Paee 3 Portland Observer February 16,1989
St. Andrews: Legal Guardian
to the Poor
sufficient
There is, however, another legal resource
situated in the m idst o f the problematic
low er Northeast sector o f the city that is
largely underutilized by the very people
it was created to serve.
decimated anti-poverty programs. It is
p itifu lly ironic that even though the St.
Andrews Legal C lin ic was established
in itia lly to give the people o f the low er
Northeast community better legal services
only a small proportion o f their clients
come from that source. The clin ic is
anxious to let that target population know
that they are s till in business and w illin g
to serve them when legal problems arise.
to
prove
(Continued From Front Page)
that
contention.
Even the m ajority opinion o f the U.
S.Supreme C ourt does not rule out such
efforts to remedy discrim ination in the
construction industry when such a practice
can be documented and proven. In that
case, the C ity o f Richmond had enacted
an ordinance which made it mandatory
fo r a ll contracts let by the c ity to require
a 30% participation o f African-Americans,
Hispanics, Indians, Orientals, Eskimoes
and Aleuts. Even though discrim ination
against Blacks could be proven, the
inclusion o f the other groups in the
Richmond ordinance w ithout sufficient
p ro o f in their favor tainted the entire
remedy. Justice O ’Connor pointed out
that the composition o f the c ity council
its e lf which enacted the rule was suspect
since its m ajority was Black.
ST. AN D R EW S. L E G A L G U A R D IA N
T O TH E POOR
by Etienne de la Plume
It frequently has been observed tliat
those persons who become entangled
w ith the laws o f this nation have a better
chance for survival in a litiga tion process
i f they are male, w hite and rich. The
blind-folded statue o f justice that often
adorns many a court house frequently is
more a symbol o f blind man’ s b lu ff.
Inside those edifices justice is meted out
to the impecunious and the unlettered
w ith a vengeance that rivals that fa m iliar
childhood game. A v is it to any state or
federal prison confirm s the fact that the
p o o r,
the
m in o ritie s
and
the
unsophisticated are represented by a factor
which is far in excess o f the proportion
o f their demographic representation within
their own com m unity.
W ith regard to legal representation,
frequently persons so affected are saddled
w ith legal representation by ambulance
chasers, incompetent charlatans and
overworked public defenders. In the
latter case, Portland is fortunate to have
an excellent public defender’ s office.
evidence
Minority Business Enterprise In Oregon
Justice O ’Connor further questioned
the Richm ond plan’ s
rig id quota system since it gave no
consideration as to the availability,
financial stability and bonding ability.
She also stated that even in the absence
o f an affirm ative A C T IO N program the
state has at its disposal other race neutral
rem edies
w h ic h
c o u ld
c o rre ct
discrim ination in the market place.
Am ong these she listed sim plification o f
bidding procedures, relaxation o f bonding
requirements, financial aid and the
prohibition o f discrim ination in the
provision o f credit or bonding by local
suppliers and banks.
Justice O ’Connor also recognized that
a carefully tailored plan w ith certain
strict guidelines for remedial purposes
w ould not violate the constitutional
guarantees o f equal protection in the
14 th amendment.
They are staffed by four young lawyers
from very good schools and solid fa m ily
B A C KG R O U N D S who approach the
practice o f law fo r their clients w ith
missionary zeal W illia m Stegemeyer,
Jr. probably summed it up best when he
described his reason fo r entering the
practice o f poverty law. Following periods
as a student both in N orth Carolina and
in Oregon he did a clerkship in one o f the
Oregon courts. He became so involved
in untangling the legal com plications o f
persons who filtered through the system
that he decided to devote his profession
A ll o f these factors would appear to
support the position that certain state
agencies m ight have acted prematurely
and perhaps inappropriately when they
abandoned rather than modified M inority
and Women Business Enterprise that
already was in place. A t this point there
is nothing to f ill the void and the m inority
entrepreneurship so affected m ight be
destroyed before some method can be
devised to replace the programs that
were invalidated by the court
The governor has convened a
committee to review this problem A N D
to make recommendations to him fo r
replacement programs. Certainly such
an approach w ill be helpful, but this
entire e ffo rt could be a meaningless and
fru tile exercise i f the governor does not
come forward immediately w ith a strong
impact statement which would address
this problem and underscore the
devastating effect that the two court rulings
could have upon numerous emerging
small businesses within the state. Instead,
heavy emphasis is being placed on
developing guidelines which are both
race and gender neutral. Since both
members o f Minority Business Enterprises
and their protagonist, the Associated
General Contractors o f Am erica, are
involved in this process it w ill be
interesting to observe how far reaching
their form al recommendation to the
governor w ill be.
One other approach fo r redress s till
remains. The state legislature w hich is
now in session could enact new guidelines
w hich could survive the acid test o f
litig a tio n .lt is appalling that no adequate
survey has been commissioned which
would properly document discrimination
in the construction which is known to
have been entrenched within the industry
Lina Garcia-Seabold, the governor’s
advocate for women and minorities, is
preparing such a proposal for Margaret
Carter to present to the legislature. Here
is a case where the small entrepreneur,
including women and m inorities needs
to petition their representatives, senators
and the governor
and impress them w ith the emergency o f
this dilemma.
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3041 N. Williams
284-7150
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Southern Style
HOUSE SPECIALTIES
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Catfish • And Many
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MEMBERS & GUESTS
THE MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. CENTER for Nonviolent Social Change,
Inc. is the 1989 honoree of the Give to the Dream, Johnson Products
salutes Black organizations program. Eric Johnson, president of Johnson
Products Co., Inc., presented Coretta Scott King with a $50,000 check
to launch the year-long program. Johnson Products announced the
Give to the Dream program at the annual assembly “State of the Dream”
address on Sunday, January 15 at Ebeneze- Baptist Church.
The first airplane purchased by the
U S government was called the
Vffs.s Columbia and bought from the
Wright brothers in 1909
fo r years.
SAFEW AY
to that process.
The St. Andrews Legal C lin ic located
at 807 Northeast Alberta came on line
almost 10 years ago. Even though it
was first spearheaded by the S t. Andrews
Roman Catholic Parish ju st across the
street, their present a ffilia tio n is in name
only. The clin ic is a public interest
private group dedicated to O TH ER
principle that poor people deserve
adequate legal representation.
a
How many Black Americans are you
familiar with in the history of our
country?
Chances are, not that many because
you won't find them in most history
books. But Black History Month gives
us a chance to become aware of the
contributions many Black Americans
have made in science, medicine,
industry, agriculture, literature and
more.
Join us in the observation of Black
History Month and broaden your
knowledge of how we, as a
people have made this country
what it is today.
Especially are such services needed in
th a t fu n d in g fo r litig a tio n was
tremendously diminished during the eight
years that the Reagan adm inistration
Kathie Osborn comes from New Jersey,
but succumbed to the urge to go West.
She had never been to Oregon p rior to
deciding to settle here. Her inspiration
to practice poverty law came from her
law professors at the University o f Oregon.
An internship w ith the Benton County
district attorney convinced her that was
J
a good choice.
Keith Raines is the director o f the
clinic and one o f its founders. He received
his law degree from the U niversity o f
Oregon and practiced in the neighborhood
before jo in in g the St. Andrews Legal
Clinic at its inception in 1979. Diminutive
in statue but magnanimous in purpose he
is a very fittin g mentor to the other
lawyers on his staff who are dedicated to
providing good law services to people
w ith an embarrassment fo r funds.
A Salute
to Black
H e ritage
/
On the other hand Kate Earley comes
from a New Y o rk fam ily that always was
service oriented toward helping those
who are less fortunate w ithin our society.
February
It was her intention from the very outset
to practice this type o f law. After receiving
a degree in sociology, she studied law at
American University in Washington, D.C.
She has worked w ith many social action
groups.
The firm charges a sliding scale fo r
its services beginning at $35 per hour..
P a tric ia
D aw son,
d ire c to r
of
development, claim s that most client
charges hover around that benchmark.
A
Í Í J I I I 4\\W
In addition to its day time services a
night clin ic operates every Thursday
between 6 and 9:30 p.m. where volunteer
lawyers give new clients a 30 minute
consultation fo r the reduced fee o f $ 15.
The telephone number at the c lin ic is
281-1500.
h
* A <+
BLACK
HISTORY
M ONTH