Labor & Employment Law

Judge Blocks ACORN Funding Ban

By Arlene Holt Baker

AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Arlene Holt Baker

A federal judge has blocked U.S. officials from enforcing a funding ban on the community action group ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. At the same time, an independent investigation shows the organization did not engage in illegal activities.

U.S. District Judge Nina Gershon in New York issued a temporary injunction late on Dec. 11 against the funding ban. Congress cut off funding in September after accusations of alleged wrongdoing by workers in one local ACORN office. The group sued the federal government in November, arguing Congress had violated the Constitution by singling out the group for punishment without any legal process to adjudicate guilt. ACORN has fired the employees suspected of wrongdoing.

In her ruling, Gershon said statements by Republican members of Congress accusing ACORN of being a criminal organization that deserved to be punished “underline the punitive nature of the government’s purportedly non-punitive reason” for the funding ban.

ACORN has been active in urging homeowners to fight back against Wall Street and protect their homes. Along with Project Vote, ACORN registered 1.3 million poor people, persons of color and young people for the 2008 election, groups that generally vote for Democrats.

ACORN CEO Bertha Lewis said:

[The] ruling is a victory for the constitutional rights for all Americans and for the citizens who work through ACORN to improve their communities and promote responsible lending and homeownership.

Meanwhile, a recently released report on ACORN by former Massachusetts Attorney General Scott Harshbarger makes it clear the organization did not engage in any illegal behavior. At the same time the report offers nine specific recommendations for strengthening ACORN’s governance structure as well as improving its financial and management controls.

In a statement, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka says Harshbarger’s independent investigation should remind those in Congress and in federal agencies that a “rush to judgment to cut off funding for ACORN prior to the conclusion of the investigations that were under way was wrongheaded and counterproductive.”

It is a strong rebuke to those organizations whose underhanded tactics sought to destroy an organization that has been a singular voice for the millions of poor and disenfranchised in our country.

At a time when millions of Americans are reeling from the loss of jobs, homes and health care, we are confident that the report will enable ACORN to refocus on its core mission of community organizing and civic empowerment.

Click here to read the entire statement.

Full post as published by AFL-CIO NOW BLOG on December 14, 2009 (boomark / email).