Legal Action Center
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 | |
| Founded | 1973 |
|---|---|
| Type | Non-profit |
| Headquarters | New York |
| Services | Legal aid Class action litigation Legislative advocacy Community education |
Key people | Paul Samuels, Director and President |
Staff | 30-40[1] |
| Website | lac.org |
The Legal Action Center (LAC) is a 501(c)(3)non-profit[2] organization with offices in New York City and Washington D.C. Since its founding in 1973 by the Vera Institute of Justice,[3] LAC has used legal and policy strategies to fight discrimination, build health equity, and restore opportunities for individuals with criminal records, substance use disorders, and HIV/AIDS.[4] Along with its research, policy advocacy and impact litigation, LAC offers free technical assistance and trainings to support health and social service providers, government officials, criminal legal system stakeholders, and members of New York’s most disadvantaged communities. It also offers free legal services to approximately 1,500 New Yorkers annually, helping them protect their HIV privacy rights, obtain mental health and substance use disorder care, overcome workplace, education, and housing discrimination, and attain benefits, voting rights, and more.[5]
In 2020, LAC earned a 4-star rating from Charity Navigator, its highest rating.[6] Its annual Arthur Liman Public Interest Awards Benefit features two distinct awards recognizing individuals with a deep commitment to the public good. Honorees have included voting rights activist Desmond Meade, physician and researcher Chinazo Cunningham, documentary filmmaker Rory Kennedy, amFAR founder Mathilde Krim, and former Major League Baseball player Darryl Strawberry.[7][8][9][10][10][11]
LAC is currently led by Paul Samuels.[12] Brad S. Karp, the chair of multinational law firm Paul, Weiss, serves as the chair of the Board.
Priorities[edit]
LAC’s team [1] works in the following priority areas[13]:
Fighting Discrimination: Fair Hiring & Discrimination, Fair Housing, Education Discrimination, Substance Use Disorder (SUD) Privacy & Discrimination, HIV Privacy & Discrimination, Addiction Medication Denials
Building Health Equity: Addiction & Mental Health Parity, Affordable Health Care, Care within the Criminal Legal System, Diversion to Treatment, Harm Reduction
Restoring Opportunities: Alternatives to Incarceration & Reentry, Records Sealing & Expungement, Sentencing Reform, Voting Rights, Protecting the Safety Net
Notable Work[edit]
Over its fifty-year history, LAC has won legal and policy victories challenging the Rockefeller Drug Laws’ sentencing requirements for drug offenses,[14] prohibiting HIV discrimination [15] establishing fair employment policies for people with non-job-related arrest and conviction histories,[16] as well as individuals receiving prescribed methadone treatment,[17] reforming drug testing procedures in the New York Police Department [18] and the NYC Transit Authority,[19] and — in 2017 — bringing forward a federal class action lawsuit on behalf of 13,000 individuals against insurance giant Aetna following the largest known HIV confidentiality breach in history, which resulted in a $17 million settlement.[20]
At the policy level, LAC was a critical advocate in securing civil rights protections for people with alcohol and drug addiction in the federal Americans with Disabilities Act(ADA),[21] passing the first HIV confidentiality law in the nation in New York,[22] enacting the Second Chance Act (2007) to support the needs of people returning from incarceration [23], winning comprehensive reform of the Rockefeller Drug Laws,[24] enacting the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act [25] requiring insurance coverage of substance use and mental health care equal to coverage offered for other medical and surgical benefits.[26] LAC continues to advocate for mental health and substance use disorder parity for Medicaid and for parity enforcement in Medicare and commercial insurance.[27]
LAC frequently partners with other stakeholders and organizations to advance policy advocacy goals and empower its constituencies. Some of these coalition projects include the Black Harm Reduction Network, a network to promote dialogue on racial equity and harm reduction,[28] New York State's Community Health Access to Addiction and Mental Healthcare Project, the state’s independent ombuds program for substance use disorders and mental health care,[29] the Alternatives to Incarceration/Reentry Coalition in New York,[30] the health and criminal justice campaign No Health = No Justice, [31] the Alternatives to Incarceration/Reentry Coalition in New York, whose coalition members also include BronxConnect, CASES, the Center for Community Alternatives, the Center for Employment Opportunities, EAC Network-NYC TASC & Mental Health Programs, the Fortune Society, the Greenburger Center for Social and Criminal Justice, the Legal Action Center, the Osborne Association, and the Women’s Prison Association,[32] and the Coalition for Whole Health, made up of over 150 organizations working to improve access to mental health and substance use disorder care.[33]
In 2001, LAC also established the National Helping Individuals with arrest and conviction records Reenter through Employment (H.I.R.E.) Network, which serves as a clearinghouse for people with arrest and conviction records.[34]
LAC issued a seminal report in 2011 on the denial of access to medication- assisted treatment for opioid use disorders[35] and a report in 2020 describing how hospital emergency departments can violate federal law by denying proper care for substance use disorders. [36]
It has published a regularly updated Confidentiality & Communication handbook on the privacy protections for substance use disorder treatment records and offers free trainings and resources on federal health privacy laws, including 42 CFR Part 2 regulations that protect patient records for the treatment of substance use disorders[37]
LAC also engages attorneys from major law firms in pro bono programs.[38]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Legal Action Center | Our Team". Legal Action Center.
- ↑ "IRS 990 Returns".
- ↑ "Vera Institute" (PDF).
- ↑ "IRS 990" (PDF).
- ↑ "Pro Bono Opportunities" (PDF). www.nycbar.org.
- ↑ "Charity Navigator - Rating for Legal Action Center of the City of New York". www.charitynavigator.org.
- ↑ "Dr. Chinazo Cunningham". Twitter.
- ↑ "Legal Action Center's 2021 Arthur Liman Public Interest Awards Benefit". YouTube.
- ↑ "2016 Annual Report" (PDF). Legal Action Center.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Award-winning documentary filmmaker Rory Kennedy to speak and screen film at Fairfield University". Fairfield University.
- ↑ "Mathilde Crime Papers" (PDF). Archives & Special Collections, Columbia University Health Sciences Library.
- ↑ Paul Samuels; Gabrielle de la Guéronnière (December 23, 2019). "Candidates take note: Strong bipartisan consensus on criminal justice reform".
- ↑ 2021 LAC Impact Report
- ↑ "Carmona v. Ward, 436 F. Supp. 1153 | Casetext Search + Citator". casetext.com.
- ↑ Richardson, Lynda (November 18, 1999). "Girl Scouts Settle Bias Claim of Girl With H.I.V." The New York Times.
- ↑ "Postal Service Lifts Ban on Ex‐Addicts". The New York Times. November 26, 1974.
- ↑ "New York City Transit Authority v. Beazer, 440 US 568 - Supreme Court 1979 - Google Scholar".
- ↑ Kihss, Peter (January 27, 1981). "885 TAKE POLICE OATH AS 94 DECIDE AGAINST JOB". The New York Times.
- ↑ Wolff, Craig (June 7, 1990). "Judge Rejects Broad Testing For Drug Use". The New York Times.
- ↑ "Beckett v. Aetna, No. 2:17-cv-03864-JS (E.D. Pa. January 16, 2018). settlement agreement | The Center for HIV Law and Policy". www.hivlawandpolicy.org.
- ↑ "Legal Action Center | Impact". Legal Action Center.
- ↑ "Cuomo Signs Bill on AIDS Confidentiality". The New York Times. September 2, 1988.
- ↑ "FedCURE - Second Look, BARBER AMENDMENT, Good Time Bill, First Step Act, Second Chance Act, CORONAVIRUS, COVID-19, The Second Chance Reauthorization Act, Inmate Reentry, Hybrid Parole System, Federal Prison, Federal Inmate(s), Federal CURE, White House Office for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships Reentry Program (FBNPRP), "Using Technology To Bring About Federal Criminal Justice Reform" TM". www.fedcure.org.
- ↑ NYCLU The Rockefeller Drug Laws: A Call for a Public Health Approach to Drug Policy
- ↑ "The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) | CMS". www.cms.gov.
- ↑ "Parity". The Kennedy Forum.
- ↑ [Citeweb|url=https://parityat10.org/%7Ctitle=Parity at 10]
- ↑ "Black Harm Reduction Network: How National Nonprofits Can Support the Network" – via www.youtube.com.
- ↑ "Community Health Access to Addiction and Mental Healthcare Project (CHAMP)". www.cssny.org.
- ↑ Community Alternatives Blueprint for Criminal Justice Reform for NYC
- ↑ No Health = No Justice: Dismantling Systemic Inequity in Criminal Justice & Health
- ↑ "Blueprint for Criminal Justice Reform" (PDF).
- ↑ "Senate Finance Committee Testimony" (PDF).
- ↑ "National HIRE Network Resources, Information, and Assistance (2018)". National Institute of Corrections. October 19, 2017.
- ↑ [citeURL|https://www.lac.org/assets/files/MAT_Report_FINAL_12-1-2011.pdf%7Ctitle = MAT Report 2011]
- ↑ [citeURL|https://www.lac.org/resource/emergency-hospitals-can-violate-federal-law-by-denying-necessary-care-for-substance-use-disorders-in-emergency-departments%7Ctitle=EMERGENCY: Hospitals Can Violate Federal Law by Denying Necessary Care for Substance Use Disorders in Emergency Departments]
- ↑ [citeURL|https://www.lac.org/resource/confidentiality-communication%7Ctitle=Confidentiality & Communication 8th Edition (2021 Revision) E-book]
- ↑ "Volunteer Guide - Pro Bono Net". www.probono.net.
External links[edit]
- Legal Action Center Homepage
- Legal Action Center Resource Library
- National H.I.R.E. Network Clearinghouse
- Clean Slate New York
- Parity at 10
- Vera Institute for Justice
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