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Duke Energy Provides $25,000 Grant For SCSJ’s 2022 Justice System Reform Work

DURHAM, N.C. (December 21, 2021) — Duke Energy has awarded Southern Coalition for Social Justice (SCSJ) with a $25,000 grant to expand the educational and advocacy work of the North Carolina-based organization’s Justice System Reform (JSR) team. Through community lawyering, communications, and organizing, the JSR Team promotes social and economic justice by ensuring police accountability,…

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Media Advisory: The Alliance for Fair Redistricting and Minority Voting Rights Releases Illustrative Redistricting Maps

UPDATE: the testimony of Executive Director Anita Earls has been attached. See below for all of the associated documents with her testimony, including SCSJ maps. Domenic Powell (704) 281 9911 domenic@southerncoalition.org https://southerncoalition.org The Alliance for Fair Redistricting and Minority Voting Rights Releases Illustrative Redistricting Maps DURHAM—Testifying today at public hearings on the districts drawn by the Senate and House Redistricting committees, Anita Earls of the Southern Coalition for Social Justice is presenting maps drawn in a series of meetings over the past two months by a coalition of non-partisan organizations that illustrate more compact, more reasonable districts that are fair for all voters of the state. “The “Voting Rights Act” districts made public last Friday by the Redistricting Committees pack far more minorities together than are required under the Voting Rights Act,” said Anita Earls, Executive Director of the Southern Coalition for Social Justice. “These districts will likely result in an overall plan that isolates minority communities for partisan advantage.” The Republicans released maps of the districts they identified as Voting Rights Act districts prior to releasing their overall plan, making it difficult to understand the maps in context. Moreover, the Voting Rights Act explicitly states that it does not require proportional representation. The alternative maps presented to the Committees today comply with the Voting Rights Act and have reasonably compact districts. There may be other options that AFRAM ultimately endorses, but these maps illustrate that it is possible to comply with the Voting Rights Act without packing black voters beyond what is necessary to elect their candidates of choice. The Voting Rights Act districts released by the Committees will likely ultimately harm the interests of black voters in this state. “We’re more sophisticated than just counting the number of black districts” said Earls. “We want electoral districts in which minority communities have a viable voice in government. We want a process that is fair to all voters.” ### The Southern Coalition for Social Justice is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization founded in August, 2007 in Durham, North Carolina by a multi-disciplinary group, predominantly people of color, who believe that families and communities engaged in social justice struggles need a team of lawyers, social scientists, community organizers and media specialists to support them in their efforts to dismantle structural racism and oppression.

Buen Pastor Vigil Unites Dreams

They say prayers are the same in every language. This was the hope behind the vigil held at Pullen Memorial Church on Thursday, June 16. Members of Raleigh’s Buen Pastor gathered together with members of the community to unite their voices and speak out against the violation of human rights. Prior to the vigil, SCSJ organized a press conference for Buen Pastor to share their stories with the media and announce the filing of a complaint with the DHS Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties over the incident. Coming home from a church conference in April 2010, 44 congregation members, including small children, were detained by Border Patrol agents. They say they were held for over six hours, until dawn, and were mocked, humiliated, and denied the right to a lawyer and interpreter. They told SCSJ that the police forced them to sign documents that they could not understand by saying that they would take custody of their children. “We were intimidated. We are frightened,” said Jeremias Villar, one of the members of Buen Pastor. Border Patrol allegedly claimed that, when they stopped the van, they thought the congregation members were illegally crossing the Mexican-American border. The group was 300 miles from the border at the time of their detention. Six church members were deported immediately. SCSJ’s Elizabeth Simpson is representing the group in immigration court. While members of the congregation shared their reflections of this horrific incident, the atmosphere was one of hope and progress. Even if you did not speak Spanish, it didn’t take an interpreter to understand the strong sense of community inside those walls, a community speaking of unity, peace and action that can fight injustice and restore dignity.

“Progressive” Carrboro Getting Criticism It Is Unaccustomed To

In 2007, Carrboro passed an ordinance forbidding day laborers from seeking work at the corner of Jones Ferry and Davie Roads outside of the hours of 5am and 11am. On Friday, SCSJ attorney Chris Brook sent a letter to the Carrboro town attorney Michael Brough and the Board of Aldermen explaining the unconstitutionality of the ordinance. The city cannot outright bar people from gathering in any one place; ordinances like these can only target "specific criminal intent." Recently, the North Carolina Court of Appeals struck down a more narrowly tailored “anti-loitering ordinance” in the city of Winston-Salem. Judith Blau, Director of the Chapel Hill & Carrboro Human Rights Center works with day laborers to expand their work opportunities. Blau has been outspoken opposing the ordinance. She is particularly bothered by the police practice of herding the men off the corner at 11am. "They would herd them from one spot to another. It's dehumanizing," Blau said. The letter and press release are available at the provided links and the "press release" section of this website: A PDF of the letter sent to the Carrboro Town Attorney is available at: http://bit.ly/maTina This release and any additional associated documents can be found at: https://southerncoalition.org/node/476

Groups Request Carrboro Rescind Unconstitutional Anti-loitering Ordinance

Contact: Chris Brook (919) 323-3380 ext. 113 chrisbrook@southerncoalition.org https://southerncoalition.org Groups Request Carrboro Rescind Unconstitutional Anti-loitering Ordinance Letter asserts that the ordinance would not survive a legal challenge CARRBORO-The Southern Coalition for Social Justice (SCSJ) has sent a letter to Carrboro Town Attorney Michael Brough as well as members of the Town Board of Aldermen alerting them to the unconstitutionality of Carrboro's anti-loitering ordinance. Joined by lawyers from the North Carolina NAACP, ACLU of North Carolina, North Carolina Justice Center, the North Carolina Immigrant Rights Project, UNC Center for Civil Rights, UNC School of Law Center on Poverty, Work & Opportunity, and professors in the UNC Immigration/Human Rights Policy Clinic and UNC Civil Legal Assistance Clinic, SCSJ staff attorney Chris Brook requests the Board of Alderman rescind the ordinance. Section 5-20(c) of the Carrboro Town Ordinance makes it a misdemeanor for any person to "stand, sit, recline, linger, or otherwise remain" on the corner of Davie and Jones Ferry Roads "between the hours of 11:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m." The ordinance targets only this specific spot, where predominantly Latino day laborers gather to find work. After having their efforts to find work frustrated by the ordinance each day, police promptly herd them off the corner with patrol cars at 11:00 a.m. "They would herd them from one spot to another. It's dehumanizing," said Dr. Judith Blau, Director of the Human Rights Center of Chapel Hill and Carrboro. Blau has asked the police to stop this practice and for the Board of Aldermen to abolish the ordinance. The letter highlights the breadth of conduct made illegal on this corner, including "socializing at a community event, attempting to hail a cab, conducting a public health survey, handing out fliers calling for an end to Guantánamo Bay preventive detentions, [and] collecting funds for victims of recent tornadoes in North Carolina." Barring this amount of constitutionally protected First Amendment speech is unconstitutional under the 2009 North Carolina Court of Appeals decision in North Carolina v. Mello. In Mello, a far narrower Winston-Salem anti-loitering ordinance was struck down. The objectionable conduct targeted, such as public urination, could be prevented by enforcement of the current criminal code, making the ordinance unnecessary. Furthermore, the ordinance is contrary to Carrboro's stated "pride in being known as a community rich in cultural and economic diversity." A PDF of the letter is attached. ### The Southern Coalition for Social Justice is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization founded in August, 2007 in Durham, North Carolina by a multi-disciplinary group, predominantly people of color, who believe that families and communities engaged in social justice struggles need a team of lawyers, social scientists, community organizers and media specialists to support them in their efforts to dismantle structural racism and oppression.