guidebook’s
creation included Simone Abel, the Legal Rights
Center’s
Program Director for restorative justice services.
Much is at stake as noted by
the Juvenile
Justice Coalition of Minnesota: For many,
diversion and referral to community-based services will address
underlying
issues and result in better outcomes than sending the youth through the
formal
court system … Being diverted … can mean the difference between a
youth’s
continued engagement in offending behavior or development into
successful
adulthood.
The Legal Rights Center has
long specialized in
resolving underlying issues that led to police or juvenile justice
system
involvement, whether in defense practice or through restorative justice
methods. Our staff’s particular expertise
in
restorative family conferencing allows us to excel in two highlighted
components
of the ideal diversion process: family involvement, and cultural
relevance. Our
program currently accepts some juvenile diversion referrals from the
Hennepin
County Attorney and the Minneapolis Police Department.
If those agencies follow the recommendations
of the Minnesota Diversion Guidebook, diversion will become the
first
choice in far more circumstances.
March 2011
Every week, the LRC helps several
individuals in our community solve legal problems. Many successes would
not appear
to merit highlighting, but the impact can be huge to those who we are
helping,
and the cumulative effect of our services is substantial.
Here’s one example from this
month.
A Somali individual was denied an opportunity to pursue a
driving job at
the MTC because of a record of some non-driving related misdemeanors. An LRC attorney investigated and found that
the
convictions were supposed to have been vacated and dismissed. After securing the helpful cooperation of a
city attorney, our lawyer arranged for the record to be corrected, and
successfully explained the circumstances to the MTC, allowing the
employment
application to go forward.
February 2011
The LRC’s Family & Youth
Restorative Services Program Director, Simone Abel, teamed with staff
at the Conflict Resolution Center
to teach
peacekeeping skills to
a girls-only class at a Minneapolis
charter school. The program was invited by
a volunteer mentor at the school who is employed at Thomson Reuters, a
company
that recently became one of the LRC’s corporate supporters.
In the same week, the LRC’s Legal
Education Program Director, Andrew Gordon, joined with other members of
the
Youth Law Summit – the Children’s Law Center, the Council on Crime and
Justice
and the Legal Aid Society of Minneapolis – to educate staff at the
Epsilon
Program of special school district #287 about the short and long term
impacts
of students being prosecuted for school-based incidents.
The thank you email included this comment
from a staff member: “… in the 15 years I’ve worked at Epsilon, this
was by far
the most useful information I have ever heard. Thanks
...
I
could listen to them for another two hours.”
January 2011
LRC volunteer attorney, Diane M. Dodd,
successfully obtained
a dismissal on behalf of her client in a murder trial.
In September of 2009, charges had been
brought against a mother for killing her own baby.
The allegations depended substantially upon
the testimony of the child’s babysitter, who later fled to her country
of citizenship
when it emerged that the defense had reason to believe she was the
actual
perpetrator. The county prosecutor had
fought prior attempts to dismiss the case, creating a fundamentally
unfair delay. The prosecution finally
dismissed the charges
at the onset of a hearing on a new defense motion.
The Star Tribune report of the dismissal
referenced the
missing witness but repeated details from the original police complaint
without
including the defense’s key contention. Such
reporting
was
not
only agonizing to our defendant in this case, but was
reflective
of the media bias often perceived within the communities of color
served by the
LRC. Given the broader issue, the LRC’s
Executive Director, Michael Friedman,
sent
a
complaint
letter, published on Jan. 16, which included the
following:
Chief among our
constitutional rights is that police do not have the final
word over who has committed a criminal act and who has not.
We cannot be denied our
liberty without due process, which includes the
right to a trial before an impartial judge or jury and the right to
challenge
witnesses through cross examination.
It's a shame that the
Star Tribune's public safety reporting frequently
quotes from the police version of events as the final word on alleged
crimes.
The problem is that
reporters rely too heavily on an easily accessible
public document known as the "complaint." The complaint is a summary
of the case first presented to the court at charging and need only
summarize
the basis for why police believe a crime has been committed.
While a complaint may
assert police beliefs as facts, it's not until the
trial that facts become proven. Much can be learned between the time
the
complaint is filed and when the case is heard.
Accurately
informing
the
public
requires reporters to gather such information and
interview attorneys on all sides. For the sake of fairness, editors
should
insist that such steps are taken.
December 2010
After
a
lengthy
and careful planning and
fundraising process, the Co-Parent
Court is up and running. The Co-Parent
Court, led by Judge Bruce
Peterson, is a pilot project of the Hennepin County Family Court in
which substantial
support is offered to unmarried mothers and fathers who do not share a
household. Along with the Legal Rights
Center, project partners include the Northpoint Health & Wellness
Center, the
FATHER Project, the University of Minnesota Extension, and others. The Legal Rights Center’s role comes at the
end of a process of parents receiving educational and social service
assistance. Using restorative methods or
mediation, we help parents develop their own parenting and child
support plans
that may be presented to the court, thereby empowering their role in
making key
decisions that are subject to court jurisdiction and building a
cooperative
pathway that may benefit their child over the long-term.
The
first year of the Legal Rights Center’s participation in this project
is supported
by a grant from the Jay and Rose Phillips Foundation.
November 2010
The Legal Rights Center has initiated a
Capital Campaign,
seeking to raise $57,000 to pay for needed projects to update our
building and
technology. Projects include: a
substantial update of our elevator (and related wiring design) to
maintain code
compliance; replacement of heating and air conditioning systems; and
the
replacement of our phone system. Donations
to support our capital campaign can be sent to:
Capital
Campaign, Legal
Rights Center, 1611 Park Ave. S.
Minneapolis, MN 55404.
October 2010
The Legal
Rights Center is pleased to announce
that Terrence J. Fleming of the Lindquist and Vennum firm has joined
our Board
of Directors. Terry is a nationally
known litigator and ADR practitioner in Securities matters, and follows
a long
line of Lindquist and Vennum attorneys who have participated in our
governance
and contributed greatly to our success, including (among others):
Norman
Newhall, Charles Lloyd, and Todd Guerrero.
September 2010
The
Otto Bremer Foundation renewed support for the Legal
Rights Center’s restorative measures project in partnership with the
Minneapolis Public Schools. They join
the Minneapolis Foundation and the Minnesota Office of Justice
Programs, which
granted support earlier in the year. Our
ongoing project’s goal is to resolve the underlying basis for student
behavior
severe enough to warrant a recommendation for expulsion, and to ensure
support
and stability for such students as they continue in the school district. A meeting with our school partners to prepare
for the new school year included the report that -- over the two years
to date
of the project -- we have changed the culture of the school district. Formerly, a student with a severe behavioral
incident in his or her past tended to get shuffled from school to
school. Now, school administrators are
welcoming to
students who have received our restorative services, knowing how we
have made a
difference in the student’s motivation and ability to contribute
positively to
the school environment. An assistant
principal at a district high school wrote:
We have worked with [LRC employees] Simone and
Sylvia since Minneapolis Public Schools
began our partnership with the Legal Rights Center, and they have been
nothing
but supportive to our causes. They have
worked with our at-risk students and parents in ways that have proven
to be
respectful and supportive to all parties involved.
As
our society woes continue we will need agencies and programs like the
Legal
Rights Center to intervene with solutions that are helpful to those in
need,
especially to our students in their educational and social development.
August 2010
An
East
African
immigrant
came
to
us
for help in
clearing his driving record. Minnesota
would not license him because of a suspension in Texas, where the
client had
lived several years before. Navigating
such a circumstance does not necessarily require a lawyer, but it
requires substantial
capacity to understand the law and its underlying government structures. The Legal Rights Center is unique in our
service area for being able to offer advocacy in non-charged matters
relating
to criminal law (i.e. this is not something Legal Aid or the public
defenders
could take on, and finding a pro bono lawyer for matters arising from
criminal/traffic offenses is very difficult). Our
Community
Advocate
was
able
to
locate the right office
in Texas in
which instructions were provided for clearing a fine from an unpaid
speeding
ticket. Moreover, the Texas clerk
authorized a reduction in the fine, and a plan to spread out the
payment,
ultimately facilitating our client becoming eligible for a Minnesota
license.
July 2010
As
a
community-based
nonprofit
law firm, the
Legal Rights Center has always championed the role of the client in
contributing to his or her own defense. A
great example of that took place this month, in which
our attorney and
client helped achieve a jury acquittal for a serious charge. This post will not include case details so as
to respect the privacy of all the individuals involved.
But the signature aspect of this case was
that acquittal depended upon finding the alleged victim’s testimony not
credible. During jury selection, some
prospective jurors revealed that they had at one time been a victim of
the same
or similar crime as was charged in this case. Normally
for
lawyers,
that’s
an
automatic
reason to reject
such a
juror. However, our client believed that
such jurors would be in the best position to evaluate the alleged
victim’s
testimony. Our lawyer agreed – and while
we will never know what happened in the jury room – the results speak
for themselves.
April 2010
During 2009, we randomly
surveyed approximately 5% of our full representation criminal defense
clients,
and here are the results:
|
Statement
|
% Agreeing
|
% Strongly Agreeing
|
|
I would
recommend the LRC to others
|
98
|
86
|
|
LRC
helped me obtain a successful outcome.
|
95
|
73
|
|
|
95
|
79
|
|
|
95
|
69
|
|
|
91
|
70
|
|
|
93
|
63
|
|
|
93
|
69
|
|
|
93
|
79
|
|
|
97
|
71
|
|
The LRC
provided me with quality representation
|
95
|
82
|