Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action - www.jewishalliance.org. 
18 Tremont Street, Suite 320, Boston, 02108 - tel: 617-227-3000 fax: 617-227-3453

  21 Sivan 5765       Important Meetings    Week of  June 26, 2005

Congratulations to all JALSA members who worked on the Lynn v. Comfort Case before the US Court of Appeals. We are delighted that the US Court of Appeals affirmed the decision of the Federal District Court (Judge Gertner) that upheld the City of Lynn voluntary integration plan. See full story below.

Congratulations to JALSA leader Sumner Z. Kaplan. The Town of Brookline has named a park in his honor.

Important meetings this week:
Hearing on Genetic Privacy H. 3949
10:00 a.m. Hearing on Genetic Privacy
State House, Room A-1 10:00 a.m.
Sunset provisions in the original legislation need to be eliminated.
H 3949 which was initiated by the JCRC would attempt to remove those sunset provisions

Our members will remember that JALSA members were central participants in the
successful efforts to enact genetic privacy protection in Massachusetts several
years ago. The final legislation provided significant protections in the areas of
employment and health insurance, and some protections in the area of life and
accident insurance. If the sunset provisions are not eliminated, the protections
of the statute would be further weakened.

ACTION Requested: Come to the Hearing and indicate your support of genetic privacy protection. Write your legislators in the House and Senate and urge that the sunset provisions
be eliminated. S258 and H 3949.
Further Action: Let the JALSA office know if you wish to work on this issue
providing efforts in the legislature to improve the level of genetic privacy protection.
office@jalsa.org. 617-227-3000, ext. 11.

Meeting with Newton Housing Partnership on proposed affordable housing
B'nai Brith Housing of New England, which operates the Covenant House in Brighton, has proposed a development for Newton which would provide 132 one and two bedroom for-sale units including 33 units of affordable housing at a site adjacent to the Lake Street stop on the Green Line MBTA and across from Boston College.

On Wednesday, June 29 at 7:45 a.m. at Newton City Hall,  BBHousing will continue their presentation to the Newton Housing Partnership. As of May 2005, Newton’s subsidized housing inventory was at approximately 7.1% of its total inventory; and the City has been working to secure an additional 924 qualified units to reach the State-mandated goal of 10%. JALSA believes that additional affordable housing is a high priority and hopes that our members will support this project. We urge members to attend the meeting at Newton City Hall to indicate our support. Newton’s cost of housing is among the most expensive in the state.
This has forced many of Newton’s own – its workforce and other longtime residents to live elsewhere. Additional affordable units are essential if Newton is to be an economically diverse community.

JALSA Meetings this week

JALSA Executive Committee
Tuesday, June 28 12:00
JALSA Office, 18 Tremont Street, Suite 320, Boston

Alliance for High Standards NOT High Stakes
Thursday, June 30 10:00 a.m.
JALSA Office, 18 Tremont Street, 3rd floor, Boston
Review Draft of “Whole Child” Report

CLSA Evaluation and Review - Stage 2
Thursday evening, June 30
6:30 pm supper 7:00 meeting
1443 Beacon Street, Brookline
Facilitator: Van Lanckton
RSVP office@jalsa.org.  so that sufficient suppers are provided
Minutes of the first stage of the evaluation are available, 617-227-3000.

No CLSA on Friday this week because of the July 4th Weekend.

Volunteers Needed:
Persons interested in representing JALSA on MA Coalition to Save Darfur

Persons to work with JALSA on legislation dealing with Genetic Privacy
Working to educate members of the legislature on the areas of genetic privacy
protection that need strengthening in current Massachusetts law.

Special Note on Lynn v. Comfort from Sheila Decter

Congratulations to Richard Cole of the Office of the Attorney General who shepherded this voluntary desegregation/integration case, beginning many years ago following a meeting with our JALSA and MCEE (Mass. Coalition for Equitable Education) members who were concerned about efforts to end integration programs in Massachusetts schools. The City of Lynn stood up to a challenge from Boston Children's First, the same group that attacked the racial fairness guidelines in the Boston public schools. The Boston School Committee had capitulated to a similar lawsuit by dropping the racial guidelines that assured that all students had an equal opportunity to attend the schools considered by parents to be most desirable, irrespective of geographic housing segregation of racial groups. The City of Lynn, which had put in place earlier a broad program to ensure integration of the schools, including the use of race as one component during voluntary reassignments, stood firm and defended their program in the lawsuit. That program was upheld initially in the federal district court, Judge Nancy Gertner presiding, and was upheld this past week in the US Court of Appeals. Judge Gertner's written opinion was particularly compelling, and courageous, in its upholding of a voluntary program to maintain integrated classrooms in the K through 12th grade context, an area not previously resolved in judicial cases.

"The suit illustrates," says MCEE chair and JALSA Board member Mary Ann Hardenbergh, "the need for the reauthorization of public monies under Chapter 636 to ensure that districts can offer magnet schools, professional development for educators, and other programs to ensure the ability of students to attend school together and to learn to know and work with diverse student populations."

JALSA had submitted two briefs before the initial 3 judge panel at the US Court of Appeals, one on behalf of education groups (including Citizens for Public Schools and Massachusetts Coalition for Educational Equity) prepared by Hobart F. Popick and David B. Broughel of Day, Berry, and Taft, and one on behalf of interfaith and civil rights groups prepared by our JALSA member Ed Barshak. When the case went to the full bench, our members Allan Roth and Joel Eigerman prepared our JALSA brief on behalf of a broad group of earlier amici: religious groups, educational coalitions, and some civil rights groups, including west coast colleagues at the Progressive Jewish Alliance. Additional help on our brief had been provided by all our education consultants, especially members Sumner Z. Kaplan, Mary Ann Hardenbergh, Peggy Wiesenberg, CPS staff Marilyn Segal and Paul Dunphy, with important education statistics provided by Anne Wheelock and Steve Backman. We thank all of you.

And special thanks and congratulations to the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights -- led by our JALSA Advisory Board member Nadine Cohen, who co-ordinated all the amicus briefs and Julie Patino -- who prepared a very important amicus brief on behalf of civil rights groups.

Sheila Decter, JALSA

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