Legal Advocacy - Notable Past Cases

Employment and Housing Rights for People with Criminal Histories

Acosta v. New York City Department of Education (2011)
CSS submitted an amicus brief to the New York Court of Appeals on behalf of itself and seven other organizations providing legal and social services to people with criminal records. Ms. Acosta was denied clearance by DOE to work as an administrative assistant in a special education school because of a 1993 conviction for first-degree robbery despite abundant proof or rehabilitation and significant life changes in the intervening fourteen years. The First Department, where CSS also filed an amicus, ruled in Ms. Acosta’s favor, and the Court of Appeals upheld the Appellate Division, finding that the DOE’s decision violated Correction Law Article 23-A.  Read the decision here.

Branescu v. Scully & Scully, Inc. (2011)
CSS represented a woman terminated from her job of nearly five years after her employer discovered that she had been convicted of a misdemeanor a year before, which stemmed from events that occurred before she was employed. This case established that Correction Law Article 23-A protects people who are convicted of crimes while employed, not just before employment, significantly broadening the protections afforded to people with criminal records. Read the decision here. Through discovery, CSS found that Defendant also violated the federal and New York Fair Credit Reporting Acts when it checked her background. Shortly afterward, the case settled.

In the Matter of J.M. (2011)
In reviewing J.M.’s rap sheet, a CSS attorney discovered that official court records had erroneously listed him as being convicted of a felony, when he was only convicted of a misdemeanor. J.M. had lost countless job opportunities over the years when he would truthfully disclose his misdemeanor but a background check instead list a felony. CSS successfully advocated having the records corrected, and J.M. is currently pursing a career as a pharmacist.

In the Matter of S.B. (2012)
S.B. is a single mother of two children who was convicted of two felonies in 1998 when she was caught with a gun and drugs that she was holding for her abusive, drug-dealing then-boyfriend. S.B. has drifted in and out of the shelter system, but she was offered a NYCHA apartment only to have the offer suspended pending a hearing on her criminal record. CSS kept her in a family shelter and won her NYCHA hearing, preventing her homelessness, and also helped her obtain certificates of relief from civil disabilities for her convictions.

In the Matter of G.S. (2011)
G.S. sought a license to drive a paratransit vehicle.  He was turned down by the NYC Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) because of his criminal conviction history, which, other than a felony conviction more than three decades old, for minor charges including trespass in his own NYCHA project.  CSS filed an Article 78 proceeding on G.S.’s behalf, which was settled when the TLC agreed to give him a new hearing.  CSS represented G.S. at the hearing, which was successful: the license was granted.

In the Matter of J.S. (2010)
J.S. interviewed and was hired at a nonprofit organization serving the developmentally disabled.  His hiring was contingent on the NYS Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities (now known as OPWDD) reviewing his 13-year-old conviction history and approving his hire.  J.S. had truthfully disclosed his conviction history – which resulted from a drug addiction he had successfully overcome more than a decade earlier – to the employer, who wanted to hire him in spite of it.  OPWDD turned J.S. down, though.  CSS filed an Article 78 proceeding on his behalf against OPWDD.  The proceeding was settled by agreement that OPWDD would reconsider its denial.  It did, and reversed, approving J.S. for the job.

Rice v. Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services (2008)
CSS successfully challenged the New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services' decision to deny-without any ability to appeal-Mr. Rice his license to be a substance abuse counselor solely because of his criminal record. Mr. Rice sought to use his experience to help others avoid his mistakes, and being a substance abuse counselor provides a solid job to support his wife and two young sons.

Hampton v. Hogan (2007)
CSS challenged the transfer of a peer advocate at an organization serving mentally ill and formerly homeless clients with criminal records. Previously, Mr. Hampton had been successfully employed for seven months before a state law went into effect requiring such organizations, licensed by the New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH), to fingerprint and check the backgrounds of all job applicants. When Mr. Hampton switched to another program in the organization, he was subjected to the law, and OMH refused to approve him, even though he provided copious evidence of rehabilitation and was hired with full knowledge of his conviction. His history, in fact, made him an ideal employee-he understood exactly what his clients had gone through. This case settled in 2007, when Mr. Hampton was placed in a peer advocate position not subject to the state law.

National Voter Registration Act
CSS played a national role in supporting and implementing the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA), which establishes agency-based voter registration within welfare, food stamp, and Medicaid offices, among other agencies. In 1994, CSS convened the first national conference on NVRA implementation to ensure that full and fair compliance with the Act was achieved for poor racial and language minorities. CSS also housed the NVRA Implementation Attorney Network that created a clearinghouse on NVRA litigation throughout the country and provided supports for over 50 attorneys in numerous states; files remain available to legal defense funds in various states. Some notable NVRA cases included:

Disabled in Action v. Hammons (1996)
This lawsuit against state and city officials claimed that they violated the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) by failing to require various federal and nongovernmental offices, that assist individuals with the Medicaid application, to provide a voting registration opportunity. The case was partially successful when the Second Circuit ruled that certain public hospitals were required to provide voter registration forms when they helped individuals apply for Medicaid.

Cartagena v. Hooks (1996)
CSS joined forces with New Jersey Appleseed to bring this state court challenge under New Jersey’s Freedom of Information laws to obtain documents regarding compliance with the NVRA. The state provided the documentation. Brenda K. v. Hooks (1998): This NVRA case was filed in federal court in New Jersey to force the state to provide voter registration opportunities to persons with mental disabilities – many on fixed incomes. The state entered into a consent decree that fully complied with the NVRA.

National Congress for Puerto Rican Rights v. Sweeney (1995)
This NVRA case in federal court resulted in a quick consent decree that forced the New York State Department of Labor to provide voter registration at all Unemployment Insurance offices – reaching a minimum of 80,000 applicants per year.

League of Women Voters v. Merrill (1995)
This federal case was brought under the National Voter Registration Act in New Hampshire on behalf of groups who sought to force a full NVRA program in their state. At the state’s request, during a presidential election year, Congress passed a special law to exempt New Hampshire from compliance, effectively mooting our suit.

Disabled in Action v. Giuliani (1995)
This state court challenge upheld the right of the Commissioner of the Voter Assistance Commission to obtain annual reports from mayoral agencies on their plans to facilitate voter registration opportunities.
Other Voting Rights Cases

Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District No. 1 v. Holder (2009)
CSS submitted an amicus brief on behalf of the Congressional Black, Hispanic, and Asian Pacific American Caucuses supporting constitutionality of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act (“VRA”). In doing so, CSS helped persuade the Supreme Court to uphold the constitutionality of Section 5 of the VRA ensuring that the voting rights of African Americans were not adversely impacted.

Hayden v. Spitzer (2010)
This was a constitutional and NVRA challenge to New York Election Law § 5-106, which disenfranchises persons with felony convictions while they are incarcerated or on parole. Originally filed pro se in the Southern District of New York, the case had been consolidated with Muntaquim v. Coombe for the sole purpose of adjudicating plaintiff’s VRA claim. The Second Circuit deconsolidated the cases and dismissed Muntaquim for lack of standing and, sitting en banc, also dismissed plaintiffs’ VRA claims, leaving only their claims that § 5-106 violates the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment and the 15th Amendment. Plaintiffs voluntarily discontinued the case.

Farrakhan v. Gregoire  (2010)
This NVRA challenge to felon disfranchisement in Washington State raised identical issues later litigated and lost in Hayden v. Spitzer. In the Washington case the lower court found compelling evidence of racial discrimination in the State’s criminal justice system but nonetheless ruled against the prisoners because in its view additional evidence of a violation of Section 2 was warranted. CSS filed an amicus brief in this case arguing that in the context of felon disfranchisement the primordial relevant evidence is whether the criminal justice system produces discriminatory outcomes. While the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals found clear evidence of racial discrimination in Washington’s criminal justice system and held that Washington’s felon disenfranchisement law was subject to—and violated—Section 2 of the NVRA, after en banc review the matter was dismissed in light of the Hayden ruling and others like it.

100% Vote v. New York State Board of Elections (1990)
CSS successfully compelled the State Board of Elections to comply with the Governor’s executive order requiring it to implement a government agency-based voter registration program, affecting millions of New Yorkers seeking services from the Secretary of State, Department of Motor Vehicles, Labor, Social Services, and the Workers’ Compensation Board.

United Parent Association v. New York City Board of Elections (1989)
This case was an NVRA and constitutional challenge to Election Law § 5-406, which authorizes the purge of voters for failure to vote in a four-year period. In 1989, CSS obtained a preliminary injunction halting all purges in New York City and saving over 312,000 voter registrations based on evidence that the purge disproportionately purged African-American and Latino voters. In 1990 the state legislature amended the non-voting purge law to provide for cancellation after five to eight years of non-voting. The amendment was pre-cleared by the Justice Department despite plaintiffs’ objection. In November 1992, upon a demonstration of a continued discriminatory impact, the court granted plaintiffs’ motion to extend the preliminary injunction to cover implementation of the amended law.

Diaz v. Silver (1997)
This federal constitutional case was undertaken by CSS at the U.S. Supreme Court level to assist the Puerto Rican Legal Defense Fund. The case challenged the shape and constitutionality of the second Latino congressional district in New York City. The Supreme Court upheld the lower courts that ruled that the district had to be redrawn.

Civil Rights

Walton v. New York State Department of Corrections (2007)
Incarcerated persons  who desire  to make telephone calls to their family, friends, and lawyers are required to place collect calls.  This case challenged the exorbitant surcharge that the then-New York State Department of Correction (“DOCS”) added to collect calls received from incarcerated persons pursuant to DOCS’s monopoly contract with MCI/Verizon which impeded communication with  loved ones at home.  Although the Court of Appeals dismissed our claims, ending the case,  the  related campaign resulted in the passage of the Family Connections bill in July 2007, which reduced collect call rates by over 50%. From that point on,  prison telephone contracts in New York  no longer included a kickback to the state and were required to prioritize providing the lowest cost to the consumer.

Campaign for Fiscal Equity, et al. v. New York (2006)
In this case to compel  the state to fulfill its constitutional mandate to provide a sound basic education to New York’s children, CSS filed an amicus brief on behalf of members of the Legislature’s Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Caucus. To ensure that children would receive an “opportunity for a meaningful high school education, one which prepares [children] to function productively as civil participants,” the court ordered schools to reduce class size and increase funding for better teachers, facilities and learning tools, like computers. CSS also represented clients in an earlier version of the case, Campaign for Fiscal Equity v. Marino.

CSS v. Cuomo (1990)
In this case, CSS successfully filed a federal lawsuit against the Commissioner of Social Services. The court awarded CSS a preliminary injunction against the implementation and establishment of the Medicaid Utilization Thresholds ("MUTS"). MUTS, in effect, would have established new Medicaid procedures that would have limited payment for ambulatory services, among other claims. These changes would have  increased the cost of essential medical services for poor, disabled, and elderly people.

Housing and Public Benefits

Volunteers of America v. Almonte (2009)
CSS represented Mr. Almonte in this holdover eviction case supportive housing for people who have psychiatric disabilities. VOA operated Mr. Almonte’s building, a supportive residence for people with psychiatric disabilities, pursuant to contracts with the City.  It sought to evict Mr. Almonte—a tenant of nearly ten years—on the basis of his failure to sign his lease renewal, even though its City contracts provide that tenants may only be evicted for cause. CSS lost at trial, but prevailed at the Appellate Term, where its decision was affirmed by the Second Department.  This decision significantly increased the rights of vulnerable people in government-supported housing, providing that the existence of a city contract must be plead in an eviction petition and such tenants can only be evicted for-cause.

In the Matter of C.B. (2008)
CSS defended multiple attempts to evict from public housing and close the public assistance case of C.B., who, because of multiple disabilities, was unable to document her identity to the satisfaction of the City, despite having her rent paid by public assistance for seventeen years. Besides preserving her public housing , CSS was able to help her secure a social security card and obtain Supplemental Security Income, which enabled her to pay rent without public assistance.

Kaufman v. Carro (2002)
CSS represented tenant-intervenors from CSS’s Gates Avenue Comprehensive Community Initiative project in Bedford–Stuyvesant who sued to ensure that their interests were represented in  a lawsuit brought by a private developer that  sought to compel  the federal Department of Housing & Urban Development to sell properties where the tenant intervenors lived. After preliminary  briefing by CSS and HUD, the suit was voluntarily dismissed and our clients closed on the properties in May 2003.