Unemployment Insurance Victory
When the pandemic caused mass layoffs in 2020, hundreds of thousands of Virginians found themselves out of work and struggling to pay rent, buy food, afford prescriptions, or make loan payments. The struggle many didn’t expect? Trying to access unemployment insurance funds through the Virginia Employment Commission (VEC). Instead of receiving the emergency help they […]
Read moreMobile Home Park Discrimination Ruling Appealed
DOJ, Immigration & Fair Housing Groups Provide Support The plaintiffs in a long-running housing discrimination case are seeking to overturn a district court ruling that would allow the Waples Mobile Home Park in Fairfax, Virginia, to evict tenants based on a family member’s immigration status. The appeal, which is being led by the Legal Aid […]
Read moreWelcome our new Director of HR & Legal Director
We are delighted to announce two new members of the Legal Aid Justice Center team, Fallon Speaker as Legal Director of our Youth Justice Program and Fanny Brisker as our first-ever Director of Human Resources. Fallon Speaker – Legal Director, Youth Justice Program Prior to joining LAJC, Fallon served as an Assistant Clinical Professor of […]
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Welcome Our New Staff!
In the past few months we have been joined by a number of fantastic new staff members! Meet the staff who have started with us since March 2022: Favio Gonzales (he/him) – Communications Associate Originally from Peru, Favio received a B.A. in Audiovisual Communication at the Peruvian University of Applied Sciences (UPC), and is currently […]
Read moreFarmville ICE Detention Center Lawsuit – Settlement
Federal Court Settlement Places Strict Limits on ICE Detention at ICA-Farmville WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, a settlement agreement on claims for injunctive relief was reached in Santos Garcia et al. v. Wolf et al., a case filed by the National Immigration Project (NIPNLG), Legal Aid Justice Center (LAJC), and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP on […]
Read moreThe Fight to Prevent Presumptions Against Bail
When the Governor recently introduced a budget amendment that would reinstate presumptions against bail, we fought back. The Pretrial Justice Coalition (which LAJC is a founding member of) helped to repeal the presumptions in 2021 and knew defending the victory was key to continuing to make our pretrial system more just. We asked for the […]
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Veto Session Update – 2022 Legislative Session
Every legislative session in Virginia culminates in a brief “Reconvene” or “Veto” session where the General Assembly considers any vetoes or amendments from the Governor. On April 27th, legislators gathered to act on approximately 100 bills that Gov. Youngkin proposed amending, as well as 26 bills that he vetoed. Several of those bills directly implicated our […]
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LAJC/Youth Justice Program’s statement on HB 1197
Virginia has received national attention in recent years for shifting its approach to juvenile justice from a punitive, carceral system to a more rehabilitative, restorative, and community-based model. The bipartisan passage of HB 1197 continues this trajectory by establishing a stakeholder workgroup to initiate the transfer of the Department of Juvenile Justice from under the […]
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