Correspondence between Counsel and Lee and McLaughlin

    AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION National Headquarters 
132 West 43rd Street 

New York, N.Y. 10036 
(212) 944-9800 

Nadine Strossen 
PRESIDENT 

Ira Glasser 
Executive DIRECTOR 

James C. Calaway 
TREASURER 

  

Helen Hershkoff 
ASSOCIATE LEGAL DIRECTOR 

August 12, 1992 

Charles Lee 

United Church of Christ 
Commission for Racial Justice 
475 Riverside Drive 
Room 1948 

New York, NY 10115 

Dear Charles: 

Thank you for your letter. I was happy to meet with you 
last month about educational issues. I am eager to see the 
report that the Commission for Racial Justice ultimately 
distributes. 

I was also very pleased to hear that the Commission would 
consider submitting an amicus curiae brief in the Sheff case in 
Connecticut. You have also indicated a willingness to assist in 
organizing a campaign for other religious, civil rights, 
professional, civil and other interested organizations to be co- 
signers to such a brief. 

  

Your letter indicates that you have spoken to Martha Stone 
about an amicus strategy. Coordination is of course essential. 
I am distributing your letter to the Sheff litigation team and 
hope to discuss your amicus participation at one of our group 
meetings in the near future. 

 



  

Charles Lee 

August 12, 1992 
Page 2 

cc. 

Thank you again. On a personal note, I hope that your 
summer has been going well and that your research is progressing. 

Martha Stone 
Philip Tegeler 
Adam S. Cohen 
Ronald Ellis 
Marianne Engleman Lado 
Jenny Rivera 
Ruben Franco 
Willy Rodriguez 
Prof. John Brittain 
Wesley Horton 
Elizabeth Sheff 

Sincerely, 

{ \ 2A 
Helen Hershkoff 

 



UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST 

COMMISSION FOR RACIAL JUSTICE   
475 Riverside Drive, New York, N.Y. 10115 Rm. 1948 (212) 870-2077 Fax: (212) 870-2162 

Edwin R. Edmonds, Chairperson Benjamin F. Chavis Jr., Executive Director 

  

August 10, 1992 

Ms. Marianne Lado 

NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. 

99 Hudson St., 16th Fl 

New York, NY 1013 

Dear Marianne: 

Thank you for talking with me the other day regarding the Sheff Case and its importance 

as a cutting edge case. I look forward to the piece authored by Julius Chambers and 

yourself. I also have attached a letter recently sent by Benjamin Chavis to Mr. Chambers 

about the project the Commission is conducting on challenging new forms of racism in 

public education. 

As I indicated, the Commission is prepared to submit an Amicus Curiae brief in this case, 

as well as to assist in organizing a campaign for other religious, civil rights, professional, 

civic and other interested organizations to be co-signers to such a brief. I would appreciate 

any information which you may have that would assist us in preparing such a brief. In 

addition, I would like to meet with you and the other appropriate NAACP Legal Defense and 

Educational Fund lawyers in the near future to explore how the Commission and the Fund 

can work together in mutually complementary fashion on this issue. 

Sincerely, 

& 
Charles Lee 

Research Director 

eC Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr. 

Ms. Elizabeth Sheff 

Ms. Helen Hershkoff, ACLU 

Ms. Martha Stone, CCLU 

National Office 

700 Prospect Avenue, 7th floor 

Cleveland, OH 44115-1110 

(216) 736-2100 

 



UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST 

COMMISSION FOR RACIAL JUSTICE   
  

475 Riverside Drive, New York, N.Y. 10115 Rm. 1948 (212) 870-2077 Fax: (212) 870-2162 

Benjamin F. Chavis Jr., Executive Director 

  

Edwin R. Edmonds, Chairperson 

> 

July 31, 1992 

Mr. Julius Chambers 

General Counsel 

NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund 

99 Hudson St., 16th Fl. 

New York, NY 10013 

Dear Julius: 

The United Church of Christ Commission for Racial Justice is undertaking a project in the 

area of educational racism. We are committed to quality, integrated education and we 

believe this to be an issue which needs to be looked at in the light of recent U.S. Supreme 

Court decisions. 

We know that the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund has done extensive work in 

this area. We want to help give exposure to our constituencies a sense of that history and 

your strategies and resources on this issue. We are developing an informational packet for 

our members and would like to get copies of your resources on this issue. In addition, we 

would like to get in touch with the appropriate persons at the Fund to discuss these issues. 

I would appreciate your sending this information to Mr. Charles Lee, Director of Research. 

[ look forward to seeing you in San Francisco, California on August 12th. 

Sincerely, 

Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr. 
Executive Director 

cc: Mr. Charles Lee 

National Office 

700 Prospect Avenue, 7th floor 

Cleveland, OH 44115-1110 

(216) 736-2100 

 



   

  

  

UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST 

COMMISSION FOR RACIAL JUSTICE   
  

475 Riverside Drive, New York, N.Y. 10115 Rm. 1948 (212) 870-2077 Fax: (212) 870-2162 

Edwin R. Edmonds, Chairperson Benjamin F. Chavis Jr., Executive Director 

August 10, 1992 

Ms. Helen Hershkoff 

Associate Legal Director 
American Civil Liberties Union 

132 West 43rd Street 

New York, NY 10036 

Dear Helen: 

Thank you for meeting with me last month and sending me the materials on educational 
segregation issues. I want to inform you that the Commission for Racial Justice is prepared 
to submit an Amicus Curiae brief in the upcoming Sheff Case, as well as to assist in 
organizing a campaign for other religious, civil rights, professional, civic and other interested 
organizations to be co-signers to such a brief. I would appreciate any additional] information 
which you may have that would assist us in preparing such a brief as well as suggestions 
regarding how best to proceed. 

I have spoken recently with Ms. Martha Stone of the Connecticut Civil Liberties Union. She 
indicated that a fairly well thought out strategy for writing and positioning such briefs has 
already been developed. We therefore want to work in coordination with her and others 
more directly involved in the case. 

ro Me 
Charles Lee 

Research Director 

cc: Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr. 
Ms. Elizabeth Sheff 
Ms. Martha Stone 
Ms. Marianne Lado, NAACP LDEF 

National Office 

700 Prospect Avenue, 7th floor 
Cleveland, OH 44115-1110 

(216) 736-2100 

 



   

  

UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST 

COMMISSION FOR RACIAL JUSTICE   
  

475 Riverside Drive, New York, N.Y. 10115 Rm. 1948 (212) 870-2077 Fax: (212) 870-2162 

Edwin R. Edmonds, Chairperson Benjamin F. Chavis Jr., Executive Director 

August 10, 1992 

Ms. Martha Stone 
Connecticut Civil Liberties Union 

32 Grand St. 
Hartford, CN 06106 

Dear Ms. Stone: 

This letter is intended to follow up on our phone conversation last week regarding the 

United Church of Christ Commission for Racial Justice’s interest in submitting an Amicus 

Curiae brief in the upcoming Sheff Case, as well as assisting in organizing a campaign for 

other religious, civil rights, professional, civic and other interested organizations to be co- 

signers to such a brief. I would appreciate any additional information which you may have 

that would assist us in preparing such a brief as well as suggestions regarding how best to 

proceed. 

I realize that you have developed a fairly thought strategy for writing and positioning such 

briefs. We therefore want to work in coordination with you and others more directly 

involved in the case. I would appreciate being kept informed regarding progress on the 

case. 

I, dd! 

Charles Lee 

Research Director 

cc: Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr. 
Ms. Elizabeth Sheff 

Ms. Helen Hershkoff 

Ms. Marianne Lado, NAACP LDEF 

National Office 

700 Prospect Avenue, 7th floor 

Cleveland, OH 44115-1110 

(216) 736-2100 

 



  

     
National Office 

A A 
Suite 1600 

NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE 99 Hudson Street 

AND EDUCATIONAL FUND, INC. New York, N.Y. 10013-2897 (212) 219-1900 Fax: (212) 226-7592 

June 22, 1992 

Dr. Megan E. McLaughlin 
Executive Director/CEO 
Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies, Inc. 
One Whitehall Street 
New York, New York 10004 

Dear Megan: 

Thanks for your letter and enclosures of June 8. | am passing your enclosures on to 

staff. | had previously talked to one of our staff members about arranging lunch with you. 
We would like to do this and will contact your secretary to see if we can schedule a 
luncheon meeting after you complete your jury duty or, perhaps, we can schedule the 
conference with Deborah Taylor. Please have her call. 

Sincerely, 

     Julius L. Chambers 

irector-Counsel 

JLC/cp 

cc. anRontEllis 
; p 4 

Alan Jenkins Dv. Ie hacs as’ 
Norma Lewis ; rr 

obec Fo 5 Rg “Pp 
. ar yee tiv iE) 

: ie Gs 

Regional Offices 

] ite 301 Suite 208 

Contributions are The NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) is not part ial Y nw tw 

deductible for U.S. of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Washin th DC 20005 Los Angeles, CA 90015 

income tax purposes. (NAACP) although LDF was founded by the NAACP and shares its (202) 0 (213) 624-2405 

commitment to equal rights. LDF has had for over 30 years a separate Fax: (202) 682-1312 Fax: (213) 624-0075 

L roo ram Q e and budget. 3 

 



   
FDWA 

OFFICERS 

Rev. Dr. Thomas F. Pike 

Chair 

Pamela L. Lewis 

First Vice Chair 

Rev. John David Warren 

Second Vice Chair 

Dr. Patricia G. Morisey 
Secretary 

Robert E. Flowers 

Treasurer 

Thomas E. McCaskill 

Assistant Treasurer 

Megan E. McLaughlin, DSW 

Executive Director/CEO 

BOARD OF 

DIRECTORS 

James E. Bacon 

Linda Miller Bain 

R. Palmer Baker, Jr. 

Irene M. Barrett 

Joyce M. Black 

Samuel T. Burneson 

Josephine Bush 

Joan Hardy Clark 

Frances F. Davis 

Richard A. Debs 

James R. Dumpson 

Toni G. Fay 

Richard F. Ferguson 

Rev. Carl E. Flemister 

Bertram F. French 

H. Leland Getz 

Marshall M. Green 

Rev. Dr. Thomas P. Grissom, Jr. 

Julia Hotton 

Lowell Iberg 

J. Bruce Llewellyn 

Bruce J. McCowan 

Ralph F. Peters 

Robert L. Popper 

Richardson Pratt, Jr. 

Barbara Scott Preiskel 

Franklin E. Schaffer 

Ellsworth G. Stanton, III 

Phoebe R. Stanton 

Magdalena Torres 

THE COUNCIL 
Theodore Pearson 

Chair 

Robert Coulson 

Berkeley D. Johnson, Jr. 

Hon. Florence M. Kelley 

Leonard T. Scully 
Janet M. Strauss 

William F. Treiber 

i) 

A United Way Member Agency 

  

Fedemtic® of Protestant Welfare Asics, Inc. 
One Whitehall Street « New York, NY 10004 (212) 425-7060 ¢ FAX (212) 425-7411 

June 8, 1992 

Mr. Julius Chambers 
Director-Counsel 

NAACP Iegal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc 

99 Hudson Street 

New York, NY 10013 

Dear . . 

It good seeing you again at the Civil Rights Institute 

Luncheon. As promised, I am forwarding copies of our Black and 

Latino Males reports. You should know that these reports were 

written as part of an initiative to place the needs of this 

population on the public’s agenda. We also held a conference 

—— "Black and Iatino Males: Building An Action Plan" -- that 

was attended by approximately 400 New Yorkers, including 

service providers, legislators, administrators, youth, parents 

and educators. 

Several recommendations for priority attention were agreed 

upon by the conferees, many of whom indicated an interest in 

continuing to work on this issue. The conferees urged that: 

alternatives to special education be explored; 

a moratorium be placed on suspensions; 

youth economic enterprise zones be established; 

an affirmative action plan for New York City be 

adopted; and 

safe havens for youth be established and operated. 

0
O
0
O
0
O
 

Oo 

Since the conference, we have continued our efforts to keep 

the condition of Black and Iatino males on the public agenda, 

while strategizing on how to implement the recommendations. We 

also have been reaching out to other organizations that share 

our concerns. 

You and I talked about setting up a luncheon meeting to 

discuss how we might work on some of these issues jointly, 

especially in the areas of special education, suspensions and 

affirmative action. I will be on jury duty for the next couple 

of weeks, and will call to schedule a meeting as soon as I am 

back in the office. In the meanwhile, I think it will be 

helpful for Deborah Taylor to meet with the appropriate person 

on your staff. As you may recall, Deborah is Director of 

Special Projects and coordinates our Black and Latino males 

initiative. I will have her call your office for a name or she 

can be reached at (212)425-7060. 

 



  

Mr. Julius Chambers 

June 8, 1992 

Page 2 

I am looking forward to our getting together soon. Take 

care. 

Sincerely, 

" / Te 7 [H vil 

Megan'E. McLaughlin 

 



  

FEDERATION OF PROTESTANT WELFARE AGENCIES, INC 

Black and Latino Males Initiative 

Black and Latino Males: Building An Action Plan 

CONFERENCE REPORT 
  

The project year culminated with a one-day conference 

--"Black and Latino Males:Building An Action Plan" on Friday, 

September 27 at Borough of Manhattan Community College. We 

attracted a diverse audience of Three Hundred Thirty Seven 

conferees, representing social service agencies, policy-makers, 

youth, educators, religious institutions, foundations and the 

concerned public. 

Objectives: 
0 To heighten public awareness on the conditions of 

Black and Latino males 
0 To build consensus on and support for an action 

plan. 

Conference Recommendations 

The section called Building The Plan" was an exercise in 

consensus building to generate an action plan and engender 

broad support for implementing the plan. In this session, four 

priority recommendations were set by the conferees and more 

than sixty participants indicated their interest in working on 

the recommendations. 

The priorities were: 

0 to secure a moratorium on special education and 

suspensions; 

0 to advocate for the adoption and monitoring of an 

affirmative action plan; 

o to develop youth economic development enterprise 

zones; and 

0 to facilitate greater parental involvement in 

education, including teacher evaluation. 

The remaining recommendations from the sessions were: 

0 to enhance the operations and increase the resources 
in community based organizations; 

o to develop family-friendly workplaces; 

0 to urge the public’s acceptance of prevention health 
practices; 

0 to pass universal health care legislation and provide 
incentives for health-care careers; 

0 to advocate for more funds and programs for prevention 

services as a measure to reduce crime; and 

0 to change the policy responsefrom building prisons to 
providing adequate education, health, etc. 

In the presentation of the report "Cause for Alarm," Dr. 

walter Stafford listed several recommendations for action. 

While some were further discussed in the panels, the following 

 



  

supplement the above recommendations: establish a commission 
to look at violence towards Black and Latino males; promote 
courses on race relations; set up learning centers in our 
communities that stress education and skills needed for future 
workforce; change focus of social work curriculum; strengthen 
assistance programs for males in poverty; provide job training; 
and provide capitalization. 

Follow-Up 
Major follow-up objectives are: 

0 to keep the needs of Black and Latino males on the 
public agenda; 

o to pursue the enactment and implementation of federal, 
state and local policies that address the needs of 
young Black and Latino males; and 

o to promote programs that are directed to improving the 
socio-economic and health conditions for Black and 
Latino males. 

Objective I. Keep the needs of Black and Latino Males on the 
public agenda. : 

Dissemination/marketing plan for reports. 
— City Council, Borough Presidents, Commissioners, New 

York State Black and Puerto Rican Legislators (done) 
—— Media (short list done) 
re Voluntary Agencies 
— Foundations 

  

  

Maintain advisory committee, but expand and re-focus to an 
implementation committee. 
— Invite designee for Commissioner for Youth Services, 

Commissioner for Juvenile Justice, representatives 
from Board of Education, Latinos, foundation 
representatives, youth. Establish working 
subcommittees, chaired by advisory committee member, 
but including conference participants who indicated 
interest in implementation. 

  

  

Hold five roundtable discussions on report and plan. 
rom Local politicians 
— Business Community (Partnership or ABNY sponsorship) 
--  Churches/Religious Institutions 
— Media 

Foundations (Trust or NYRAG sponsorship) 

  

Publish newsletter. 
re Designed to keep public and conference attendees 

informed of action on plan, new legislation, programs 
and resources. 

  

Hold a follow-up conference. 
  

— A theme around "The Action Plan: One Year Later" 

 



  

Objective II: Pursue the enactment and implementation of 
  

policies that can address the needs of Black and Latino males. 

Implemented through working subcommittees. 
  

Education (suspensions, special education, empowering 

parents and communities 

Employment/Income/Economic Development (affirmative 

action, home relief, youth economic enterprise zones, 

capitalization) 

Violence/Crime (public health issue, safe havens) 

Join and support other coalitions working on related 
  

issues. 
Examples include Twenty-First Century Commission, National 

Citizen's Commission on African American Education (Rep. M. 

Owens), One Hundred Black Men, New York State Black and 

Puerto Rican Legislators, a coalition advocating for 

universal health care, etc. 

Objective III: Promote programs that address the needs of Black 

and Latino males. 

Develop and implement pilot projects. 
  

oO Secure funding to pilot one project with a cluster of 

member agencies in a high-risk community to work with 

parents to decrease the number of placements in 

special educations, reduce the amount of time before 

they are mainstreamed and prevent suspensions. We 

(FPWA & members) would serve as a bridge between the 

parents and schools. Agency would identify parents, 

we would train on how to be an advocate for your child 

and monitor outcomes. Publish manual on strategy and 

disseminate to other communities. 

Target proposal to United Way for pilot project to 

work with four agencies to conduct anti-crime 

activities, i.e. designating safe havens, improving 

relations between police and young males, conflict 

resolution, etc. Publish handbook on experiences for 

replication in other communities. 

conduct a one-day forum on unique aspects of mentoring 

Black and Latino boys, for voluntary agencies, 

churches, corporations and other individuals that 

discusses definitions, advantages and disadvantages, 

individual or group strategies. Highlight experiences 

and examples of mentors and mentees. Publish a : 

handbook for distribution.