Tag: task force

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NCAPA Community Briefing on COVID-19

On Tuesday, March 31, 2020, the National Council of Asian Pacific Americans (NCAPA), a coalition of 34 national Asian Pacific American organizations, held a community briefing call over Zoom on the topic of increased anti-Asian rhetoric in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak. Community leaders on the call were joined by legislators serving on the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) including Representative Judy Chu (CA-27), Representative Mark Takano (CA-41), Representative Ted Lieu (CA-33), and Senator Kamala Harris of California. 

Mr. Gregg Orton, the National Director of NCAPA, began by addressing efforts undertaken by NCAPA to address the increasing prevalence of anti-Asian rhetoric. Mr. Orton addressed NCAPA’s creation of a COVID-19 Task Force which aims to aggregate community resources online for the Asian American community in addition to building an emergency response network. NCAPA is also currently developing an online health form with crowdsourced in-language community health resources. 

Legislators serving on CAPAC spoke at-length about the alarming rise of xenophobic attacks and racist sentiment directed against members of the Asian American community. All four legislators condemned the rhetoric of top administration officials such as President Donald Trump and Secretary Mike Pompeo in labeling COVID-19 as the “Chinese Virus” or the “Wuhan Virus” as the use of these terms only exacerbate concerns of discrimination. In fact, Representative Chu, the Chair of CAPAC, addressed recent high profile incidents of physical attacks directed against Asians and estimated roughly 1,000 reports of hate crimes in the last five weeks alone. 

Moreover, all four legislators pointed to the efforts that were being undertaken in Congress to stand in solidarity with the Asian American community such as Representative Grace Meng’s (NY-6) recent resolution “Condemning all forms of Anti-Asian sentiment as related to COVID-19” which has already garnered 130 co-sponsors. Senator Harris underscored the importance of cancelling ICE raids and following in Los Angeles and New York’s footsteps in setting up hotlines for reporting on hate crimes directed against Asian Americans. Representative Lieu addressed the problem of phone scams taking advantage of the elderly during this time and pointed to the FCC’s online guidelines for preventing these scams. 

Additionally, Representatives Chu and Takano spoke extensively about the recent stimulus package that was passed and certain benefits that Asian business owners could make use of. In particular, they highlighted Small Business Administration (SBA) loans for companies with less than 500 employees in addition to direct cash assistance provisions sent to qualifying families. However, Representative Lieu noted that the recently passed stimulus package will likely not be enough and that a second bill is in the works. In that bill, Representative Chu hopes to focus on translating federal COVID-19 resources into AAPI languages and assisting both undocumented and legal immigrants who were not eligible for certain benefits in the initial stimulus package. 

Finally, community leaders in the NCAPA network also addressed efforts that they have undertaken in light of COVID-19. Ms. Naomi Tacuyan Underwood, Executive Director of the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA), elaborated on how AAJA has issued guidelines to major newsrooms across the country on responsible reporting regarding the spread of COVID-19. Additionally, Ms. Chiling Tong, President of the Asian/Pacific Islander American Chamber of Commerce and Entrepreneurship addressed the financial risks faced by its 2 million members. She encouraged Asian American members and businesses to apply for the FCA economic injury fund online. 

Overall, multiple steps are being taken at the legislative, business, and grassroots level in order to combat xenophobia and support the Asian American community in this time of need. In order to see a full recording of the call, please click here. For additional ways you can help and get involved, please look below.

The National Council of Asian Pacific Americans (NCAPA), founded in 1996, is a coalition of 34 national Asian Pacific American organizations around the country. Based in Washington D.C., NCAPA serves to represent the interests of the greater Asian American (AA) and Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander (NHPI) communities and to provide a national voice for AA and NHPI issues. You can get in-touch with NCAPA by clicking here here.

For additional resources, please refer to NCAPA’s COVID-19 Response Toolkit, which includes sample social media graphics and posts, press coverage, and resources within and outside of our coalition. The resources include in-language resources for wellness and health, and various hate crime reporting tools. You can make a direct impact in your own respective circles and communities by regularly distributing and sharing NCAPA’s Toolkit.

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AABANY Hosts Screening of the Documentary “Blowin’ Up”

On Thursday, April 11, AABANY hosted a screening of “Blowin’ Up,” a feature documentary that explores the complex realities of sex work in New York City and the compassionate approach of a human trafficking court in Queens County. The film features AABANY member Honorable Toko Serita, Queens Supreme Court, as well as other heroines of the Human Trafficking Intervention Court, that work with victims of sexual exploitation who face prostitution-related charges.

After the screening, Beatrice Leong, AABANY Government Service and Public Interest Committee Co-Chair, led a panel discussion featuring speakers from the NYPD/FBI Joint Human Trafficking Task Force and a Queens Assistant District Attorney who prosecutes human traffickers. The panelists talked about how they worked together to prosecute the traffickers and how one can identify and help a suspected trafficking victim. The panel gave important insight into how gangs and traffickers target their victims, and the audience learned that many victims are new immigrants, local high school students or children in the foster care system. “Drugs can only be used once, but a person can be used over and over.”

If you suspect someone is a victim of trafficking,  you can email New York Police Department, at [email protected] or visit https://www1.nyc.gov/site/acs/youth/identify.page to report them.

We thank Beatrice Leong and Emily Arakawa for providing the photos and write-up for this blog post.

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PRESS RELEASE – TASK FORCE ON THE JUDICIARY

PRBA TASK FORCE ON THE JUDICIARY

A CALL FOR ACTION

New York, New York – The Puerto Rican Bar Association has organized a Task Force on the Judiciary to examine the lack of representation of Puerto Ricans and Latinos on the bench. The PRBA Calls For Action to ensure that there is TRUE Diversity and Inclusion in the Judiciary and the Judicial Selection Process in New York State.  

The Puerto Rican Bar Association –  Task Force on the Judiciary – will examine, inspect and evaluate the lack of Puerto Ricans and Latinos on the bench in New York State.  We are outraged that for the past two (2) years there have not been any candidates of Puerto Rican and/or Latino background that have come out of the Judicial Committees from the Manhattan, Kings, Queens and Staten Island.  Puerto Ricans and Latinos are not fairly represented in the New York Judiciary despite the large population of Puerto Rican and Latino communities in Queens, Manhattan and Brooklyn.

The PRBA will hold public hearings to address the underrepresentation of Puerto Ricans and Hispanics on the bench.  Where necessary the PRBA will have monitors to review the process and request that the appropriate government agencies including the United States Department of Justice and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission review the disparity in the Judicial Selection process to determine if violations of Constitutional rights have resulted. The PRBA has fought difficult battles to ensure that there is diversity on the bench yet it appears that the need for “Diversity and Inclusion” is not being honored.  The process needs to be examined and evaluated due to the disparate impact that has resulted.

The Puerto Rican Bar Association also joins with all of the organizations who expressed their profound outrage to the failure of the New York County Democratic Committee Independent Judicial Screening Panel to approve Judge Doris Ling-Cohan for the New York Supreme Court.  Judge Ling-Cohan, the first Asian American Female Judge in New York and a longtime PRBA member.  The Puerto Rican Bar Association was founded in 1957 and is one of the oldest minority bar associations in New York. We will continue to endeavor to ensure that Puerto Ricans, and all Latinos, are adequately represented in the legal profession so that the Puerto Rican and Latino Communities will continue to have a voice regarding New York State laws and policies.

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Don Liu Joins NY City Bar Task Force on Young Lawyers

Don Liu Joins NY City Bar Task Force on Young Lawyers

The New York City Bar’s 44th Street Blog reported on July 16 that it has formed a new Task Force on New Lawyers in a Changing Profession to address what City Bar president Carey Dunn has described as “the plight of young lawyers."  Created in response to recent ABA statistics showing that only 55% of recent law grads found full-time legal employment, the task force has convened leaders from across the legal spectrum, from academia to private practice, as well as the corporate, government and public interest sectors.

Among the Chief In-House Counsel tapped to participate in this important task force is Don Liu, General Counsel of Xerox.  Don was recently recognized as one of the New York City Bar’s Diversity and Inclusion Champions for 2012.  He is also an active and valued member of AABANY and its Advisory Committee.

For more information about the task force, follow the link in the title. AABANY congratulates Don on undertaking this new role and commends the City Bar for convening this task force to study critical issues facing the new generation of lawyers.

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NYCLA Task Force Issues Report on Impact of Budgets Cuts on SDNY

Here’s the text from NYCLA’s press release on this important issue:

CONTACT: Anita Aboulafia 212 267-6646 ext. 225 [email protected]

NYCLA Task Force Concludes Judicial Budget Cuts on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York May Heighten Security Risks 

NYCLA Task Force suggests lack of funding has negative effects on court operations.  

 New York, NY – August 26, 2011 – The New York County Lawyers’ Association (NYCLA) Task Force on Judicial Budget Cuts, focusing on the effects of budget cuts on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, released a Preliminary Report that concludes security may be at risk at the Daniel P. Moynihan Courthouse at 500 Pearl Street and overall courthouse operations will be affected as a result of anticipated personnel reductions. 

 “The NYCLA Preliminary Report documents the effect that budget cuts had on the court this current year and will have in fiscal year 2012,” said NYCLA President Stewart D. Aaron. “The Southern District of New York is the Mother Court, the oldest district court in the country.  It is important that the Congress and President Barack Obama pay particular heed to the effect of budget cuts in the Southern District, not only because of the impacts on that court, but also because they are emblematic of the issues faced by federal courts around the country.”

 The Preliminary Report, released on August 25, includes a detailed letter from Chief Judge of the Southern District of New York, Hon. Loretta A. Preska, noting that fundamental security issues identified in September 2002 have never been addressed due to budgetary considerations. According to the Report, “The courthouse is an obvious terrorist target and has an average of 2,500 visitors or more per day.”

 Highlights from the report include:

  • Lack of funding has resulted in delays in construction of a visitor’s screening pavilion outside the Moynihan Courthouse public entrance and delays in the relocation and protection of the air intakes.
  • Fiscal year 2011 saw budget cuts of 7.6%, resulting in reductions in non-personnel spending.
  • Further budget reductions are anticipated for fiscal year 2012, which may require non-judicial personnel reductions of up to 15%. 
  • In the event of a shutdown, “non-essential” personnel would be furloughed. 

“Security at the Courthouse and the safety of Court personnel, attorneys and the public are matters of paramount concern that should be addressed immediately,” said Michael McNamara, chair of the Task Force’s Federal Courts Subcommittee.

 Hon. Stephen G. Crane and Michael Miller, co-chairs of the Task Force, stated, “As this report demonstrates, the Federal Court has not been immune to budget cuts.” The Task Force plans to conduct a more in-depth investigation over the next several months, which will include sponsoring a public hearing at NYCLA in the fall, and the preparation of a more comprehensive report on the impact of the budget cuts on the administration of justice. 

About the New York County Lawyers’ Association

The New York County Lawyers’ Association (www.nycla.org) was founded in 1908 as the first major bar association in the country that admitted members without regard to race, ethnicity, religion or gender. Since its inception, it has pioneered some of the most far-reaching and tangible reforms in American jurisprudence and has continuously played an active role in legal developments and public policy.

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