FY2022 Annual Report

You make our long-term fight for racial and economic justice possible.

Because of your strong support, we can respond to current demands in Maryland and beyond, working strategically to change laws, policies, and practices that perpetuate injustices.

Watch the video below for a message from Executive Director Jeniece Jones announcing the release of the annual report and sharing our gratitude. Together, we are building a foundation for justice now and for future generations. Thank you!

Read the FY2022 annual report here.

Links, resources, and information to make sure you get all benefits you’re entitled to

Everyone deserves to feel financially secure. But sometimes money is tight. Or you may be concerned that you’re not getting paid all of your wages. Check out the resources below for information about accessing benefits and asserting your rights as a worker.

1. To start the benefits screening process with the CASH Campaign of Maryland, visit: https://cashmd.org/benefits-screening/. The CASH Campaign can work with you to make sure you get all the benefits you’re entitled to – from housing to food to Medicaid, and more.

2. For help with SNAP (food stamps) benefits, visit https://www.mdhungersolutions.org/get-help/ and call Maryland Hunger Solutions at 1-866-821-5552 for an appointment.

3. For information about the CASH Campaign’s free tax preparation help, visit https://cashmd.org/free-tax-preparationresources/.

4. Workers’ Rights and Benefits: A training on workers’ wage rights (and how to assert them) and benefits (and how to get them)

Public Justice Center
Baltimore, Maryland

October 2022

Be a critical member in a team of social justice advocates! The Public Justice Center seeks two (2) attorneys to join its Human Right to Housing Team.

The Public Justice Center (“PJC”) and the Human Right to Housing Project

The Public Justice Center pursues systemic change to build a just society. Founded in Maryland in 1985, the PJC uses legal advocacy tools to pursue social justice, economic and racial equity, and fundamental human rights for people who are struggling to provide for their basic needs. The PJC is a civil legal aid office that provides advice and representation to low-income clients, advocates before legislatures and government agencies, and collaborates with community and advocacy organizations. www.publicjustice.org.

The Human Right to Housing Project seeks the realization of a human right to housing that is fair, affordable, habitable, and accessible, with security of tenure and cultural adequacy. The Human Right to Housing Team develops and implements its project priorities with the goal of dismantling white supremacy and advancing race equity. Attorneys provide legal services to low-income tenants in eviction and habitability cases, collaborate with community organizing partners to build tenant power, and advocate in state and local legislatures and government agencies for tenants’ rights. Recent team successes include:

• Litigating five precedent-setting appellate opinions protecting tenants’ rights;
• Obtaining systemic relief in three class actions as well as a HUD administrative complaint;
• Supporting Renters United Maryland and Baltimore Renters United in successfully advocating to pass legislation creating a right to counsel in eviction proceedings, expanding due process rights for tenants, requiring landlords to be licensed to operate, and enhancing other tenants’ rights.

COVID-19 Info

This position is partly remote and partly in the office and at court. Our current policy provides that staff will be required to come to the office, the courts, or other public meetings as necessary, but policies concerning COVID-19 may change as the situation changes. The PJC is providing PPE for employees and guests and maintaining other risk reduction measures in the office.

Core Duties

• Providing legal advice and representation to low-income tenants facing eviction;
• Supporting tenant-organizing groups and developing impact strategies for litigation;
• Providing know-your-rights trainings and outreach to community groups;
• Thorough and timely case and file management, including timekeeping;
• Developing and advancing the goals of the Human Right to Housing Team at the PJC, including contributing to the team’s workplan and race equity analysis;
• Participating in coalition and team meetings and advancing policy advocacy as needed.

Desired Skills and Experience

The following qualifications are valued for this position. Applicants should also identify other related or supplementary skills and experiences.

• Maryland bar admission or admission to another state bar.
• Spanish/English bilingual (or proficient) in writing and speaking is strongly preferred.
• Prior legal experience with low-income and other oppressed communities and clients.
• Passion for social justice and commitment to the vision of the Public Justice Center.
• Understanding of the principles of race equity analysis and the intersection of racism and poverty and their application to the PJC’s organizational life and to our work.
• Attention to detail and keen organization skills.
• Ability to work under deadline and manage multiple tasks.
• Lived experience with our client communities highly desired.
• Ability to empathize and sensitively respond to people in crisis situations.
• Excellent use of MS Outlook, Word, and Excel; database programs a plus.
• Strong problem-solving abilities, time management, and organizational skills.
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively both in and outside of the PJC.

Compensation

These are full-time, exempt, professional positions. An attorney may be called upon to work hours in excess of 40 hours in a workweek, including the potential for evening and weekend work. Local travel will be required at times. Salary range for an attorney with 1-15 years of experience is $60,000-90,000 and increases with experience, plus $1,000 Spanish language bonus if qualified. The PJC will be reviewing and updating its salary scale in the coming months and strives to maintain parity with state legal employers such as the Offices of Attorney General and Public Defender. An excellent cafeteria benefit package in the annual amount of $15,000 is also provided. This package offers health, dental, disability and life insurance, and retirement options. Cafeteria benefits packages give employees flexibility to choose how to direct their benefits. For example, this package can cover 100% of employee healthcare premiums, but an employee can choose to direct those funds towards retirement if they already have health insurance. PJC employees receive at least 20 days of paid leave, with increases based on length of tenure, 10 paid holidays, and 15 days of sick leave annually.

Applications

Applications should be submitted by November 14, 2022, to be assured of consideration, but applications will be accepted and interviews conducted on a rolling basis until the positions are filled. To apply, please submit, by email only, a cover letter explaining your interest, resume, two legal writing samples, and the names and telephone numbers of three references. Send applications to Matt Hill, hillm@publicjustice.org with “Housing Attorney applicant” in the subject.

Physical/Mental Demands and Office Environment

The physical/mental demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

The Public Justice Center is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer that encourages all interested persons to apply regardless of race, color, national origin, ancestry, ethnicity, citizenship, creed, sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, transgender status, age, religion, genetic information, physical or mental disability, marital status, or any other legally protected status. We strongly encourage Black, Latine, Indigenous, and other applicants of color, people with disabilities, and other people historically underrepresented in the practice of law to apply.

Samantha Gowing (she/her/hers) joined the Public Justice Center’s Human Right to Housing Project in September 2022. She works in collaboration with Baltimore Renters United to support grassroots tenant organizing, provide outreach and education around tenants’ rights, and represent tenants in eviction cases. She received a Juris Doctorate from the University of Michigan Law School, where she was involved in the fight against Detroit’s illegal foreclosure practices. She has worked for grassroots organizers in Washington, DC, (WIN (IAF)), where she supported campaigns around public housing and immigrants’ rights, as well as for tenant organizers in Los Angeles (LACCLA). Samantha grew up in Atlanta and earned a B.A. in English from Davidson College.

Phone: (410) 625-9409 x273
Email
she/her/hers

Levi Bradford is an attorney with the Public Justice Center’s Education Stability Project, which works to end exclusionary disciplinary practices in Maryland schools through direct representation of students in disciplinary proceedings, community outreach, and legislative, regulatory, and policy advocacy on the state and school board levels. Prior to joining the Public Justice Center, Levi worked as a public defender in Florida.

Phone: (410) 625-9409 x272
Email
he/him

Kelsey Carlson joined the Public Justice Center in August 2022 as a Paralegal for the Education Stability Project, after graduating from Syracuse University with a bachelor’s degree in Writing and Rhetoric. Prior to attending SU, Kelsey attended Jamestown Community College in Western NY, where she developed a love for the cold and the Buffalo Bills. (Sometimes simultaneously.) She grew up just across the pond in Boonsboro, Maryland, and her interests include reading, tubing, and people watching from her porch. She is excited for this opportunity to utilize her knowledge of rhetoric and is looking forward to honing those skills through application.

Phone: (410) 625-9409 x269
Email
she/her

Nina Masin-Moyer joined the PJC in August 2022 as a paralegal in the Human Right to Housing Project through the Jesuit Volunteer Corps. Nina is originally from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and graduated from College of the Holy Cross in 2022 with a B.A in English and a minor in Studio Art. Nina is excited to learn more about housing issues and applying her skills to the legal field.

Phone: (410) 625-9409 x235
Email
she/her

Hayley Hahn is honored to serve as the 2022-2023 Francis D. Murnaghan Appellate Advocacy Fellow at the Public Justice Center. In this role, she represents parties and files amicus briefs in civil rights cases related to poverty law and racial equity issues in state and federal courts.

Prior to joining PJC, Hayley clerked for the Honorable Carlton W. Reeves on the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi. She earned her law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law, where she was a Karsh-Dillard Scholar and a member of the Raven Society. During law school, Hayley participated in the Civil Rights Clinic directed by the Legal Aid Justice Center, served as the President of the American Constitution Society at UVA Law, and was the Notes Development Editor for the Virginia Journal of International Law and a member of the editorial board of the Virginia Law Review. Her writing on civil rights topics has been published in the Virginia Law Review Online and the Journal of Law & Political Economy. She also won first place in the 2020 Founding Fathers Religious Liberty Student Writing Competition and first place in the 2021 Harvard Law School Law & Political Economy Writing Prize.

Before law school, Hayley received a Fulbright Student award to conduct research at McGill’s Centre for Research on Children and Families. Her work has appeared in the International Indigenous Policy Journal and on the Canadian Child Research Portal. She graduated from the College of William & Mary summa cum laude in 2017, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.

Phone: (410) 625-9409 x222
Email
she/her

Emily Woo Kee joined the PJC in June 2022 as a paralegal for the Workplace Justice Project, after graduating from Smith College with a B.S. in Government and a focus in International Politics. Emily’s time at Smith gave them the opportunity to explore the intersections of capitalism, racial oppression, and climate change, which inspired them to become a student organizer on campus. Besides the climate crisis, Emily also became invested in Latin American politics, which resulted in research concerning immigration, trade, and the water politics of the Rio Grande. Emily is excited to apply their research and writing skills to a legal setting and learn how law can be used to further social justice. Emily is originally from El Paso, Texas, and La Junta, Chihuahua, which is in northern Mexico. As of right now their interests include swimming, collecting new house plants, and exploring Baltimore!

Phone: (410) 625-9409 x246
Email
they/them

Amanda Insalaco is the Legal Research Specialist at the National Coalition for a Civil Right to Counsel. Before joining the NCCRC in February 2022, Amanda was an Equal Justice Works Fellow at the Center for Disability & Elder Law (CDEL) where they implemented the Housing Preservation Project and handled a variety of other civil matters. As Fellow, Amanda provided outreach presentations to hundreds of senior homeowners and trained and supervised pro bono volunteers who provided almost 400 legal services for estate planning, title searches, and property tax exemptions, with the goal of increasing housing stability, affordability, and the intergenerational transfer of wealth. Amanda graduated cum laude from DePaul University College of Law in May of 2019 and summa cum laude from Northern Illinois University in May of 2014 with a degree in Community Leadership and Civic Engagement.

Amanda enjoys cooking for loved ones, sewing, listening to the spoken word of Ivan Coyote, and hanging out with their dog, Harry.

Phone: (410) 204-8519
Email
they / them / theirs / Mx.