MARYLAND STATE HOUSE HONORS VERDA FREEMAN WELCOME, A CIVIL RIGHTS FIGHTER

Welcome becomes the first black person to have her portrait hung in a State House chamber. Her portrait (above) replaced a 115-year-old canvas of a white former governor born when slavery was legal.

In 1962, Welcome was the first black woman in US elected to a state senate. Representing Baltimore, she fought for making interracial marriage legal, equal pay for woman, outlawing the harassment of welfare recipients, and forbidding racial discrimination in public places.

Before her political service, Welcome had been a teacher in the Baltimore public schools for 11 years. A Democrat, she was elected to the House of Delegates in 1958. She served until she retired in 1982.

Read the January 19, 2020 Washington Post article.

Read the Maryland General Services article.

Read Welcome's April 25, 1990 New York Times obituary.

Book Review

Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption

by Bryan Stevenson

Spiegel & Grau, 2015. 368 pages. $17.00 paperback.

This highly praised reprinted book recently was featured in the HBO documentary "True Justice," and is being made into a film starring Michael B. Jordan and Jamie Foxx. It is, as the Amazon blurb states: " Just Mercy is at once an unforgettable account of an idealistic, gifted young lawyer’s coming of age, a moving window into the lives of those he has defended, and an inspiring argument for compassion in the pursuit of true justice." The book also is a winner of the NAACP Image Award for Nonfiction.

Stevenson is the executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Alabama, and a professor of law at New York University Law School. He has cases for many condemned prisoners, argued five times before the US Supreme Court, and won praise for his work fighting bias against the poor and people of color. 

NEW HUD PROPOSAL WILL WEAKEN FAIR HOUSING ENFORCEMENT EVEN MORE

According to a story in the Washington Post on January 3, 2020, the Trump administration will propose a new rule as early as January 6th that would reduce the requirement of local governments to meet fair housing obligations.

Among the changes sought by HUD are "redefining what it means to promote fair housing, eliminating the assessment used to address barriers to racial integration, and encouraging cities to remove regulations that stand in the way of affordable housing, according to the proposed rule obtained by The Washington Post."

The proposed rules are intended to increase so-called “fair housing choice” by providing more housing along with safe and sanitary housing conditions that supposedly will better allow families to live where they want — instead of racially integrating neighborhoods and communities.

HUD also wants to rank communities based on housing costs and fair market rents, and then award the best performers priority status for federal housing grants. These incentives are intended to increase the availability of affordable housing.

The proposed rules will be published in the Federal Register ahead of a 60-day public comment period.

Attorney General Frosh Joins Twenty-State Coalition Opposing Federal Efforts to Put Haitian-Born Residents at Risk of Deportation

Attorneys General Argue that Termination of Temporary Protected Status

for Haiti is Illegal

Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh joined on December 30, 2019 a group of state attorneys general in challenging the Trump administration’s effort to revoke Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitian nationals.  If the administration is allowed to move forward, Haitian TPS holders in Maryland, other states, and the District of Columbia would lose their legal status, leaving them vulnerable to deportation. 

In an amicus brief filed in support of the plaintiffs in Saget v. Trump before the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, the coalition argue that the administration did not have a reasonable reason for the move, which they hold violates the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).  The brief urges the Court of Appeals to affirm the lower court’s ruling and uphold a nationwide injunction against the termination to prevent widespread harm -  deportation - in the amici states.

In the brief, the attorneys general argue that the District Court’s rejection of the administration’s decision should be upheld because: The administration did not justify its decision to revoke TPS for Haiti. Ending TPS for Haiti would harm tens of thousands of American families. Separating families creates a significant economic burden for states. State economies and critical industries would suffer if Haitian residents lose TPS. Public safety would be harmed if these residents are worried about deportation. In addition to Maryland, the brief was joined by the attorneys general of California, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington. (From a press release by the Attorney General, December 30, 2019.)

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HISTORY OF EFFORTS TO END SOURCE OF INCOME DISCRIMINATION

The December 20, 2019 American Bar Association Human Rights Magazine published "Your Money's No Good Here: Combating Source of Income Discrimination in Housing" written by Homeless Persons Representation Project (HPRP) Executive Director Antonia Fasanelli and Poverty Race and Research Action Council Executive Director Phil Tegeler, with a contribution by HPRP Board Member Jill Williams.  

As of the end of 2019, four Maryland jurisdictions - Anne Arundel County, Baltimore City, Baltimore County, and Prince George's County passed laws this year banning housing discrimination based on source of income. These are great steps forward, but the question is: Why haven't Carroll County, Harford County, and many others taken this fair and equitable step?

To read more and follow HPRP's work ending source of income discrimination go here and to support these efforts go here.

ANTI-REDLINE EXHIBIT AT THE PRATT LIBRARY As noted by the Archdiocese of Baltimore's Beyond the Boundaries project, there currently is a very interesting exhibit at the Pratt called "UNDESIGN THE REDLINE."  The Pratt describes it as "a framework for unearthing our most deep, systemic and entangled crises. This interactive exhibit, workshop series and curriculum explores the history of structural racism and classism, how these designs compounded each other from 1938 Redlining maps until today, and how WE can come together to undesign these systems with intentionality."  The exhibit is located in the central hall of the main Pratt 1t 400 Cathedral Street in Baltimore. Public tours of the exhibit are led by Pratt-trained staff and volunteers. The Library stresses that space is limited and registration required. For a private tour for your students, community organizations, or social groups (minimum 5, maximum 20) outside of these hours, please email pao@prattlibrary.org or call 410-396-5494. Beyond the Boundaries plans to set up a private, guided tour in January, 2020. For more information on the exhibit, as well as the Library's location and hours, please visit the Enoch Pratt website here. Available reservation dates through January 23, 2020 Central Library, Elizabeth K. Moser Central Hall

ADVOCATES CRITICIZE PROPOSED CRA CHANGES AS wORSENING LENDING DISCRIMINATION

The organizations hold that the proposed notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) for changes to the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) will make lending discrimination worse. In the statement by Jesse Van Tol, CEO of NCRC, he says:

“The ratio would measure the overall value of a bank’s CRA activities against the value of its deposits. This will encourage banks to seek the largest CRA financing deals, regardless of whether the deals make the most sense for local community needs. That’s why many banks as well as community-based organizations oppose the ratio being the primary determining factor on CRA exams. While the proposal looks at assessment area performance, it sets up a scenario where a bank could run up the dollar volume in 50% of its assessment areas, and still pass. The FDIC seems to have gotten a carve-out for community banks. In other words, many FDIC-regulated banks will be able to opt out of the new evaluation system and keep their CRA exams the way they are now. This  further confuses the regulatory landscape, the exact opposite outcome of what new rules were supposed to achieve.

“Discrimination in lending is still widespread and devastating for families and their communities. And yet 98% of banks pass their CRA exams. Taking steps to weaken the rules makes no sense. New rules should add clarity to the compliance process for banks, as well as reflect changes in how people interact with banks and how banks do business. But most critically, new rules should help low- and moderate-income borrowers in the communities that are most in need of CRA-based lending.”

Read the complete December 12, 2019 NCRC press release.

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