ISSUES

PPEHRC Legal Committee

The PPEHRC legal committee is comprised of lawyers, policy analysts, educators and others of conscious who are working to protect human rights.  We are guided by the mission and vision of the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign, and we believe that building a movement led by the poor to end poverty is possible.  We do the courageous work of legally protecting the economic, social, cultural, civil and political rights that are guaranteed to all human beings.

A central task of the PPEHRC legal committee is to create a domestic legal arena for economic, social, and cultural rights.  These rights, as outlined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, mean the rights to food, work, housing, health, education, and social security.  As these rights are increasingly denied to members of the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign and millions of other poor people across this country, the work of bringing human rights home becomes increasingly urgent.

On behalf of the PPEHRC, the legal committee has submitted a formal request for a hearing to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of the Organization of American States.  The document accuses the United States government of human rights violations with regard to social security, housing, and healthcare.
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The legal committee also uses international human rights standards in domestic courts and policy arenas:

*CABRINI RESIDENTS FILE LAWSUIT TO STOP CHICAGO HOUSING AUTHORITY FROM ILLEGALLY EVICTING HUNDREDS OF TENANTS.

*SOCIAL WORK STUDENTS WORK WITH REP. LAWRENCE CURRY ON ECONOMIC HUMAN RIGHTS INITIATIVE FOR THE STATE OF PA.

Because we have not yet won the struggle for economic and social rights in this country, PPEHRC members have shown a rich history of appealing to a higher law, a law of human rights.  In doing so, tactics of civil disobedience are used and it is the job of the PPEHRC legal committee to protect those who make such strong statements in opposition to these unjust laws.  By protecting the civil and political rights of these individuals, the PPEHRC legal committee creates a safer space for such important moral stances.

The PPEHRC legal committee is in need of lawyers who specialize in all areas of law, from housing law to criminal law to human rights law.  If you are interested in joining our committee please contact our committee chair Rafi Rom.