Economic Justice

This summer, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick signed a landmark law reforming the state’s criminal background check system. Aimed at improving acc ess to jobs, housing and other vital services for residents with arrest records, overhauling the Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) has been a target for Massachusetts community activists for over a decade.

CHARLESTON, W. VA -

Nearly 11,000 West Virginia workers will lose their unemployment benefits before Christmas unless Congress passes legislation to extend them.

Nationally, more than 2 million Americans could lose unemployment benefits, which began to run out on Wednesday, this month.

When Carte Goodwin was appointed to temporarily fill the seat held by the late Sen. Byrd, he had the good fortune of being able to cast a vote right away that made a real difference for millions of Americans.

West Virginia's newest senator, Joe Manchin, might have a similar chance in the lame duck session of Congress. Rick Wilson explains.

Jody Mashek

Jody Mashek is Legal Services Director for AFSC's Immigrants Voice Program in Des Moines.

Fallon Forum radio program features guest host, Jon Krieg of AFSC, and guest, Jody Mashek of AFSC's immigration law program in Iowa, discussing the myths and realities of immigration law. 

The AFSC"s Rick Wilson writes:

We're used to hearing bad economic statistics about West Virginia and bad comparisons to other states, but when it comes to unemployment insurance, we're actually ahead of the pack.

By Sept. 2010, 32 states had to borrow money from the federal government to the tune of almost $40 billion when their unemployment insurance systems went bust. West Virginia is one of the few, and the only one among surrounding states, to avoid that fate so far.

The AFSC's Arnie Alpert writes in an open letter/opinion article to  U.S. Sen. Judd Gregg:

The recommendations from Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles, co-chairs of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility, released last Wednesday, include some interesting ideas. But they stray from the major factors which drove up the deficit over the past decade. As you and the other members of commission complete your work in the next two weeks, we hope you will focus on reversing tax cuts, decreasing military spending, and ending the recession.

The American Friends Service Committee and Beau Hodai (author of the groundbreaking article from In These Times on private prisons & Arizona) met on the lawn of the state house in Phoenix on Monday to hold a press conference calling for an end to for-profit prison influence peddling in Arizona.