Touro Law Students Volunteer in the Gulf Coast, an update

Touro Law Students travel to the Gulf Coast region to provide legal assistance to those in need. During the week of January 2, 2012 members of the Student Disaster Relief Network (SDRN) are providing legal assistance to residents in New Orleans, Louisiana, and Biloxi, Mississippi. Both gulf coast regions have been devastated by hurricanes in recent years, and most recently by the BP oil spill. As a result of the disasters that recently befell this region, tens of thousands of regional residents have incurred financial ruin, and have been thrust into the need for civil legal assistance.  Since December 2005, the SDRN has sent 9 groups of law students to the Gulf Coast region to provide legal assistance. Please read the following blogs from our students who are currently volunteering their time to assist others in need.


Today Matt and I are going to inspect the deed at the Parish Court House to determine whose name the property is in and specifically whether our client’s mother was on the deed.  So far we have discovered that the property taxes are in the name of our client’s deceased stepfather and it seems likely his death was never reported to the IRS.  This poses a problem because although our client may not be responsible for the tax debts if he wants to keep his home, he will have to pay the taxes.  The alternative is getting him tax exempt status which would be possible because he is a disabled veteran, but his name would have to be on the deed.

The veteran’s affairs issue has taken an interesting turn with our client.  He claims to have suffered his disability as a result of Agent Orange, a chemical used in Vietnam during the war. At this point in his claim we are trying to obtain an increase in benefits to include the new disability. He needs medical evidence that we are having trouble obtaining.  The creation of an informational pamphlet for all veterans to assist them through the benefits application process is well under way.

-Joannie Rodriguez and Matt Rubino

We took a tour around the ninth ward and the location where the levee broke.  We were brought to the Cypress Triangle, where we were able to see first-hand the ecological damage that has arose from the creation of the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet.  The tour that we took yesterday really helped me to better relate to my topic --  I was able to see firsthand how much destruction was caused to the wetlands and I want to learn more about the efforts to restore the wetlands.

-Nicole Giannakis

I really feel like Caitlin and I made a lot of progress yesterday on our topic.  After contacting a Criminal Law professor from Tulane Law School, we were able to begin researching the programs available and the sentencing and treatments in Louisiana's juvenile justice system. With regard to adult offenders,  I also stumbled upon a recent bill that was being pushed by Louisiana representative, Joseph Lopinto.  Since Louisiana has the highest incarceration rate in the entire country, it’s important that those who have committed non-violent crimes are not bred to stay in the system and become career criminals.  The bill would reduce the amount of time that non-violent, non-sex offenders would serve before becoming eligible for parole.  Since Louisiana has a "Three Strikes and You're Out" rule, the bill would allow a first time offender to be eligible for parole after serving 25% of his/her sentence instead of 33% and a second time offender would be eligible after serving 33% of the time instead of 50% of his/her time.  The bill also would allow an addition to inmate's "good time" credit which would permit the inmates to shave time off of their sentences for good behavior and by participating in rehabilitation programs and obeying prison rules.  Today I'm going to continue researching this bill and see its current status. 

-Sara Carissimi

Yesterday, Sara and I were able to accomplish a lot of research. We received a response from one of the Tulane professors we emailed and she gave Sara and I great groups and contacts that pertained to our topic. Sara was able to find multiple statistics about nonviolent adult and youth offenders. In addition, I was able to contact a couple of these groups and I am awaiting a response.

We were also able to go on a small tour of the Lower 9th Ward and saw the damage that was caused by Hurricane Katrina. Furthermore, we saw the differences in the levees -- there is a concrete and higher levee protecting the businesses while the rest of the Lower 9th Ward is protected only by a rusted piece of metal.

Today, Sara and I will make an outline of what should be included in both of our packets. In addition, we are hoping to be done with all of our research and we may be in the process of writing our packets either by the end of today or tomorrow morning.

- Caitlin Kavanagh

After putting together this packet I have learned so much about the Louisiana area.  I have gained a new appreciation for the damage of the wetlands.  I recognize that there are significant laws, both at the federal and state level, created to protect the environment and to take into consideration what the effects of a certain project will have on the environment.  Creating this packet will hopefully inform the community that there are restoration projects being implemented in the area.  In addition, I hope that this information will provide some hope to the community that their environment is not being forgotten.  

- Nicole Giannakis

Today we finished the brochure that we have been working on for the past several days.  The brochure contains step-by-step instructions on creating an account on the Crescent City job search website, as well as relevant contact information for HANO and Common Ground.  We have yet to hear back from HANO's General Counsel.  We also sent an e-mail following up with our request for the current 2002 Employment & Contracting plan, but have yet to receive a response.   Tomorrow we anticipate submitting our draft brochure for review and hope to finalize, print, and distribute the brochure to the local community centers. 

- Lauren Marinelli &  Mike Tylutki

We continued working on our project yesterday. We got a lot of work done in the morning and created a packet with information, statistics, and addresses of shelters. We continued working, and took a short break for lunch where we visited the French quarter in order to get a good perspective of it during the day time. Today we will edit what we have written and make sure we have included all the information we need.

- Angela and Zoe