Case Review Committee

Case Review Committee

Case Review Committe members please log in to access documents.

Sample Cases

Overview
Justice for New Americans, in one form, is an advocacy group for the elimination of bias based on the perception of "perpetual foreigners". Its mission statements state that the organization was created to:

to identify and advocate on behalf of certain individual Americans and/or groups of Americans whose civil liberties may be violated; and
to identify and adopt cases where due process was not fully afforded to certain individual Americans and/or groups of Americans.

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Purpose
These mission statements gave birth to the Case Review Committee. Thus, the primary mission of the Case Review Committee is to review cases for advocacy and/or adoption by Justice for New Americans (J4NA). It is important to note that Justice for New Americans will not take on cases for litigation purposes and it does not intend to be involved in any legal proceedings. The role of Justice for New Americans is to advocate and fundraise for the selected cases, not to litigate.

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Advocacy Levels
At this time, we have identified six levels of support. They are:

Level One: Staff support, refer out to legal aid organizations, or refer out to law firms
Level Two: Inform J4NA members
Level Three: Inform J4NA members and the public
Level Four: Request J4NA members and the public to support
Level Five: Mobilize J4NA members and the public
Level Six: Level Five and fundraising

The role of the reviewers is to recommend to the staff of J4NA the appropriate level of support to provide for a particular case.

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Guidelines
From our experience in reviewing cases, we have developed the following guidelines.

Type of Cases for Adoption/Advocacy: Civil rights cases for New Americans would be given top consideration. The term "New Americans" is defined to include groups of people from green-card holders to people who may have been here for a few generations but who are still considered as "perpetual foreigners". See Overview.

Cases Irrelevant to J4NA's Mission: For cases which are irrelevant to J4NA's mission, J4NA will provide Level One support, if resources are available. If the situation is appropriate, we will educate the client as to his or her rights and responsibilities.

Balanced Review: It would be preferable to have, at a minimum, a two-person team to review each case to ensure a balanced review. One person on the team must be an attorney.

Due Process: Even if a client may be seen to be guilty of a crime, the role of J4NA is to advocate on behalf of the client that he or she is properly afforded Due Process as provided under the Constitution of the United States.

Financial Interests: Any financial interest developed between a client and any reviewer must be reported to the Case Review Committee Chair and the Director of J4NA.

Local Cases Given Preference: Local cases will be given higher consideration due to the fact that more effective advocacy may be provided to the client.

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Expectations of Reviewers
J4NA is a young organization needing support from the community in order to carry out its mission. It appreciates all assistance provided to the organization and ultimately to the client. For people who would like to be considered for the position of reviewer, we ask that the following expectations to be met:

Time Commitment: A reviewer is expected to take on one or more cases (or projects) at a time. Depending on the case, our experience has shown that the reviewer may be working anywhere from 0-5 hours per week. Quite often there will not be anything to do for a few weeks, followed by activities for a few weeks. We ask that the reviewer commit to the committee for a minimum of 9 months.
Reviewer's Responsibility:
1. to review and discuss his or her assigned case with other reviewers assigned to the same case;
2. as a group, provide a verbal report and fill out a Review Summary form;
3. to discuss with the staff as to an appropriate level of support to provide to a client;
4. to propose and carry out a specific plan of action for the client; and
5. if appropriate, discuss/educate client with respect to his or her rights, responsibilities, and expectations.

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Sample Cases
These are some of the cases that have been reviewed or are being reviewed.

Case 1. A client complained that she had been wronged and justice had not been served in her case. She believed that the system was against her, including the judge and attorneys (including her own ex-attorney)r.

After reviewing this personal injury case (car accident), J4NA helped her find a new attorney and strongly advised that her expectation for a million dollar settlement wasunreasonable for the given scenario. Since the client spoke poor English, J4NA assisted her when needed and helped her establish her relationship with her new attorney. Eventually the case went to trial and her attorney obtained a reasonable jury verdict on her behalf and she is now happy.

Note that this case did not meet the criteria for advocacy/adoption by J4NA. J4NA's role became one of education and assistance to the client.

Further note that the same client requested assistance with her wrongful termination suit. J4NA provided to her the names of two employment attorneys that can speak her language.

Case 2. A client complained that his civil rights were violated. After reviewing the lengthy documents in the case, it was found that this wrongful prosecution claim was over ten years old. The client claimed that he was wrongfully prosecuted by the district attorney. The client was ultimately found not guilty of any crime.

The client requested a letter of support from J4NA. It was determined that this case was not appropriate for J4NA. A letter was prepared and sent to the client to that effect.

Case 3. A client complained that police came to her house and arrested her for a matter that she believed was not her fault. After investigating the case, J4NA staff believed that she was not telling the staff the entire story and that she was unable to corroborate her story with solid facts. A J4NA staff member accompanied her to her attorney's office and observed that she was receiving adequate representation. The J4NA staff member also checked with the police authority in order to understand the procedures involved. After finding no evidence of any irregularities, no further action was taken by J4NA.

Note that J4NA's role here wasto ensure that Due Process was afforded to the client and that the client wasproperly represented by counsel - even though the facts of the case reflected that the client's probable culpability.

Case 4. Currently, a client believes that he was wrongfully terminated. The factual circumstances of the case look egregious from a civil rights point of view. The Case Review Committee will fully review the case, recommend a course of action and the appropriate level of support, and carry out the course of action.

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	Friday Sep 05th, 2008 04:59 pm
Home About Events News Links Cases Campaigns Volunteer Donate Defense Fund Library Contact Subscribe to J4NA mailing list Search site: Donate to J4NA Captainyee.org Visit WenHoLee.Org	Cases: Cases \| Case Review Committee Case Review Committee Case Review Committe members please log in to access documents. Overview Purpose Advocacy Levels Guidelines Expectations of Reviewers Sample Cases Overview Justice for New Americans, in one form, is an advocacy group for the elimination of bias based on the perception of "perpetual foreigners". Its mission statements state that the organization was created to: to identify and advocate on behalf of certain individual Americans and/or groups of Americans whose civil liberties may be violated; and to identify and adopt cases where due process was not fully afforded to certain individual Americans and/or groups of Americans. [Back to top] Purpose These mission statements gave birth to the Case Review Committee. Thus, the primary mission of the Case Review Committee is to review cases for advocacy and/or adoption by Justice for New Americans (J4NA). It is important to note that Justice for New Americans will not take on cases for litigation purposes and it does not intend to be involved in any legal proceedings. The role of Justice for New Americans is to advocate and fundraise for the selected cases, not to litigate. [Back to top] Advocacy Levels At this time, we have identified six levels of support. They are: Level One: Staff support, refer out to legal aid organizations, or refer out to law firms Level Two: Inform J4NA members Level Three: Inform J4NA members and the public Level Four: Request J4NA members and the public to support Level Five: Mobilize J4NA members and the public Level Six: Level Five and fundraising The role of the reviewers is to recommend to the staff of J4NA the appropriate level of support to provide for a particular case. [Back to top] Guidelines From our experience in reviewing cases, we have developed the following guidelines. Type of Cases for Adoption/Advocacy: Civil rights cases for New Americans would be given top consideration. The term "New Americans" is defined to include groups of people from green-card holders to people who may have been here for a few generations but who are still considered as "perpetual foreigners". See Overview. Cases Irrelevant to J4NA's Mission: For cases which are irrelevant to J4NA's mission, J4NA will provide Level One support, if resources are available. If the situation is appropriate, we will educate the client as to his or her rights and responsibilities. Balanced Review: It would be preferable to have, at a minimum, a two-person team to review each case to ensure a balanced review. One person on the team must be an attorney. Due Process: Even if a client may be seen to be guilty of a crime, the role of J4NA is to advocate on behalf of the client that he or she is properly afforded Due Process as provided under the Constitution of the United States. Financial Interests: Any financial interest developed between a client and any reviewer must be reported to the Case Review Committee Chair and the Director of J4NA. Local Cases Given Preference: Local cases will be given higher consideration due to the fact that more effective advocacy may be provided to the client. [Back to top] Expectations of Reviewers J4NA is a young organization needing support from the community in order to carry out its mission. It appreciates all assistance provided to the organization and ultimately to the client. For people who would like to be considered for the position of reviewer, we ask that the following expectations to be met: Time Commitment: A reviewer is expected to take on one or more cases (or projects) at a time. Depending on the case, our experience has shown that the reviewer may be working anywhere from 0-5 hours per week. Quite often there will not be anything to do for a few weeks, followed by activities for a few weeks. We ask that the reviewer commit to the committee for a minimum of 9 months. Reviewer's Responsibility: to review and discuss his or her assigned case with other reviewers assigned to the same case; as a group, provide a verbal report and fill out a Review Summary form; to discuss with the staff as to an appropriate level of support to provide to a client; to propose and carry out a specific plan of action for the client; and if appropriate, discuss/educate client with respect to his or her rights, responsibilities, and expectations. [Back to top] Sample Cases These are some of the cases that have been reviewed or are being reviewed. Case 1. A client complained that she had been wronged and justice had not been served in her case. She believed that the system was against her, including the judge and attorneys (including her own ex-attorney)r. After reviewing this personal injury case (car accident), J4NA helped her find a new attorney and strongly advised that her expectation for a million dollar settlement wasunreasonable for the given scenario. Since the client spoke poor English, J4NA assisted her when needed and helped her establish her relationship with her new attorney. Eventually the case went to trial and her attorney obtained a reasonable jury verdict on her behalf and she is now happy. Note that this case did not meet the criteria for advocacy/adoption by J4NA. J4NA's role became one of education and assistance to the client. Further note that the same client requested assistance with her wrongful termination suit. J4NA provided to her the names of two employment attorneys that can speak her language. Case 2. A client complained that his civil rights were violated. After reviewing the lengthy documents in the case, it was found that this wrongful prosecution claim was over ten years old. The client claimed that he was wrongfully prosecuted by the district attorney. The client was ultimately found not guilty of any crime. The client requested a letter of support from J4NA. It was determined that this case was not appropriate for J4NA. A letter was prepared and sent to the client to that effect. Case 3. A client complained that police came to her house and arrested her for a matter that she believed was not her fault. After investigating the case, J4NA staff believed that she was not telling the staff the entire story and that she was unable to corroborate her story with solid facts. A J4NA staff member accompanied her to her attorney's office and observed that she was receiving adequate representation. The J4NA staff member also checked with the police authority in order to understand the procedures involved. After finding no evidence of any irregularities, no further action was taken by J4NA. Note that J4NA's role here wasto ensure that Due Process was afforded to the client and that the client wasproperly represented by counsel - even though the facts of the case reflected that the client's probable culpability. Case 4. Currently, a client believes that he was wrongfully terminated. The factual circumstances of the case look egregious from a civil rights point of view. The Case Review Committee will fully review the case, recommend a course of action and the appropriate level of support, and carry out the course of action. [Back to top]
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