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Wanted: Pro-Bono Lawyers
to Sue the Government
(Who said you can't sue
city hall?!)
Our government and its privatized
welfare agencies are wreaking havoc with their lawless attacks
on poor communities. Legal Services had been forbidden
to sue in areas related to "welfare Reform," so it has been nearly
impossible to control or stop the governments' illegal, cruel
attacks on mothers and children. Although we expect Legal
Services to once again aggressively pursue procedural and civil
rights lawsuits against welfare agencies for their
egregious violations of law and the constitution, we still need
pro-bono lawyers to take on cases too. No one group can
handle all of these horrendous non-stop
abuses.
Welfare is treating families much like it did before the sixties
when law suits and street protests stopped some of the most
blatant abuse. We need to attack this lawlessness in the courts,
as well as the streets and the legislators.
Examples of
possible lawsuits: (We use WI examples, although most of these problems are
nationwide)
Class
Action Lawsuit Against State TANF
Agencies
to:
* STOP them from denying poor people
the right to apply for TANF benefits
(cash,
loans and childcare). Verbal denials of applications are
rampant and illegal.
* STOP
the delays in
granting benefits. (Delays of 3-4 months are not
uncommon.)
* STOP
illegal
sanctions. Workers arbitrarily sanction, often with no valid
reason.
* STOP
them from
requiring partially disabled parents to leave children to
work
unpaid jobs.
* STOP them from denying cash
assistance to women who worked in the past and
are
thus labeled "job ready."
* STOP them from requiring single
parents caring for severely disabled children to take
a
paid or unpaid job and leave their disabled
child in dangerous situations.
* STOP them from requiring single
parents to take sick children to sick daycare
rather
than allow them to stay home with the
sick child.
* STOP
them from
refusing to hire qualified workfare slaves when they can do
the job.
* STOP
them from using
workfare slaves to replace paid workers
anywhere.
* STOP
them from removing
children from their homes for no reason other than
poverty. |
Personal Injury Lawsuits
Sue TANF agency for damages
when:
* The agency's illegal sanction or
delay or denial cause a family to be evicted and become
homeless, lose furniture, children to CPS etc.
*
The agency
refuses to exempt a disabled mom, resulting in an injury to
her or an exacerbation of her disability
* The agency refuses to
allow a mom to stay home with a disabled child, causing that
child to die or be injured. (In Milwaukee DeAndre Reeves died
from such TANF abuse.)
* The agency fails to
provide timely child care to an eligible family, causing a
child to die or be injured from inadequate child care. [5
deaths (that we know of) in Milwaukee from this lawless
abuse.]
* The agencies ongoing abuse,
sanctions, etc., cause a mom to have a nervous
breakdown |
Family Court Lawsuit
In Milwaukee, poor moms often must represent themselves in
custody and visitation cases with their child's father. We just
discovered that the moms who were not originally married to the
father ARE DENIED THE RIGHT TO HAVE ANY FRIENDS, ALLIES, RELATIVES
OR ADVOCATES IN THE COURTROOM. The sheriff and judge booted us
out, insisting that it was a "Paternity case" thus requiring a
"Closed Courtroom" for the "Best interest of the child."
Our state statute says that cases involving "Paternity
determination" must have a closed courtroom. But obviously the
statute is irrelevant since the judges and sheriffs control the
courtroom and their practice has always been to gangbang the
single moms who never married dear old dad.
This should be a simple lawsuit to force the Family Court
to comply with the intent of the State Statute. Our Legal Services
lawyer tells us we have a good legal argument but there are no
cases for a precedent. And they do not want to take this case
on.
This lawsuit might be brought on the grounds of
DISCRIMINATION BASED ON MARITAL STATUS (PAST). or??? Maybe just
failure to follow state statute.
Sex Discrimination Lawsuits
Nationwide the time limits will have a deadly effect on
women in particular. Only the custodial parent is subjected to
these lifetime limits. (Most custodial parents on welfare are
women.) A man whose children reached their time limits could
himself apply for benefits for another set of children. No time
limits would impede him, although the government has supported his
children to the maximum limit allowed.
This sounds like sex discrimination
to us. In so many welfare practices, sex discrimination underlies
the principles and policies. It is time to sue on those
grounds.
Civil Rights
Lawsuits
Sue Sheriffs
in Milwaukee County for denying protesters right to silently hold
up signs in a County-owned building.
Contact the
Welfare Warriors
if you are a
lawyer who wants to take on the challenge of a Case for
Justice.
Or contact us if you know a lawyer who might be interested in
taking on a Case for Justice.
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