The federal legal services program in New Jersey has a long record of
liberal political advocacy which includes a recent attempt to overturn
the state’s welfare reform plan. In addition, legal services lawyers have
contributed to crime in the state’s public housing by stopping the
eviction of drug dealers and opposing tenant ownership programs.
Challenges Constitutionality of Welfare Reform Plan
In 1995, Legal Services of New Jersey tried to overturn the “Family
Cap” provision, the centerpiece of the state’s comprehensive welfare reform
plan. The “Family Cap” eliminates increases in AFDC payments for additional
children born to a recipient. New Jersey implemented the cap to remove
the perverse incentives for women to have children out-of-wedlock and trap
themselves in a cycle of dependency. However, legal services argued that
since a woman’s right to reproduce is constitutionally protected then it
is incumbent upon government to subsidize her procreational needs. However,
a federal court held that a woman’s right to reproduce does not in any
way entitle her to government financial assistance. In addition, Democratic
state legislator Wayne Bryant, the sponsor of the reform legislation, called
it irresponsible to shield recipients from making the real life decisions
necessary to get them out of poverty.
See C.K. v. Shalala, 883 F.Supp. 991 (US Dist. Ct.) 1995
State Forced to Provide Housing for Employable Adults
In 1993, legal services won a major case that requires the state to
provide “emergency” housing assistance to employable adults. Under New
Jersey’s General Assistance (GA) program, able-bodied adults with no children
receive grants of $140 a month plus health benefits. In addition, the state
provides Temporary Rental Assistance (TRA) grants to those GA recipients
at risk of homelessness. To control costs, the state limited the TRA benefits
to 12 months. Although recipients could still receive the basic GA grant,
the Passaic County Legal Aid Society filed suit claiming that by terminating
housing assistance, the state was violating individual’s right to shelter.
Legal aid lawyers argued that the constitution’s guarantee of life and
happiness includes a right to shelter allowances. The state supreme court
sided with legal services, ruling that the legislature had intended that
the state guarantee shelter for every citizen of New Jersey.
See L.T. v. N.J. Dept. of Human Services, 134 N.J. 304, 1993
Keeps Drug Dealer in Public Housing
In 1993, Cape Atlantic Legal Services stopped the eviction of a known drug dealer from a Wildwood housing project. The case began in 1992 when the Wildwood Housing Authority initiated eviction proceedings against Stacey Williams after she pled guilty to conspiracy to sell marijuana. Under state law, any resident of public housing involved in the “use, possession, manufacture ... or distribution” of illegal drugs is subject to eviction. However, legal services lawyers argued that Williams was not subject to the law because conspiracy to distribute illegal drugs was not the same as distributing illegal drugs. A state court agreed and legal services stopped the eviction of a convicted drug dealer because the legislature didn’t spell out in the authorizing statutes that conspiracy and distribution are like drug crimes.
See Housing Auth. of Wildwood v. Williams, 263 N.J. Super.
561, 1993
Defends Bayonne Drug Criminal Against Eviction
Last year, Hudson County Legal Services failed in its attempt to prevent
the eviction of a man convicted of illegal drug activity. Between 1992
and 1994, Silas Taylor, a resident of the Bayonne Housing Authority, was
twice convicted of possessing illegal drug paraphernalia. After the second
conviction, the housing authority initiated eviction proceedings against
Taylor citing state law which allows the eviction of public housing residents
involved in illegal drug activity. However, legal services argued that
evicting Taylor was unconstitutional because it violated Eighth amendment
prohibitions against cruel and unusual punishment. A federal court rejected
this claim, ruling that “evicting an insidious tenant is a rational and
effective means of protecting” law-abiding tenants from crime.
See Taylor v. Cisneros, 913 F.Supp. 314, 1995
Opposes Tenant Ownership of Public Housing
In 1989, the Passaic County Legal Aid Society led a fight to stop residents
of a Paterson public housing development from buying their apartments through
an innovative plan to encourage tenant ownership. The Brooke-Sloate development
was one of 17 public housing projects nationwide and the only in New Jersey
to be converted into privately-owned units under a Reagan administration
pilot program. The privatization plan, which would serve as a model for
HUD Secretary Jack Kemp’s resident empowerment program, allowed the tenants
of the 242-unit development to buy their units and manage the complex
as a private, non-profit cooperative. Despite the popularity of the plan
with tenants who called it a “dream come true,” legal services bitterly
fought the plan from the start. In 1989, Passaic County Legal Aid filed
a federal lawsuit to stop the proposed transfer. Contending that only a
determined minority of residents favored the plan, legal aid claimed that
Brooke-Sloate should be required to maintain units for non-owners. Tenants
and their lawyers argued that allowing non-buyers to reside with the owners
would subvert the plan and create bitter friction. A federal judge threw
out legal aid’s objection and allowed the transfer to proceed.
See Jean Rimbach, “For Tenants, It’s a Dream Come True,” The
Record, June 18, 1992, pg. A01