PERSPECTIVES

Social justice commentaries and perspectives from the Foundation and our grantees.

2024 Danielle Payton 2024 Danielle Payton

Justice O’Connor and Barbara McDowell: Common Themes

Barbara McDowell met Justice O’Connor initially when she began clerking for Justice White in 1987. At that time, Justice O’Connor had been a Justice for six years. They shared a somewhat common experience. Justice O’Connor would often say that when she graduated from Stanford Law School at the top of her class in 1952 (third in her class of 102), she applied to numerous law firms and never received a job offer other than for a legal secretary position.  At one job interview, she related that she was asked how well she typed.

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2023 Danielle Payton 2023 Danielle Payton

Work Permits for Recently Arrived Immigrants Can Help Ensure They Find Housing

Discover how work permits can be a crucial solution to the housing crisis faced by recently arrived immigrants. 2023 Grantee, Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, sheds light on the pivotal role of timely work permit issuance, urging the Department of Homeland Security and the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services to align their practices with the law for a more inclusive and supportive society.

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2023 Danielle Payton 2023 Danielle Payton

Crisis in Reproductive Freedom: The Dobbs Decision and Contraception Access

Over one year after Roe v. Wade's fall, women's reproductive rights are in jeopardy. Fourteen states have banned abortions, and some are targeting contraception. Justice Thomas's remarks suggest a trend of equating contraception with abortion. As politicians neglect efforts to secure contraception rights, access may dwindle. 2017 grantee and inaugural recipient of the Champion for Justice Award, Lisa Grafstein, details how vital it is to protect this fundamental healthcare right.

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2023 Danielle Payton 2023 Danielle Payton

What the Supreme Court Decision Upholding the Indian Child Welfare Act Did Not Decide

The Supreme Court decided on June 15, 2023, in Haaland v. Brackkeen that the Indian Child Welfare Act ("ICWA") passed in 1978 was constitutional and that its terms should be upheld. That statute which governs state court adoptions and foster care proceedings involving Native American children aims to keep Native American children connected to Native American families. The legal underpinnings of the decision are not discussed here. Rather, what is addressed is what the majority opinion by Justice Barrett did not decide: the equal protection challenge to the Act and its concomitant implications.

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2023 Danielle Payton 2023 Danielle Payton

The Fight Against Solitary Confinement

Four and a half feet by ten feet. Five feet by nine feet. Six feet by 10 feet. This is the size of many cells where people are held, for 22 hours or more every day, for days, weeks, years, and even decades. Every day, approximately 80,000 people in this country are held in solitary confinement while numerous challenges to solitary confinement in state and federal courts continue. 2023 grantee Uptown People’s Law Center explores the longstanding history,  continued use, and constitutionality of solitary confinement. 

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2023 Danielle Payton 2023 Danielle Payton

Ending Systemic Harm by the Child Welfare System Requires a Different Investment in Children and Families

What we all want for children and youth is safety, health, and to thrive. Yet too often those basic needs are not being met due to systemic issues in the United States around poverty, racism, and sexism, among other things. And one public system designed to intervene when children and families are in crisis – the child welfare system -- is causing more harm than help. 2023 Grantee National Center for Youth Law discusses the nuances of the child welfare system in the United States and strategies to address its failures.

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