News Coverage: “This Republican mayor has an incredibly simple idea to help the homeless. And it seems to be working.”

Colby Itkowitz, This Republican mayor has an incredibly simple idea to help the homeless. And it seems to be working, Washington Post, August, 11, 2016. [Public works day jobs provide hope for Albuquerque’s homeless.]

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Op-Ed: “Unemployment in Black and White”

The Editorial Board, Unemployment in Black and White, Washington Post, August 28, 2017. [“The hard truth is that the persistence of twice-as-high joblessness for black workers has led policy makers to accept it as normal.”]

Article: Privacy, Poverty and Big Data: A Matrix of Vulnerabilities for Poor Americans

Article: Mary Madden, et al., Privacy, Poverty and Big Data: A Matrix of Vulnerabilities for Poor Americans, Washington L. Rev. (forthcoming 2017).

This Article examines the matrix of vulnerabilities that low-income people face as a result of the collection and aggregation of big data and the application of predictive analytics. On the one hand, big data systems could reverse growing economic inequality by expanding access to opportunities for low-income people. On the other hand, big data could widen economic gaps by making it possible to prey on low-income people or to exclude them from opportunities due to biases that get entrenched in algorithmic decision-making tools. New kinds of “networked privacy” harms, in which users are simultaneously held liable for their own behavior and the actions of those in their networks, may have particularly negative impacts on the poor. This Article reports on original empirical findings from a large, nationally-representative telephone survey with an oversample of low-income American adults and highlights how these patterns make particular groups of low-status internet users uniquely vulnerable to various forms of surveillance and networked privacy-related problems. In particular, a greater reliance on mobile connectivity, combined with lower usage of privacy-enhancing strategies may contribute to various privacy and security-related harms. The article then discusses three scenarios in which big data – including data gathered from social media inputs – is being aggregated to make predictions about individual behavior: employment screening, access to higher education, and predictive policing. Analysis of the legal frameworks surrounding these case studies reveals a lack of legal protections to counter digital discrimination against low-income people. In light of these legal gaps, the Article assesses leading proposals for enhancing digital privacy through the lens of class vulnerability, including comprehensive consumer privacy legislation, digital literacy, notice and choice regimes, and due process approaches. As policymakers consider reforms, the article urges greater attention to impacts on low-income persons and communities.

Article: “Hun, I Want You for Dessert”: Why Eliminating the Sub-Minimum Wage for Restaurant Servers Will Empower Women

Suzanne Specker, “Hun, I Want You for Dessert”: Why Eliminating the Sub-Minimum Wage for Restaurant Servers Will Empower Women, 19 U. Pa. J.L. & Soc. Change 335 (2017).

 

Job Opportunity: “Counsel, Economic Justice Project” – Lawyer’s Committee for Civil Rights Under Law

Job Opportunity: “Counsel, Economic Justice Project” – Lawyer’s Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.  Counsel Economic Justice Project job posting

Public Interest Job Search Guides

With the goal of helping students (and recent graduates) find public interest job search guides, below is a list of resources and guides that might be worth checking out or sharing with students.

American Bar Association: Public Interest Law Links

Provides links with initiatives and information on how to start a career in dozens of practice areas.

Harvard Law School Public Interest Links

Comprehensive list of links for job sites in the: general public interest, general nonprofits, federal government, state government, international public interest, international governmental organizations, and has separate pages for about a dozen specialty areas. Each section/topic area has dozens of links to guides and databases.

Open Legal Services

Provides affordable legal services to low and moderate income people, and provides a list of similar organizations nationwide to their own that offer legal services to individuals and other nonprofits on a sliding scale.

NALP

Professional association that advises students and schools. Includes a list of public service initiatives, as well as employment guides, conferences, and a new bulletin.

Federal Legal Employment Opportunities Guide (2012-2013)

Guide to find federal legal employment, by PSJD.

Equal Justice Works

The Equal Justice Network is an online meeting place, information source and connection mechanism for lawyers and other advocates committed to equal justice.

Careers in Public Interest Law, by the James L. Petigru Public Interest Law Society

Guide to careers in public interest law, finding clerkships and internships, and a resource guide.

Harvard Law: Public Interest Job Resources and Timeline for 3Ls

Includes career and application guides, fellowship information, and timelines for when and how to apply.

Harvard Law: Public Interest Job Resources and Timeline for 2Ls

Includes internship application guides, fellowship information, and timelines for when and how to apply.

Harvard Law: Public Interest Job Resources and Timeline for 1Ls

Includes internship application guides, fellowship information, and timelines for when and how to apply.

Harvard Law: Career & Application Guides

Links to career and application guides, by subject area. Includes guides for: fellowship and grant applications, administrative law, children’s rights, civil rights/ civil liberties, education law, environmental law, health law, immigration & refugee law, international development, intellectual property/cyber law, labor and employment, LGBT rights, national security, reproductive rights & justice, women’s rights.

Inside Miami Law: Public Interest Job Search Information

Includes links for public interest job resources, job fairs, summer opportunities, funding sources, and post-graduate fellowships. Provides an overview of public interest law and the different sectors available to students and lawyers.

Columbia Law: Social Justice Initiatives

Provides guides and links for public interest law. Includes practice-area specific guides.

Capital Defenders

A list compiled by Boalt Law School of law student internship opportunities (both summer and year-round) in offices around the country that are engaged in the defense of death row inmates or capitally charged defendants.

One World

Public interest law job search on a website similar to idealist.org.  Better for jobs abroad.

Lewis & Clark Law: Public Interest Careers

Includes guides and resources for those seeking public interest law jobs.

NALP: Finding and Funding International Public Service Opportunities

Guide for students who are interested in public service abroad or public international law.

NYU Law: Public Defender Handbook

Handbook for those who want to be public defenders.

Chicago-Kent Law: Public Interest Resources and Links

Resources and links for public interest law. Includes Chicago-specific resources.

National Lawyers Guild

Social justice organization, provides information on fellowships and lists opportunities for students.

Public Interest Law Initiative

Resources for students and lawyers, to help establish careers in the public interest. Includes events, articles, resources, guides, and links to databases.

University of Georgia Law: Government and Public Interest Law

Resources for students, including Georgia-specific organizations

Loyola Law: Public Interest Job Search Resources

Resources for students, including resume and cover letter tips, job fairs, and funding and debt relief.

Washington College of Law: Office of Public Interest

Resources for students, some of which is password-protected.

PILnet: The Global Network for Public Interest Law

Global network with offices worldwide that provides tools, resources, and guides to public interest lawyers. Useful for guides about pro bono law in Europe and Asia.

-Thanks to my research assistant who compiled this list.

News Article: Trump Budget Proposal Reflects Working-Class Resentment of the Poor

News Article: Eduardo Porter, Trump Budget Proposal Reflects Working-Class Resentment of the Poor, N.Y. Times (Mar. 7, 2017).

News Article: Democrats can’t win until they recognize how bad Obama’s financial policies were

News Article: Matt Stoller, Democrats can’t win until they recognize how bad Obama’s financial policies were, Washington Post (Jan. 12, 2017).

News Article: Eviction Companies Pay the Homeless Illegally Low Wages to Put People on the Street

News Article: Elizabeth Flock, Eviction Companies Pay the Homeless Illegally Low Wages to Put People on the Street, Washington City Paper (Feb. 23, 2017).

Series: The New Face of American Unemployment

Series: Jeanna Smialek and Patricia Laya, The New Face of American Unemployment, Bloomberg (2017).