Learning Lab

Wednesday, October 29th 4:30-6:00pm

Criminalization of Homelessness and Poverty: Local, State and National Resistance

Kirsten Anderson, Deputy Legal Director, Economic Justice Practice Group, Southern Poverty Law Center

Ramina Davidson, Vice President of Field Strategy & Innovation, National Low income Houring Coalition

Tiffany Hickey, Staff Attorney, Equal Access and Housing, Disability Rights California

Joy Johnson, Board Vice President, Legal Aid Justice Center

Michael Santos, Associate Director, RESULTS 

Eric Tars, Senior Policy Director, National Homelessness Law Center

Criminalization of homelessness takes many forms; it includes enactment of laws that punish unhoused people for doing things in public that every person has to do, unfairly enforcing other laws against unhoused people, threats of involuntary commitments, and punitive practices that disrupt or displace unhoused people from public spaces. Panelists will discuss the reality of local, state and national policies and what communities, advocates, lawyers, and policy makers can do to counter the rise in efforts to criminalize homelessness and poverty.

Thursday, October 30th 8:00-9:45am

Integrated Advocacy to Advance Opportunity: Reducing the Cost to Families of Legal System Involvement 

Sincere Allah, Founder, Sankofa Academy Consulting LLC 

Marilyn Harp, Executive Director (Retired), Kansas Legal Services

Atteeyah Hollie, Deputy Director, Southern Center for Human Rights 

Elissa Johnson, Vice President Criminal Justice Campaigns, FWD.us 

This panel will explore the current narrative around justice and safety and discuss how litigators, policy experts, and community advocates are essential partners to challenge the status quo and advance opportunity and justice for marginalized communities. FWD.us will share recent original research regarding the costs on families from incarceration, and the panel will explore how these costs and collateral consequences on housing, transportation, employment and health contribute to the racial wealth gap and intergenerational poverty.

Thursday, October 30th 4:45-6:00 pm

Change at the Civil Rights Division: What it Means and What’s on the Line

R. Tamar Hagler, Former Chief & Deputy Chief, Civil Rights Division, Department of Justice 

Shaheena Simons, Senior Advisor, Strategy & Programs, Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law  

Christine Stoneman, Retired, Civil Rights Division, Department of Justice & Law and Public Policy Fellow, Northeastern University

Three former chiefs from the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division will discuss public information regarding changing priorities within the Civil Rights Division and engage with the audience on what is on the line for client communities, civil rights advocates, grant recipients, and others working for access to equal justice. 

Friday, October 31st 3:30-5:00 pm

How Defending Democracy is Integral to the Fight for Access to Equal Justice

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, Senior Fellow, American Immigration Council

Rupa Bhattacharya, Legal Director, Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection

Sam Feinah, Senior Advocacy Strategist, Vera Institute of Justice

Somil Trivedi, Director of Strategic Initiatives, Democracy Forward

This session will bring together experts defending democracy to discuss how litigation and advocacy can preserve and advance access to civil legal services and public defense for communities, families and individuals unable to afford counsel.