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Restraining Order In Food Stamp Notice Lawsuit Submitted to Judge for Approval
Attorneys for the ACLU of Rhode Island and the state Department of Human Services have agreed on language to form the basis of a temporary restraining order against the Department's continued use of procedurally deficient notices that have demanded SNAP recipients reimburse the state for overpayments that they purportedly received years earlier. The notice, the ACLU alleged in the lawsuit filed last week, failed to provide sufficient information for recipients to determine its accuracy.
WASHINGTON
Attorneys for the ACLU of Rhode Island and the state Department of Human Services have agreed on language to form the basis of a temporary restraining order against the Department's continued use of procedurally deficient notices that have demanded SNAP recipients reimburse the state for overpayments that they purportedly received years earlier. The notice, the ACLU alleged in the lawsuit filed last week, failed to provide sufficient information for recipients to determine its accuracy.
Last Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Jack McConnell, Jr., agreeing with the arguments made by the ACLU on behalf of plaintiff Carmen Correa, verbally found that the notices being sent recipients likely violated federal SNAP regulations and the due process rights of the recipients. The proposed order, submitted by the parties for his consideration, includes such a finding, as well as a determination that the plaintiff and other similarly-situated SNAP recipients "will suffer irreparable harm" from the continued use of the deficient notices in the absence of a restraining order.
The proposed order temporarily bars the state from issuing any more of the demand letters based on purported agency or household errors, and further bars DHS from processing any SNAP benefit reductions for individuals who have already received the notices. The order also puts on hold any pending administrative appeals filed by recipients contesting the overpayment determinations.
DHS is also required in the next month to notify all households that received the deficient letter of the terms of the restraining order. Finally, the order indicates that a hearing on a preliminary injunction against the agency's practice will be scheduled before January 14th, when the TRO would otherwise expire.
The lawsuit was brought on behalf of Woonsocket resident Carmen Correa, who obtains SNAP benefits for herself and her thirteen-year-old niece. She recently received a notice from DHS demanding that she repay $1,925 in benefits that the agency claims were allegedly overpaid to her more than four years ago. The only explanation given was that the overpayment was due to "Agency Error." While the notice advised Correa of her right to a hearing to contest DHS's determination, the ACLU lawsuit argues that it "does not contain sufficient information to allow a reader to determine whether the overissuance is correct or whether Plaintiff has grounds to contest it."
The Department's efforts to recoup alleged overpayments were halted a few years ago as a result of the enormous problems of inaccuracy and untimeliness with benefits that occurred in 2016 when UHIP went online. Citing the "long-standing problems of the UHIP program," the suit claims there is a "very high probability that the data used to determine alleged overpayments is erroneous."
Correa was given a month to sign an overpayment agreement with the state or else face what the lawsuit calls "harmful" cuts to her SNAP benefits. If those cuts occur, the lawsuit claims that Correa "will have great difficulty feeding herself and her niece" and, unable to pay her bills, could have her utilities shut off. The suit points out that federal SNAP regulations require overpayment notices to "include the reason for the claim and an explanation of how the [amount] was calculated," information missing from the notice to Correa.
Additional information about the suit can be found here.
The American Civil Liberties Union was founded in 1920 and is our nation's guardian of liberty. The ACLU works in the courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to all people in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States.
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Progressives Fume After Colorado's Democratic Governor Vetoes Historic Affordable Housing Bill
"The governor has sided with the interests of private equity, hedge funds, and their powerful corporate lobbyists over and against the affordability concerns of people in our state," said the lead sponsors of the legislation.
Jun 07, 2023
Progressive lawmakers expressed anger Tuesday after Democratic Colorado Gov. Jared Polis vetoed a landmark affordable housing bill following a lobbying push by corporate interests who opposed it.
House Bill 23-1190 would have given local governments a right of first refusal to buy certain multifamily properties and convert them to publicly owned housing units. Both Democratic-led chambers of the Colorado Legislature passed the proposal, but Polis rejected the effort to expand the supply of affordable shelter in a state hard-hit by the nationwide housing crisis.
In a letter explaining his veto, Polis—an entrepreneur-turned-public official worth an estimated $400 million—wrote that he supports "local governments' ability to buy these properties on the open market and preserve low-cost housing opportunities," but he is "not supportive of a required right of refusal that adds costs and time to transactions."
Left unsaid by Polis was that his veto was sought by a coalition of powerful business groups, including Colorado Concern, the Colorado Real Estate Alliance, the Colorado Bankers Association, and the Land Title Association of Colorado. Those organizations asked the governor to kill the legislation, and he did, aligning himself with moneyed interests over affordable housing advocates and members of his party.
All four of the bill's lead sponsors—Sens. Faith Winter (D-25) and Sonya Jaquez Lewis (D-17) and Reps. Andrew Boesenecker (D-53) and Emily Sirota (D-9)—condemned Polis in a joint statement released Tuesday night.
"It should be alarming to all of us that the governor has failed to usher these proven affordability measures across the finish line."
"The governor has sided with the interests of private equity, hedge funds, and their powerful corporate lobbyists over and against the affordability concerns of people in our state," the sponsors said. "It should be alarming to all of us that the governor has failed to usher these proven affordability measures across the finish line."
The lawmakers described Polis' stated commitment to affordable housing as "rhetorical" and said they felt blindsided after being told on "numerous occasions" that the governor had no intention of vetoing their bill, which would have made Colorado the first state in the country with a right-of-first-refusal requirement for multifamily housing.
"It is alarming that the governor has vetoed H.B. 23-1190, given the fact that the governor's office was engaged in helping us count votes on the policy as late as the last week of session," said the lawmakers.
Taking aim at the groups that urged Polis to nix the bill, they added that "the only currency you have in the state Capitol is your word—and with today's actions and the behind-the-scenes campaign leading up to the veto, several organizations have demonstrated that they are indeed bankrupt."
On Wednesday morning, journalist David Sirota—Emily Sirota's husband and founder of investigative outlet The Lever—blasted Polis for "bowing to the demands of a right-wing oil billionaire's editorial page and delivering an enormous victory to the most powerful corporate lobby firm in Colorado."
\u201c\ud83d\udea8 Update: Democratic Gov. @JaredPolis just vetoed the Democrats\u2019 affordable housing bill, bowing to the demands of a right-wing oil billionaire\u2019s editorial page & delivering an enormous victory to the most powerful corporate lobby firm in Colorado. #copolitics\u201d— David Sirota (@David Sirota) 1686149289
H.B. 23-1190, drafted after a similar right-of-first-refusal initiative for mobile home parks was enacted last year, would have given municipalities and counties a leg up in purchasing multifamily residential or mixed-use buildings constructed more than 30 years ago with at least five units in rural areas and at least 15 units in urban and suburban areas.
As The Colorado Sunreported: "Local governments would have had seven days to indicate that they were interested in buying an eligible property before it was listed on the open market, and then 30 days to make an offer and 60 days to close. The local governments would have had to pay market value for the properties and use them to increase their community's affordable housing stock."
"You will see a right-of-first-refusal bill next year."
The newspaper noted that Polis' veto of the legislation "represents another big failure at the Colorado Capitol this year for affordable housing advocates. Democrats declared the state's 2023 lawmaking term the year of affordable housing, but many of their priority measures failed, including a rewrite of Colorado's land-use policies and an eviction protections bill."
Last year, a Polis veto threat forced Colorado Democrats to remove a provision that would have capped annual rent hikes for mobile home lots from H.B. 22-1287. The bill was signed into law by the governor, but without the proposed rent stabilization rule, mobile home park residents remain at the mercy of landlords.
Looking ahead to the legislative session that begins in January, Boesenecker said, "You will see a right-of-first-refusal bill next year."
As Colorado Public Radioreported, the lawmaker "called for a more cohesive approach next year, saying that a lack of unified support for this year's measures 'allowed the opposition to really circle around them and tear them down.'"
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Climate Orgs Launch Week of Action to End the Era of Fossil Fuels
"Young people are angry and fed up with watching President Biden cave to the fossil fuel industry time and time again," one activist said.
Jun 07, 2023
In the wake of Biden administration decisions like approving ConocoPhillips' Willow project and agreeing to fast-track the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP), climate organizations and frontline communities across the country are launching a week of action from June 8 to 11 to demand President Joe Biden honor his promise to be the climate president and end the era of fossil fuels for good.
The action week will include a Thursday rally and sit-in at the White House along with demonstrations at 65 other locations across the nation backed by 64 different Indigenous, climate, labor, and environmental justice groups.
"Young people are angry and fed up with watching President Biden cave to the fossil fuel industry time and time again," Zero Hour organizing director Magnolia Mead said in a statement. "We need an immediate transition to renewable energy to slow the climate crisis, and that's impossible while our president is still approving massive fossil fuel expansion. If President Biden cares at all for future generations and frontline communities, he must choose to end the era of fossil fuels."
Our public officials clearly lack the political will or backbone to protect our people and the planet. So we must take action."
The action week—whose organizers include Zero Hour, Sunrise, 350.org, the Indigenous Environmental Network, Fridays for Future, and the People vs. Fossil Fuels coalition—grew out of disappointment with Biden's Willow approval along with the desire to channel young people's online opposition to that project into direct action.
The sense of urgency only mounted when the debt-ceiling agreement, signed into law by Biden Saturday, included approving the MVP and weakening the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which gives frontline communities a say in infrastructure projects.
The protest outside the White House, which begins at 2:00 pm ET, will specifically demand that Biden cancel the 300-mile fracked gas MVP through Virginia and West Virginia.
"We are still not deterred in our fight against the MVP and other such harmful projects," Maury Johnson, a landowner in the MVP's path and a member of Preserve Monroe and the POWHR (Protect Our Water, Heritage, & Rights) Coalition—who is helping to arrange transport for the rally—told Common Dreams. "Hope to see hundreds if not thousands join us in front of the White House on Thursday, June 8."
The new direct action group Climate Defiance has promised to risk arrest at the protest and called on everyone of conscience to join them.
\u201cThe President stabbed us in the back. He sold us out to fossil fuel CEOs. He forced upon us the Mountain Valley Pipeline, which is a death sentence for our generation.\u201d— Climate Defiance (@Climate Defiance) 1686004033
"Now is the time for climate action," Jay Waxse of Climate Defiance told Common Dreams. "Joe Biden and Joe Manchin think it's time for massive fossil fuel expansion, while our forests burn and skies fill with smoke. Our public officials clearly lack the political will or backbone to protect our people and the planet. So we must take action."
Waxse added that the group had chosen nonviolent direct action "to express to our branches of government that we won't be satisfied until we put an end to the expansion of new fossil fuels. And that means stopping the MVP now!"
As Washington D.C., along with most of the eastern U.S., chokes on unhealthy air from Canadian wildfires, Jamie Henn of Fossil Free Media said the White House protest would go ahead, though the organizers were taking health precautions including distributing N95 masks.
"This is 'exactly' why we have to take these sorts of actions," Henn tweeted.
\u201cThat said: we are absolutely going to take precautions to keep people healthy and safe, with KN95 masks and other precautions available for folks. \n\nThe fires are a real reminder of how climate, health, and disabilities all intersect, especially for the most vulnerable.\u201d— Jamie Henn (@Jamie Henn) 1686161011
For those who can't travel to D.C., organizers have provided a nationwide action map for the week as well as a toolkit explaining how to register an action.
Overall, the week has four main demands for Biden:
- End new fossil fuel projects, including Willow and the Alaska LNG project.
- Phase out ongoing oil and gas drilling on public lands.
- Declare a climate emergency.
- Make renewable energy technology more available for homes and transportation.
Local actions will also target specific fossil fuel projects, such as the Canadian-owned aging Line 5 pipeline that Indigenous advocates worry will spill oil into the Great Lakes.
"As a Bad River Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe member, I am calling on the Biden administration to shut down Line 5 immediately," Bad River Ojibwe activist Aurora Conley of the Anishinaabe Environmental Protection Alliance said in a statement.
"Our territories and water are in imminent danger, and we do not want to see irreversible damage to our land, water, and wild rice. We do not want our lifeways destroyed," Conley added.
In Seattle, meanwhile, protesters with XR Seattle, 350 Seattle, and other groups are meeting outside the Henry M. Jackson Federal Building at 12:00 pm PT Thursday with both national and local demands. In addition to calling on Biden to halt the MVP and restore NEPA, they also want Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.) to publicaly oppose the expansion of the GTN pipeline, a plan from TC Energy to pump an additional 150 million cubic feet of methane per day through the 1,354 mile long pipeline that runs through British Columbia, Idaho, Washington, and Oregon. The additional methane would add 3.47 million metric tons of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere each year.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is set to decide on the expansion June 15, 350 Seattle communications director Ben Jones told Common Dreams.
The action, he said, was motivated by "the combination of looming expansion of natural gas" along the West Coast "and approval of a deeply unpopular and strongly resisted pipeline out East."
Jones was also concerned about the gutting of NEPA, which has helped communities in the Pacific Northwest to fight off more than 20 proposals for oil and gas expansion in the region in the last 15 years.
"With gutting NEPA, that's some of the main avenues that community groups have for public comment or for advocacy," Jones said.
Nationwide, organizers hope that the coming week of action will be the first in a summer-long escalation leading up to U.N. Secretary General António Guterres' hosting of a global Climate Ambition Summit in New York City in September.
"Starting this June and leading up to September, we will be taking action with national and international partners to make it clear that siding with Big Oil is a political liability for Biden—and we, the people who got him elected, demand better," the coalition said in their toolkit.
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Amid Scandal, Clarence Thomas Gets Extension on Financial Disclosures
"This is bullsh*t," said one critic. "This means that he’ll be sitting there forever, putting off filing his supposed disclosures, which will probably be more BS anyway."
Jun 07, 2023
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas—who is under fire for lavish gifts he and his relatives received from billionaire Republican mega-donor Harlan Crow—has been granted a 90-day extension to file his 2022 financial disclosure report, multiple media outlets reported Wednesday.
Thomas, who according toBloomberg "typically files his financial disclosures by the May 15 deadline," requested an extension—as did Justice Samuel Alito—giving them more time to report their income, investments, gifts, and spousal salaries.
\u201cThis is bullshit, this means that he\u2019ll be sitting there forever, putting off filing his supposed disclosures, which will probably be more BS anyway. You can\u2019t expect much out of a country with a corrupt high court. https://t.co/9CCLvBLiPg\u201d— RC deWinter (@RC deWinter) 1686158901
As CNNreports:
The move means that any official information about Thomas' relationship with... Crow may not be released until after the end of the current Supreme Court term, and major rulings come down on election law, religious liberty, affirmative action, and student loans, among other issues.
The Supreme Court has been under a microscope this year as critics argue the justices are not doing enough to ensure transparency when it comes to ethics guidelines, and the late filings by Thomas and Alito could further fuel claims by watchdog groups and others that the justices are not taking seriously their concerns.
Public scrutiny and criticism of Thomas mounted in April after a bombshell ProPublicareport revealed that the right-wing justice "has repeatedly accepted and failed to disclose gifts and travel" from Crow, including private jet travel, luxury vacations, and private school tuition for a relative.
\u201cTo be fair, Clarence Thomas may not actually know how to fill one of these out properly.\n\nIs he a dependent of Harlan Crow? Is the dark money his wife gets considered a contribution or income? Are vacations with plaintiffs business trips? \n\nSo confusing.\nhttps://t.co/thxrgh0tUQ\u201d— Melanie D'Arrigo (@Melanie D'Arrigo) 1686161457
While Thomas has dismissed criticism by saying he benefited only from "personal hospitality from close personal friends" and that Crow "did not have business before the court," multiple investigations have disproven that assertion.
On Tuesday, The Leverprovided one example:
Late last month, in a 5-4 ruling on the Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency case, the Supreme Court dramatically narrowed the scope of the 1972 Clean Water Act in an act of judicial activism so brazen, even the Donald Trump-appointed [Supreme Court Justice] Brett Kavanaugh accused the court of "rewriting" the law and failing to "stick to the text."
Thomas joined right-wing Justices Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Amy Coney Barrett, and Chief Justice John Roberts in the court's majority opinion.
On Tuesday, U.S. Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said that "nothing is off the table"—including a subpoena—after Michael Bopp, a lawyer representing Crow, continued to duck questions about his largesse toward Thomas and his family.
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