Align SFMTA Tow Policy with Economic and Racial Justice

| By BayLegal
Categories: Advocacy, Homepage, News
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Car being towed
BayLegal, along with 26 other organizations and individuals, has submitted a letter to the Director and Board of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) advocating for the end of poverty tows in San Francisco, and for a tow and impound policy aligned with economic and racial justice. “Poverty tows” for unpaid tickets, in the …

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Updates on BayLegal’s Advocacy with the Judicial Council of California

| By BayLegal
Categories: Advocacy, Homepage, News
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California Judicial Council Seal, which includes a picture of Roman goddess Minerva
The Judicial Council is the policymaking body of the California courts. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, BayLegal has worked with the Judicial Council to advocate for the needs of low-income litigants and for overall public safety within the legal system, supporting the statewide suspension of eviction proceedings along with court closures and changes to procedures to …

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Statement in Solidarity and Commitment to Racial Justice—Black Lives Matter

| By BayLegal
Categories: Homepage, News
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Three raised fists next to the words Black Lives Matter
Statement in Solidarity and Commitment to Racial Justice—Black Lives Matter Bay Area Legal Aid (BayLegal) joins the Black community in grieving the losses of Rayshard Brooks, Breonna Taylor, Sean Reed, George Floyd, and Tony McDade, who were recently murdered by law enforcement; Ahmaud Arbery, who was callously murdered by white supremacists aided by a state …

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Executive Director’s Blog, April 2020

| By BayLegal
Categories: eNewsletter Story, Executive Director blog, Homepage, News
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Genevieve Richardson, Executive Director
Dear Friends of BayLegal, Welcome to the April issue of our 2020 Storytelling Project, in which we reconnect with our history to show how our advocacy in the present day has continued our mission to break the cycles of family and community poverty. The Covid-19 public health crisis further exposes the institutional structures in our …

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Fighting for Second Chances: BayLegal’s Reentry Unit

| By BayLegal
Categories: 20th Anniversary, Anniversary Interview Series, Anniversary Timeline, Client Story, eNewsletter Story, News
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A cartoon figure stands behind bars with the barriers to reentry listed in red around them
“Fear isn’t holding me back as much”   Luke is the father of two boys. One is three years old, the other seven. He works for a subcontracting company in the East Bay, where he spoke to us by phone from the company’s warehouse. “We’re still working during the pandemic,” he explained. “A lot of …

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Executive Director’s blog, February 2020

| By BayLegal
Categories: 20th Anniversary, eNewsletter Story, Executive Director blog, Homepage, News
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Genevieve Richardson, Executive Director
Sixty years ago, on February 1, 1960, four Black students from North Carolina A & T College led a carefully organized peaceful protest at a Woolworth lunch counter. Their courage and actions helped to force the nation to confront the injustice of segregation and helped spark a powerful student-led civil rights movement. The students remained …

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Remembering Charlotte E. Ray

| By BayLegal
Categories: eNewsletter Story, Homepage, News
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As we mark the close of Black History Month this year, we share with our readers this timely reminder that for our clients, but also for the practitioners within our field, the history of intersectional discrimination is both long and unfinished, as is the story of the many struggles against it. Charlotte E. Ray was …

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Racial Injustice and Our Work

| By BayLegal
Categories: 20th Anniversary, eNewsletter Story, Homepage, News
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Through our partnerships, individual legal representation, impact litigation, and policy advocacy, we work to break down the barriers that prevent members of our communities from accessing basic necessities of life—healthcare, housing, food, employment—in order to increase their opportunities to lead safe and stable lives. Looming large over our work is the knowledge that many of …

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