Category Archives: Around The State

Farmworkers claim racial bias in farm hiring

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By ETHAN BRONNER
The New York Times
Published: May 6, 2013

VIDALIA, Ga. — For years, labor unions and immigrant rights activists have accused large-scale farmers, like those harvesting sweet Vidalia onions here this month, of exploiting Mexican guest workers. Working for hours on end under a punishing sun, the pickers are said to be crowded into squalid camps, driven without a break and even cheated of wages.
But as Congress weighs immigration legislation expected to expand the guest worker program, another group is increasingly crying foul — Americans, mostly black, who live near the farms and say they want the field work but cannot get it because it is going to Mexicans.  Read more…

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Rural Georgia struggles to get lawyers

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By DAN CHAPMAN
Atlanta Journal-Constitution

FORT GAINES, Ga. — Ryan Wheeler, graduating from law school in Atlanta this month, needs a job.
Clay County, a rural southwest Georgia community without a full-time, private-practice attorney, needs all the legal help it can get.
A match made in heaven?
Hardly.
Despite the job-search difficulty facing the newly minted graduates of Georgia State, Emory, the University of Georgia, Mercer and other law schools, few will end up practicing in rural Georgia, where legal representation is sorely lacking.
Read more…

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GLSP Farmworker Division Featured on Huffington Post

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Farmworker Division Lead Attorney Dawson Morton wrote an article for Huffington Post about the struggles of U.S. citizen and immigrant farmworkers. “Court filings tell a story of Americans displaced from jobs flooded with foreign workers and of foreign workers who lose their job if they demand fair pay or better working conditions,” he says.

Read more…

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GLSP Attorney Advocates for Limited English Proficiency Clients

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Bilingual Staff Attorney Jana Edmondson

Bilingual Staff Attorney Jana Edmondson of the Macon regional office spoke on a panel in Washington, D.C., at a conference called the National Consortium on Racial and Ethnic Fairness in the Courts. She and others advocated for enhancing language access in the courts. “I came back with a renewed passion for working to make sure that our LEP clients have meaningful access to our justice system,” said Edmondson, who works under GLSP’s Goizuetta Foundation grant. Read more about the conference…

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Champions of Justice Event Honors Men and Women Who Have Given Decades of Service to Low-Income Georgians

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At a gala reception March 14, 2013, at the State Bar of Georgia Building, the Champions of Justice were honored for their service in making justice accessible to low income Georgians. Look below the story for pictures of the event. (Photos by Don Morgan Photography & Video)

Honoree Elizabeth "Betsy" Neely, a co-founder of GLSP.

Champion of Justice Elizabeth “Betsy” Neely, Esq., said her help creating Georgia Legal Services Program is “one of the proudest associations of my Life. I’m so proud of what this program has done.”

Her sentiments summed up the atmosphere at the March 14, 2013, Champions of Justice event, at which men and women who have worked decades to bring access to justice to thousands of low income Georgians were honored for their service.

Neely, who was one of the co-founders of GLSP when she served on the Younger Lawyers Section Committee of the state Bar in the 1970s, helped establish the Georgia Indigents Legal Services and served as board secretary for several years. Along with honorees J. Ben Shapiro, Jr., Esq., Emory Law School Associate Dean A. James Elliott, R. William Ide, III, Esq., and Thomas E. Dennard, Jr., Esq., Neely studied the need for civil counsel for low-income Georgians before approaching the state Bar with the idea of setting up a legal aid organization to serve the small towns and rural areas of the state outside Metro Atlanta.

“When all is said and done, it’s what really makes a difference,” said Ide of his service to GLSP.  “We are lawyers, and that is what we are here to do is serve others.”

Thomas E. Dennard, Jr. Esq., co-founder of GLSP

 

The young lawyers who began GLSP had an uphill climb to make it happen, said Dennard, now an attorney in Brunswick. “We did not have a lot of support. A lot of people, even the Bar, did not support this back then. But my grandmother told me, ‘You do what you are supposed to do.’ So we kept on.

“It is so reassuring to see that 750,000 clients have been served in the 42 years GLSP has been around. What a wonderful tribute that is.”

Cora Johnson of Soperton has worked with GLSP’s indigent clients on social justice issues for 35 years. “I could have left Soperton,” she said, “but I wanted to make a difference where I live.” Now 87, Ms. Johnson is still working with GLSP and came to the event despite having broken her hip earlier in the year. “I’m out here now and can’t nobody stop me,” she said.

Honoree Cora Johnson

In opening remarks, GLSP Executive Director Phyllis Holmen said Ms. Johnson had said to her before the event, “You have to praise the bridge that brought you.”  That is the idea behind honoring the Champions, Holmen said. “These people have gone before us and built the bridge that brought us.”

Honoree Lillie Winn of Walthourville died in February before she could accept her award, but her sister and her granddaughter accepted it for her. “If she had lived,” said Twanda Walthour, Ms. Winn’s granddaughter, “she would have been here. You couldn’t have stopped her.  GLSP was HER thing. And I’m going to do like she did. I’m going to keep on.”

Photos of the Champions of Justice Honors Ceremony
Hon. Hardy Gregory, Burke Sherwood, Elizabeth Neely, William Ide, Ben Shapiro, James Elliott, Thomas Dennard, Cora Johnson, Rosie Walthour, Phyllis Holmen.

Honoree R. William Ide, III, Esq., co-founder of GLSP.

GLSP Board President Burke Sherwood, Honoree Cora Johnson, GLSP Executive Director Phyllis Holmen, Hon. Hardy Gregory.

Honoree Ben Shapiro, co-founder of GLSP, with Phyllis Holmen.

Honoree James Elliot, Associate Dean of Emory Law School and co-founder of GLSP.

Twanda Walthour, grand daughter of Honoree Lillie M. Winn, and Mrs. Winn's sister Rosie Walthour.

GLSP Board Member Wanda Collier with Board Chairman Burke Sherwood.

 

GLSP Board Member Michael Geoffroy gave closing remarks.

Hon. Hardy Gregor, former Georgia Supreme Court Justice, presented the awards. He is with Phyllis Holmen.

More pictures of the festivities!

 

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Who are the Champions and Sponsors of March 14 Event?

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“Each of the Champions of Justice earned this recognition through his or her proven record of advancing GLSP’s mission to provide access to justice and opportunities out of poverty for low-income Georgians. The foundational promise of “justice for all” depends on the availability of civil legal services to our fellow citizens who cannot afford representation on their own. In the economic conditions of the past several years, GLSP’s fulfillment of that mission has become all the more vital.” —  Robin Frazer Clark, president, The State Bar of Georgia

2011-2012 Champions of Justice
Thomas E. Dennard, Jr., Esq.
Nightingale, Liles, Dennard & Carmical
Brunswick, GA

A. James Elliott, Esq.
Associate Dean
Emory University School of Law
Atlanta, GA

Ms. Isabelle Harper
Community Activist
Waynesboro, GA

R. William Ide, III, Esq.
McKenna Long & Aldridge
Atlanta, GA

Ms. Cora Johnson
Executive Director
Treutlen County Community Sewing Center
Soperton, GA

Walter Jospin, Esq.
Paul Hastings LLP
Atlanta, GA

Elizabeth “Betsy” Neely, Esq.
GLSP Founder
Atlanta, GA

J. Ben Shapiro, Jr., Esq.
Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz PC
Atlanta, GA

Ms. Rosita M. Stanley
Vice-chair
National Legal Aid and Defender Association
Macon, GA

Ms. Lillie Winn
Former State Chairperson
Georgia Clients Council
Walthourville, GA

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Our generous sponsors
Who make this event possible

Partner Sponsors
Fulton Daily Report (In-Kind)
McKenna Long & Aldridge Foundation, Inc.

Advocate Sponsors
Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC
Bondurant Mixson & Elmore, LLP
Hunter, Maclean, Exley & Dunn, PC
King & Spalding
Paul Hastings, LLP

Patron Sponsors
Georgia Power Foundation
Jones Day

Contributor Sponsors
The Coca-Cola Company (In-Kind)
Emory University School of Law
Terrica Redfield Ganzy
Gardner, Willis, Sweat & Handelman, LLP
Patricia A. Gorham
LaMalva, Geoffroy & Oeland
H. Burke Sherwood, Sr.
The Sutton Law Group

Click HERE to learn more and purchase your tickets today for the March event!

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Celebrate Georgia’s Unsung Heroes for Justice on March 14

Aside

Please join the Georgia Legal Services Program (GLSP) in honoring its 2012-13 Champions of Justice at a reception on March 14, 2013 at the State Bar of Georgia Conference Center.

A Champion of Justice acts as an ambassador for GLSP with the Bar and/or state and federal policymakers and/or the public at large and is recognized for achievements, contributions, or other services to GLSP and continuing service to the legal profession and the cause of justice.  Purchase your tickets now!

 


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Justice for SNAP Recipients Accused of Fraud in Georgia

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Georgia has traditionally been one of the most aggressive states in the country in the investigation of intentional program violations in the Food Stamp Program, now called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). In 2005 Georgia disqualified more SNAP recipients than any other state (Food and Nutrition Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food Stamp Program State Activity Report: Federal Fiscal Year 2005, at 32 (May 2007)). In 2006 Georgia led the nation in the amount of dollars recovered due to alleged SNAP fraud (Food and Nutrition Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food Stamp Program State Activity Report: Federal Fiscal Year 2006, at 43 (Feb. 2008)). This zealous pursuit of fraud has often resulted in a “disqualification at all costs” mentality. Georgia would use questionable means to disqualify thousands of its residents from receiving benefits, while draining significant federal dollars from the local economy. Read more…

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School to prison youth summit

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Keep Youth in School Workshop

A significant number of youth drop out of high school and end up going to jail and prison each year. If a young man drops out of school, there is about a 70% chance he will end up going to jail or prison.

The Brunswick Office of Georgia Legal Services,  Georgia Appleseed and the Waycross Chapter, Rho Mu Lambda, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity will sponsor a Free Youth Summit on Saturday, November 10, 2012, from 10- 12 pm at Greater Mt. Zion Christian Life Center at 1101 State Street, Waycross, Georgia.

Rob Rhodes, Director of Projects for Georgia Appleseed, will give a presentation on the school to prison pipeline for young men.  Ira Foster, an attorney with the Macon office of Georgia Legal Services, will present a session on” Know Your Legal Rights” which will focus on school disciplinary issues. Melanie Velez, an attorney for the Southern Center for Human rights, will present a session on Juvenile Court and Detention issues. The event is open to all community members.

The purpose of the summit is to start a conversation among parents, educators and other community members in order to bring about an awareness regarding this issue and to seek solutions to this crisis

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