Find Community Education Resources with Lone Star Legal Aid

Image by mohamed Hassan from Pixabay

Lone Star Legal Aid (LSLA), a nonprofit law firm that advocates on behalf of low-income and underserved populations here in the Greater Houston area, has recently added a library of videos to its website to educate the community about some common civil legal issues. The videos were prepared by LSLA staffers and provide tips and answers to frequently asked questions encountered by the organization in its interactions with its client community. With the world still in the grips of the current health crisis, many videos are COVID-related and provide tips in such areas as consumer law, employment law, family law (available in Spanish, too), the pandemic’s impact on veterans and other public benefits, safety planning, economic stimulus and tax information, and SNAP benefits. To assist veterans with questions that may be specific to their situation, the Military & Veterans Unit (MVU) of LSLA has created videos to answer questions relating to VA service-connected disability claims, preventing identity theft, solutions for identity theft, and military discharge upgrades. The MVU has also produced videos that provide all Texans, regardless of military status, with helpful information about the divorce process in Texas as well as expunctions and nondisclosures.

In addition to these community education resources, LSLA assists with a wide array of legal matters, including:

• postconviction reentry issues;

• fraud or deceptive trade practice, unlawful repossessions, and bankruptcy;

• work place safety issues and employment discrimination;

• divorce and child custody;

• Medicaid and Medicare and county indigent health care;

• evictions and foreclosures; and

• delinquency and neglect issues.

In addition to the services listed above, LSLA has other programs and initiatives that are of help to the community. LSLA’s Crime Victim Unit provides assistance to individuals who have been victims of human trafficking, domestic violence, and elder abuse. The goal of its Equitable Development Initiative is to promote revitalization in low-income neighborhoods through community advocacy, environmental justice, and fair housing. LSLA also has a Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic that represents individuals involved in disputes with the IRS. You can find a list of all of LSLA’s services here.

Lone Star Labor Day

Texas is well known as a Right to Work state with a long and successful history of anti-union activity, but the Lone Star state has a parallel history of organized labor that has improved worker conditions stemming back to the Republic of Texas.

As Anglo settlers began to stream into the territory on the heels of the Texas Revolution, they brought significant knowledge of the labor organization occuring in their home states and territories. Texas’ first strike occurred in the fall of 1838, when the Texas Typographical Association won a 25% wage increase only a few months after forming.

Still, Texas did not experience widespread labor organization until the Philadelphia-based Knights of Labor managed to recruit not only farm workers, but over half of the state’s non-farm workers, by the middle of the 1880s. Per capita, this was the peak of union participation in Texas. By late 1886, however, the Knights of Labor found itself irrevocably damaged by its connection to the Haymarket riot in Chicago, and this impacted its influence in Texas as much as anywhere else, and the demise of the Knights likely contributed to the inability of Texas organized labor to stop the use of anti-union labor to build the state house in Austin.

In January of 1900, years of attempts to form a statewide union finally came to fruition when the Texas State Federation of Labor formed in Cleburne. However, Texas employers also organized through the Open Shop movement, and proved a formidable match for organized labor throughout the state. Texas workers additionally found themselves outmatched by the national influence and strength of the railroad tycoons who provided so many of the Lonse Star state’s jobs.

World War I brought a proliferartion of manufacturing jobs and other types of labor-based work to Texas, and while this resulted in some relatively improved conditions, Texas workers were unable to match the success of workers in other states. For example, in 1917, offshore workers in California successfully used strikes to negotiate $4, 8 hour days. Faced with extreme anti-labor tactics, however, Texas offshore workers were unable to hold a strike long enough to be effective, and could not improve upon a $2, 12 hour day.

As a result of changed national leadership, as well as a shift in Texas labor leadership, unions once again began to experience some success during the Franklin Roosevelt presidency. This notably included Mexican-American agricultural workers organizing for the first time. Still, Texans in this time period could not match the fervor and efficacy of Texas worker organization 50 years prior under the Knights of Labor.

In fact, Texas workers had been organizing for more than a century before they finally managed a major demonstration of political power in 1957 when pro-union Ralph Yarborough was sent to Washington DC to serve as Senator from Texas. That same year, the Texas State Federation of Labor merged with the Texas State CIO Counsel, consolidating union power in the state.

We at the Harris County Law Library wish you a great and safe Lone Star Labor Day! Here is some further reading to fill your holiday weekend:

• Right to Work Laws in Texas

• The Labor Movement in Texas Collection: 1845-1954, at the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History at UT

• Labor Organizations Handbook at the Texas State Historical Association

• Walking the Line: The Diverse History of Organized Labor in Texas, at the University of Texas at Arlington Libraries Special Collections

Vote By Mail in Texas - News Roundup

Image by mohamed Hassan from Pixabay

Quite a bit has happened since the last time we reported on the vote-by-mail issue that has been pending here in Texas. The issue is still winding its way through the court system, both at the state and federal levels. In case you’ve missed it, here are some of the latest developments that have occurred.

Harris County Will Send Mail-In Ballot Applications to All Harris County Residents

On August 25, the Harris County Clerk’s office announced that it will send an application for a mail-in ballot for the upcoming general election to every registered voter in the county. Keep in mind, though, that here in Texas, to cast a ballot by mail, a voter must satisfy one of the following conditions: be away from their county of residence on Election Day and the period designated for early voting; be sick or disabled; be 65 years of age or older on Election Day, or be incarcerated but otherwise eligible to vote. (These requirements are at the heart of the litigation surrounding this issue.) Harris County Clerk Chris Hollins defended his initiative, arguing that for those eligible to vote by mail, the absentee ballot method was the safest. He also asserted that his proposal had the potential of increasing the safety of those who must vote in person by decreasing the number of people physically going to the polls, thereby reducing the possibility of long lines and overcrowded polling locations.

Texas AG Says Not So Fast on Those Applications, Harris County

On August 31, the State of Texas, through Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, filed a petition in the Harris County District Court, seeking to enjoin the Harris County Clerk from sending mail-in ballot applications to every registered voter in Harris County. The petition alleged the County Clerk lacked the authority to execute his plan and that the proposal to send out unsolicited applications to all will result in confusion as to who is ultimately eligible to vote by mail. Harris County Republicans joined the litigation by filing a petition for a writ of mandamus requesting a halt to the clerk’s plans.

Harris County Clerk Hits Pause on Mail-In Ballot Application Initiative

As a result of the pending litigation, Harris County Clerk Chris Hollins, on September 1, indicated that he was going to hold off on his plan to send vote-by-mail applications to all registered Harris County voters. He was, however, still intending to send applications to everyone 65 and older and expressed that his office will be ready when he gets the green light from the court to send applications to all registered voters.

Texas Supreme Court Temporarily Puts the Brakes on Harris County Clerk’s Plan

In response to the lawsuit filed by the Harris County Republican Party, the Texas Supreme Court has ordered the Harris County Clerk to refrain from sending mail-in ballot applications to registered voters under the age of 65 who have not requested them. It appears, though, that the ultimate decision in this matter will depend upon the result of the lawsuit filed by the State of Texas in the 61st Judicial District Court in Harris County.

Meanwhile, Fifth Circuit Hears Arguments Over Texas Law Limiting Mail-In Ballots to Those 65 and Older

On August 31, in response to a lawsuit that was filed in April by the Texas Democratic Party, a panel of judges in the Fifth Circuit heard arguments in the case alleging that the Texas Election Code is discriminatory because it limits mail-in voting to those 65 years of age and older. The Texas Solicitor General argued that the law does not infringe upon anyone’s voting rights and was crafted with the prevention of voter fraud in mind. The Texas Democratic Party disagreed, arguing that limiting voting by mail to select group of people places an undue burden on others who want to exercise their right to vote.

The Hatch Act and Social Media

After the Republican National Convention concluded last week, watchdog groups and others (see links below) began questioning President Trump’s decision to deliver his nomination acceptance speech from the South Lawn of The White House. Some were appalled by the decision, calling it a major ethical breach and a flagrant violation of the Hatch Act. Others say that the incumbent candidate’s use of official government property as a venue for campaign activities was perfectly permissible. A third undecided group questioned not the legality, but the propriety of the act. For this group, delivering a campaign speech at The White House was “problematic” and a break from tradition, but not prohibited. President Trump failed only at optics, they say, not ethics.

Regardless of your perspective or your interpretation of the law, events at the RNC have shined a spotlight on an important, but somewhat controversial law called the Hatch Act of 1939, An Act to Prevent Pernicious Political Activities. Here’s what you need to know:

• The Hatch Act of 1939, named for Senator Carl Hatch of New Mexico, is a federal statute that prohibits certain federal employees (defined in 5 U.S. Code § 7322) from carrying out­­­ partisan political activities while on duty, in a government building, while wearing an official uniform or insignia, or while using an official vehicle.

• The Merit Systems Protection Board and the Office of Special Counsel are responsible for enforcement of the Hatch Act.

• The president and vice president are exempt from the Hatch Act, but federal civilian executive branch employees involved in the logistics or planning of a politically partisan activity are not. Advocates for enforcing Hatch Act provisions in the wake of the RNC argue this very point. They are calling for an investigation by the OSC into the role that executive branch civil servants may have played in assisting with arrangements for RNC events on government property.

 Hatch Act in the News

• Op-Ed: President Trump is blatantly violating the Hatch Act. Where’s the outrage? – Erwin Chemerinsky, Los Angeles Times, August 25, 2020

• What Is the Hatch Act? Is Trump Violating It at the R.N.C.? – New York Times, August 26, 2020

• Focus on Trump’s official White House actions as part of Republican convention programming raises Hatch Act concerns – The Washington Post, August 26, 2020

• Trump Shatters Ethics Norms By Making Official Acts Part Of GOP Convention – NPR, August 26, 2020

• There was nothing unlawful or improper about Trump's acceptance speech – David B. Rivkin Jr. and Lee A. Casey, The Hill, August 29, 2020

Hatch Act and Social Media

In response to questions from executive branch civil servants about the appropriate use of social media under the Hatch Act, the OSC prepared the Hatch Act Guidance on Social Media and the Hatch Act Social Media Quick Guide, which is reproduced here:

I Have a Dream

Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. — Martin Luther King, Jr., March on Washington, August 28, 1963

The organizations linked below feature information and resources about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., his life, and his legacy. Today, on the anniversary of Dr. King’s famous I Have a Dream Speech, 100,000 demonstrators are expected to gather at the footsteps of the Lincoln Memorial for the 2020 National Action Network Commitment March. View the live stream of the event here.