- Her Justice

Latest Policy Actions and Developments

Immigration:

Her Justice prepared a memorandum in support of the N.Y. Access to Representation Act (S.00999/ A.00170), which would create a right to counsel for anyone in New York facing deportation who cannot afford legal representation on their own and provide much needed funding to build the supply of legal representation services, including social services support, to meet the demand throughout New York State. | March 24, 2023
Her Justice along with other women’s rights, gender equity, and reproductive justice organizations, supported a letter to Governor Hochul and Members of the NYS Senate and Assembly advocating for the passage of the Nail Salon Minimum Standards Council Act (S.1800/A.378), an innovative labor policy that would create a sectoral council of workers and small business owners to help set new labor standards in nail salons across NYS. Her Justice supported this measure because poor working conditions in nail salons overwhelmingly impact immigrant women of color, and Her Justice is committed to economic justice for these New Yorkers. | March 22, 2023
Her Justice, along with other organizations that serve survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking, submitted comments in response to the Department of Homeland Security’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Fee Schedule and Changes to Certain Other Immigration Benefit Request Requirements, urging consistent exemption from filing fees for all survivor-based categories to reduce confusion among survivors as well as the service providers that work with them. | March 9, 2023
Her Justice, as a member of I-ARC, signed on to a letter urging an extension of the public comment period related to rulemaking around the Biden administration’s Title 42 border policy. | March 1, 2023
Her Justice signed on to a letter to the U.S. House of Representatives urging a “no” vote on the “Border Safety and Security Act,” which would seal off all borders and ports of entry to asylum seekers if Department of Homeland Security agents cannot detain or return to Mexico all arriving asylum seekers and migrants. | January 12, 2023
Her Justice, as a member of I-ARC, joined other immigrants’ rights groups in a letter opposing Governor Hochul’s nomination of Justice Hector LaSalle to serve as Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals. | January 10, 2023
Her Justice joined the Alliance for Immigrant Survivors and other immigrant survivors’ rights organizations in a letter urging the U.S. Attorney General to overturn certain precedents and expand access to post-conviction and sentencing relief for noncitizen survivors to eliminate oppressive structures that erect barriers to justice and cause further harm to survivors of violence. | December 2, 2022
Her Justice joined other immigrants’ rights organizations in a letter urging the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to immediately release written guidance that clarifies the process by which undocumented workers, guestworkers, and others with precarious immigration status who are victims or witnesses of labor exploitation may seek prosecutorial discretion. | November 17, 2022
Her Justice joined other immigrant survivors’ rights organizations in a letter urging President Biden to fulfill the promises the Administration made to immigrant survivors in the National Action Plan to Combat Trafficking and extend the pardon for federal marijuana possession convictions to that group and all immigrants. | November 14, 2022
Her Justice signed on to a letter led by the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild urging President Biden to extend the pardon for federal marijuana possession convictions to undocumented immigrants, refugees, asylees, and others in view of the serious and harmful immigration consequences that flow from marijuana convictions. | November 4, 2022

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Intimate Partner Violence:

Her Justice joined other organizations working with survivors of domestic violence/intimate partner violence in a letter Governor Kathy Hochul to grant clemency for Nicole Addimando, a survivor who is incarcerated for crimes stemming from the abuse she suffered. | December 13, 2022
Her Justice submitted testimony for a City Council hearing led by the Committees on Women and Gender Equity and Civil and Human Rights concerning the expansion of protections for victims of domestic violence to include economic abuse through Int. 0148-2022, which would amend the City’s human rights law definition of domestic violence, and the issue of coerced debt. | December 12, 2022
Her Justice engaged Covington to represent our organization as an amicus in a brief filed in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals showing our support for a Ms. Golan, a domestic violence survivor, in the ongoing Golan litigation relating to child custody and domestic violence under the Hague Convention. | October 7, 2022
Her Justice engaged Cleary Gottlieb to represent our organization as an amicus in a brief that will be filed in the Fourth Department on behalf of Ms. Mahalia Guest, a survivor who was denied resentencing under the NYS Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act. | September 22, 2022

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Child Support

Her Justice was joined by law firm partners and coalition partners in two letters to Governor Hochul urging support for developing and resourcing an expedited settlement process for child support in the Family Courts as an effective and achievable solution to improving access for families. | January 2023
Her Justice was joined by pro bono partner firms Fried Frank and Orrick in a letter to Governor Hochul advocating for reform to the New York child support system and the Family Courts. The letter urged the Governor to develop and resource an option for parents seeking agreement on undisputed child support to engage in an expedited settlement conference process in the Family Courts, rather than spending months or years litigating cases and clogging the courts unnecessarily. | January 2023
Her Justice met with counsel and others in the New York State Governor’s office to discuss our legislative proposal to pilot an administrative conference process for straightforward, undisputed child support and the need for child support reform generally in the State. Her Justice continues to strategize about this advocacy and engage with coalition partners who have been supporters on the need for reform. | October 31, 2022
Her Justice submitted our legislation piloting an administrative conference for agreed upon child support (S.8554, Persaud/A.9104, Reyes) for inclusion in the NYS Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Legislative Caucus 2023 People’s Budget. (The proposal was included in the 2022 People’s Budget list of priorities.) | August 17, 2022
Her Justice held a Virtual Lobby Day to lobby for legislation that could provide parents in New York with better and additional options for accessing fair and timely child support awards more efficiently. The day kicked-off with remarks from bill sponsor Senator Roxanne Persaud and Her Justice client Humu Yansane. | May 5, 2022

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Divorce

Stay tuned for updates and developments in this area of our policy agenda!

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Courts and Other Allyship:

Her Justice is proud to have advocated for Senate Bill 5162/Assembly Bill 5772; this policy change will remove significant barriers for low-income New Yorkers — especially in housing, civil, and family court matters — and create a more fair playing field for litigants like our clients. | June 6th, 2023
Her Justice submitted testimony for New York State Human Services and Public Protection budget hearings highlighting the needs of the communities we serve and the multifaceted services we provide. | February 7 and 13, 2023
Her Justice submitted testimony for a City Council hearing on the expansion of the CityFHEPS rental assistance program, which focused on the interconnectedness of housing stability and our clients’ ability to participate in the civil justice system. | January 18, 2023
Her Justice supported proposed New York State legislation that would create a Women’s Commission on Reentry to bring stakeholders in government along with advocates and service providers to study the needs of women returning from New York’s jails and prisons, including trauma, housing, domestic violence, and access to legal assistance and legal barriers to reentry, and focus on gender-responsive solutions to these challenges. | December 14, 2022
Her Justice (by Naomi Young) along with other organizations authored a report titled “Reinvesting in Economic Justice, Equity, & Solidarity for Survivors in New York City,” with survivor-centered policy proposals relating to coerced debt, public benefits, and solidarity economy.
Her Justice and other advocates participated in a roundtable discussion with Director Chopra of the Federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on the issues impacting consumers in our communities, particularly as they relate to the intersection of intimate partner violence and consumer protection. | October 6, 2022
Her Justice engaged a team of graduate students in the NYU Wagner Capstone program to study policies around reporting of court system data in New York and beyond to support our advocacy for greater transparency of New York’s court data to support solutions for civil justice reform. | October 3, 2022
Her Justice, by Naomi Young who is a co-chair of the New York City Domestic Violence and Consumer Law Working Group, submitted testimony for the Hearing on Civil Legal Services in New York held by the New York State Permanent Commission on Access to Justice. The Working Group’s testimony highlighted the civil legal services needs of domestic violence survivors who experience economic abuse, consumer debt, and credit reporting issues. | September 19, 2022