7 marathons, 7 continents, 7 days
| Author | Marc Davis |
| Pages | 10-11 |
“protect individua ls’ rights,” followed soon after.
In his announcement rescindi ng the letter, Sessions said
the materials were either “u nnecessary, inconsistent with
existing law or otherw ise improper.”
But Lisa Foster, who co-authored the letter w ith Vanita
Gupta, then the principal deput y assistant attorney general
for civil rights, says t he guidance was specificall y requested
at the Justice Department meet ing by the very people who
deal with fines a nd fees regularly—state and local judges,
court admi nistrators, lawmakers, prosecutor s, defense
attorneys and civ il rights advocates.
According to Foster, who was dire ctor of the DOJ Oce
for Access to Justice when the lett er was written, “We were
asked [to provide clarity], so we did. Our point was to give
them a tool that they could use w ith their own judiciaries.”
Practitioners who work on the issue say they ar e cau-
tiously optimistic that refor ms—begun as a result of the
Ferguson investigation, the Dea r Colleague letter, and a
growing number of lawsuits cha llenging the unconstitu-
tional use of fines and fees—wi ll continue, even though the
letter is no longer backed by Justice (or up on its website).
The National Center for State Cour ts, for instance, has
a variety of resou rces dedicated to the topic. Foster is
launching a new center devoted to ending t he “unjust and
harmful i mposition and enforcement of fines and fees.”
And several cities a nd states have entered into settlements
to resolve related lawsuits or have pa ssed legislation.
“Thankf ully, Je Sessions can’t rewrite the
Constitution,” says Gupta, now president and
CEO of the Leadership Conferenc e on Civil and
Human Rights. “The legal f ramework that is artic-
ulated in that lett er remains the law of the land.”
But she and many others still feel the re scis-
sions dealt a blow. The Commission on Civil
Rights called for Se ssions to reinstate the letter.
ABA President Hilar ie Bass issued a statement
asking the Justice Depar tment to reconsider.
The rescission “certain ly is not helpful to the
cause of try ing to bring an end finally to these
practices,” says Blake Strode , executive director
of ArchCity Defenders, a nonprofit civ il rights
law firm in St. Louis t hat published a 2014
white paper on the topic and continues to
litigate on the issue. “Obviously we’re not
counting on the Justice Depart ment to do that.”
Alec Kara katsanis, executive direc tor of
Civil Rights C orps, whose 2014 lawsuit against
Montgomery, Alabama, helped launch the most
recent wave of challenges, agr ees.
The letter “drew attention to an issue, it
embarrassed a lot of stat e courts, but—in order
to accomplish the radic al changes we need in
the American cr iminal system—that’s got to
come from below,” he says. “That’s not the kind
of thing the Department of Justice doe s for you.”
—Rebecca Beyer
7 MARATHONS, 7
CONTINENTS, 7 DAYS
Lawyer goes to extreme lengths for a
good cause
When attorney Bret I. Parker, executive
director of the New York City Bar Associati on,
was diagnosed w ith Parkinson’s disease 11 years
ago, he committed him self to spreading awareness
about the disease and ra ising funds to finance
research for a cure. But he doesn’t take a t raditional
approach: Parker pushes himself to the lim its of
his physical endurance r unning marathons to
achieve his fund raising goals.
“So far, in the past five year s, I’ve been able to
raise approximately $450,000,” says Parker, a
veteran m arathoner.
This February, Parker took his mar athon
fundraising eor ts to the ultimate extreme.
For the first time, he ran the World Marathon
Challenge: seven marathons on seven conti nents
in seven consecutive days.
The event attracts pa rticipants from around the
world, including others with medica l challenges,
according to Rich ard Donovan, a World Marathon
Challenge spokesperson. Parker wa s the only
Opening Statements
10 || ABA JOURNAL APRIL 2018
Advanced training in National Security Law for professors of law
and political science, government ocials, and practitioners.
Center for National Security Law
•
University of Virginia School of Law
cnsl.virginia.edu/nslinstitute
The National Security Law
INSTITUTE
June 3–15
2018
University of Virginia
School of Law
Charlottesville, VA
The Most Recognized National Security Law Program of
its Kind in the Nation
•
Over Thirty National Security Law Topics &
Over Twenty Subject Matter Experts
“All speakers and organizers worked tirelessly to ensure
that every participant had an educational and cultural
experience to remember. I will be pleased to recommend
the Institute to my colleagues and other scholars.”
— Chinese participant
For information concerning the Institute and how to apply for the 2018 program,
visit the National Security Law Institute website:
To continue reading
Request your trial