Filmmaker Carvin Eison advocates for social justice and accessibility in media
social justice
Posted inNews & Opinion
Bills seek public defense funding
New York has a patchwork system for providing defense attorneys for poor people charged with crimes. Some counties hire attorneys in private practice to represent the clients, though at far below their usual rates, while the larger counties have their own staffs of full-time public defenders, whose caseloads are often far heavier than they should […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
UPDATED: Unitarians back off fossil fuels
First Unitarian Church wants to start divesting from fossil fuel stocks.
Posted inNews & Opinion
Coalition: State should consider poverty when awarding money for child care
Late last week, a group of local government, business, and labor leaders known as the Rochester Community Coalition released its annual Community Agenda. The list spells out what the leaders want from Albany. Much of it should be familiar: a change in the state aid formula for municipalities, money for the Hillside Work-Scholarship program, and […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Study assesses child care subsidies in Monroe County
The need for child day care subsidies is growing locally and the availability of the subsidies is dwindling. Yet Monroe County is serving a higher percentage and number of eligible children than other urban counties in New York, outside of New York city. Child care subsidies are the subject of a Center for Governmental Research […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Some progress on indigent defense
New York State has settled a lawsuit that accused it of systematically depriving poor criminal defendants of their right to counsel. And in doing so it has recognized, for the first time, that it is responsible for providing legal representation for those defendants, say state civil rights and indigent defense groups. In a 50-year-old decision, […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Groups target sub-minimum wage for tipped restaurant workers
In New York, restaurants do not have to pay tipped workers the full $8 an hour minimum wage. Instead, they can pay a much lower base rate — somewhere between $4.90 and $5.65 an hour depending on the job and the employer — but the employer has to make up the difference if the worker’s […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
[UPDATED] Coalition to push for police reform
A coalition to change the way policing is done in Rochester will present a package of suggested reforms to City Council in the near future, says the Rev. Lewis Stewart, president of the United Christian Leadership Ministry. Coalition members want an independent civilian review board with subpoena power, Stewart says, and they want police officers […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Treatment for a traumatized world
One of Vikki Reynolds’ first clients was a young girl who’d pee the bed to avoid being raped. Another early client fled halfway around the world to escape torture for his political beliefs. Reynolds, a clinician and instructor, says she observed similar characteristics in these early clients. Alongside pain and sadness, she says, there was […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
For the poor, search for equal justice continues
Life as a defense attorney for the poor often means long days, modest pay, and crushing caseloads. In the Monroe County Public Defender’s Office, attorneys in some bureaus handle more than double the number of cases recommended by national guidelines. The heavy workload has kept the office from providing some defendants in town and village […]
Posted inMusic
Garland Jeffreys
Garland Jeffreys is a rock ‘n’ roll poet with a gentle soul. He’s a reactionary, a musical voice for the voiceless with a swaggering street narrative running through it all. He has had nominal hits with songs like 1973’s “Wild in the Streets” and has rubbed elbows with contemporaries like Lou Reed, David Johansen, Dr. […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Food benefits decreasing
In Monroe County, food stamp cuts come at a time of growing need. In January 2011, 108,078 people in 55,220 Monroe County households received Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, according to the state Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance. In August 2013, the number had risen to 120,332 recipients in 63,973 households. The current decrease, […]
