Stein Council for 2013-2014

The Stein Scholars annually elect a Stein Council as the administrative and governing body.  All Stein Scholars are eligible candidates for these leadership positions.

The Stein Council meets every few weeks or so to discuss Stein and the direction the program is going, as well as any issues that may arise.  Representatives are available to discuss Stein issues at any time and bring up issues to Stein Scholars as a whole or the Stein Directors.

The new Stein Council for 2013-2014 has been elected!

Class of 2015 (2LDs): Mary Gibbons & Joshua Kingsley
Class of 2014 (3LDs): Linda Jordan & Paula Sternberg
Evening Division: Angelica Kang
Representatives for the first year class will be elected in September.

Congratulations to the new Council members and much thanks to the 2012-2013 council for the excellent work they have done for Stein.

Madame President: Rebecca Iwerks
3L Representative: Jerry Dickinson
2L Representatives: Alex Berke & David Harvey
1L Representatives: Vanessa Salazar & Tom Ross
Evening Division: Angelica Kang

(To find out more about the current council, click here.)

Oral History Project

As part of the 20th Anniversary Celebration of the Stein Scholars Program, Stein Scholars have been working on the super cool Oral History Project.

Steins have been interviewing alumni on film and by phone, gathering experiences and memories of the program.

You can (and should!) watch some of these interviews here: http://law.fordham.edu/louis-stein-center-for-law-and-ethics/29300.htm.

Save the Date!

Register here.

Stein Center News - March 2013 edition is out!

The Stein Center e-newsletter for alumni and friends of the Stein Center for Law and Ethics at Fordham has been published! Check it out!

Service Project: Mold Remediation in the Rockaways!

This past Saturday, a group of Steins and FLS alumni headed out to Averne to partner with Respond & Rebuild and fight some mold as part of our Stein Service Project.

The group participated in the on-going battle against mold.  Many of the residents are either unable to afford contractors (many of whom are price gouging) to successfully rid houses of mold or are in insurance limbo and in the meantime, are living in toxic environments.  (Breathing mold is pretty bad for you.)  Respond & Rebuild has employed an effective, public-health-officer-approved multistep process that fights mold for residents of the Rockaway.

Houses that have been flooded during Sandy are first stripped of all damaged, non-structural wood and dry wall.  The areas are then fully dried before the structural wood is completely scrubbed with metal brushes and all the dust is vacuumed.  After the scrubbing, the wood is then soaked in detergent to kill off the mold.  We were told that the reason that the wood is scrubbed before it is soaked in detergent is because mold has roots and the scrubbing destroys those roots and the detergent can then fully penetrate the wood and remove the mold.

Led by a Respond & Rebuild team leader, our dedicated group spent the day (9:30AM-4:30PM) scrubbing the basement of a homeowner who had damage to her first floor, which, pre-Sandy, she had rented out to a tenant.  There was lots of dust but were equipped with respirators and Ghostbuster suits.  Respond & Rebuild takes the safety of their volunteers very seriously.


We were super impressed with Respond & Rebuild's organization and quality of work.  Many of us pledged to return in the future to help them with the ongoing process of rebuilding the Rockaways.  Respond & Rebuild can be followed on Facebook and also has a registry of the supplies they need to keep up their excellent work.

Much thanks to those who volunteered at and attended the 2012 PIRC Ball, as funds raised during the ball were used to provide transportation for the volunteers.  Also thanks to the Fordham alumni who came out to help and thanks to a Stein-by-association (the husband of a Stein) who volunteered and drove half the group and many of the supplies in his truck.

Team Mold! Back row (left to right): FLS alum Jessica Limbacher '12, FLS alum Will Cooper-Daub '12, Stein Scholar Kelsey Ripper, Stein Scholar Richard Hendrix, Stein-by-marriage Andrew Chen | Front row: Stein Scholars Alex Berke, Angelica Kang, Mary Gibbons

Lots of work gloves and they always need more

Respond & Rebuild headquarters

Digging through the work gloves

Respond & Rebuild's Jeff gives the safety talk

The truck loaded up with mold fighting supplies

We're not messing around

Steins scrubbing away

Lastly, a report-back and discussion as to the legal and relief work that is left to be done will be the Stein This Week event.

Update: here's a really great article on Respond & Rebuild's efforts in the Rockaways!

Stein this Week: Policy & Constitutional Implications of the NY Secured Ammunitions and Firearms Enforcement (SAFE) Act

On Wednesday, February 27th at 4:30pm, the Stein Scholars had a panel discussion on the policy and constitutional implications of the NY Secured Ammunitions and Firearms Enforcement (SAFE) ACT, the recent gun control measure that was passed in New York State in January in response to the shootings in Newtown, CT. The event was organized with help from Michael Huggins, Danielle May, Linda Jordan, Dan Kadish and Alex Wentworth-Ping.

The panelists included:
Dr. Saul Cornell, Author of a Well Regulated Militia
Carmine Guiga, NY City Council, Division of Governmental Affairs
Jesse Loffler & David Yiffin, Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson LLP
Dr. Ankur Saraiya, NYU Bellevue Hospital Clinician
Dr. Thomas Smith,  Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Columbia

Alex Wentworth-Ping moderated the discussion and first gave time to each of the panelists to discuss some of their views on gun control generally and the New York response. The panelists raised several issues including the limitations on "common use" taken from D.C. v. Heller; how gun control might be a step in the right direction, but that it ultimately will require more in order to stop gun violence in certain neighborhoods; whether or not it would be a taking under the Fifth Amendment if certain guns were deemed illegal and the chilling effect that mandatory disclosure provisions, such as those included in the SAFE Act, could have on psychiatric patients.

Mr. Wentworth-Ping asked several other questions regarding the timeliness of the Act as well as how to alter the marketplace so that so many guns are not in the supply chain. Most seemed happy that the Act passed so quickly and that any problems could be adjusted through amendment and additionally mentioned that reducing the guns in supply is a huge task to be dealt with over time. The rich and lively discussion was very informative.

The Stein Scholars would also like to thank its co-sponsors -- the American Constitutional Society, BarBri and the Urban Law Journal -- for their generous support. We are proud that the event was so successful and hope that it stirs future conversation and debate going forward.

Looking back: Food Stamps Panel

In the Fall 2012 semester, Stein Scholars organized a panel discussion on Food Stamps.

From Stein Scholar April Harris '15E:

Our panel included Mark Dunlea of the Hunger Action Network, Heather MacDonald of the Manhattan Institute, Robert Doar (HRA Commissioner), Lawrence Mead (Political Science Professor at NYU), and Nicholas Freudenberg (Public Health Professor at Hunter College). Further, Professor Marcella Silverman (a former legal aid attorney and current clinical associate professor here at Fordham) served as our moderator. The panelists debated the recent repeal of the finger imaging requirement for Food Stamp recipients.

Considering my background in welfare advocacy, the discussion was particularly insightful in that it exposed the challenges HRA faces in managing an effective public benefits system. Beyond this, the panel also allowed me to consider how public benefits touches on other areas. For example, Professor Freudenberg shared some data in how the Food Stamp program granted low income communities access to healthier food choices.