New York Lawyers for Public Interest

New York Lawyers for Public Interest has supported a petition opposing the use of emissions free nuclear energy. ⁵

Background

New York Lawyers for Public Interest is a left-of-center nonprofit organization founded in 1976 that is based in New York City. It advocates for race, poverty, disability, and immigration issues. ¹

New York Lawyers for Public Interest also advocates for socialized health care, education, social services, housing, and environmental programs. It works with a network of over 80 law firms and 900 pro bono attorneys to pursue litigation in support of its advocacy. ¹

Policy Reports

In November 2023, New York Lawyers for Public Interest published a policy report titled “New York City’s Failure to Educate Students Classified with ‘Emotional Disability’” that criticized the New York City Department of Education (DOE) for “failing” to address the needs of students with mental health disabilities, particularly those with an “emotional disturbance” or “emotional disabilities,” thereby violating federal disability accommodation laws. The report concluded that New York City and its DOE “as a whole have failed to take the steps necessary to understand the extent of these failures, to explore potential solutions, and to modify their practices.” ²

In response to the “systemic failures” it has identified, the report recommends the New York State Education Department (NYSED) and New York City DOE “reformulate” their data collection practices to track interventions and behavioral assessments of students with emotional disabilities while including race and gender specific data. It also recommends funding additional classroom supports and reviews of interventions to provide more comprehensive accommodations in response to the data. ²

In May 2023, New York Lawyers for Public Interest published a policy report titled “They Can Donate, But They Can’t Receive: Toward Transplant Equity In New York State” that was produced under its “Health Justice” program that advocates for immigrants of all residency statuses to be eligible for the same health-care services and subsidies as citizens. The report highlights the severity of End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD), for which afflicted persons are best treated by a kidney transplant and outlines how undocumented immigrants are ineligible for Medicare, Medicaid, and other publicly funded health-care programs. ³

The report criticizes public healthcare programs for not providing illegal immigrants with the same coverage as citizens and lawful residents, it criticizes healthcare providers for allegedly discriminating against immigrants by asking for Social Security numbers of patients, and for not considering the social impact on patients seeking transplants. It advocates that New York State and City legislators to enact legislation to use state and federal health care funding to provide health insurance to everyone it considers low-income without regard to immigration or residency status. It also advocates for policies requiring New York’s Medicaid program to “explicitly cover” emergency transplants, hire transplant coordinators sensitive to the cultural needs of immigrants, and to fund education campaigns that seek to “overcome biases within the healthcare system.” ³

Environmental Campaigns

New York Lawyers for Public Interest organizes campaigns that advocate for environmentalism and environmentalist policies. It organizes campaigns that advocate for localities to enact conservation policies regarding waste management and protection of public parks. ⁴

Under its environmental advocacy programs, New York Lawyers for Public Interest criticizes waste management policies that result in higher concentrations of landfills, incinerators, and other waste management facilities that are present in low-income communities which it associates with higher rates of health complications. In response, it advocates for policies that restrict diesel use and limit allowable waste production as well as for New York residents and businesses to voluntarily abstain from so-called excessive waste production. ^{6 7}

In January 2022, New York Lawyers for Public Interest was listed as an endorsing organization of U.S. Senator Ed Markey’s (D-MA) and then-U.S. Representative Jamaal Bowman’s (D-NY) introduction of the Heating and Cooling Relief Act. The bill would increase annual funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) to $40 billion, allow applicants to “self-attest” that they meet the program requirements, require utility companies to forgive the debts of LIHEAP recipients, and increase funding of weatherization grants. ⁸

Opposition to Nuclear Energy

New York Lawyers for Public Interest was one of more than 650 signatories on an August 2022 letter organized by People vs Fossil Fuels and addressed to the “Democratic Leadership” in Congress. The letter was titled: “Opposition to Fossil Fuel Project Approvals and Permitting Reforms Conditioned on the Inflation Reduction Act.” ⁵

The letter portrayed as “false solutions” carbon sequestration, carbon-free nuclear energy and all sources of energy not approved as “renewable” by the signatories: “Relying only on large scale investments in renewable energy and environmental justice alone will not stave off climate disaster if Congress simultaneously puts its legislative foot on the gas to expand fossil fuel production and false solutions like carbon capture, hydrogen, biomass, biofuels, factory farm gas, and nuclear power.” ⁵

Nuclear power plants produce no carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gas emissions, and as of 2021 accounted for 20 percent of American electricity production—the largest source of zero carbon electricity in the United States. ⁹ An October 2018 proposal from The Nature Conservancy noted that zero-carbon nuclear plants produced 7.8 percent of total world energy output and recommended reducing carbon emissions by increasing nuclear capacity to 33 percent of total world energy output. ¹⁰

Pro Bono Legal Services

New York Lawyers for Public Interest organizes a network of law firms in New York that offer pro bono legal services for individuals seeking parole, pursuing U Visas for domestic violence-related asylum, attempting to seal criminal records, and pursuing social services. It also partners with law firms to provide pro bono legal services for small business formation and for nonprofits. ¹¹

Leadership

McGregor Smyth is the executive director of New York Lawyers for Public Interest and is a managing attorney of the Civil Action Practice and the director of reentry net at Bronx Defenders. He previously worked as a clerk for the late former United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York Chief Judge Charles Sifton. ¹²

Financials

In 2023, New York Lawyers for Public Interest reported $4.9 million in total revenue, $1.4 million or 29.5 percent of which came from government grants. ¹³ It also reported $5.8 million in total expenses, including $4.3 million in salaries and compensation of its employees. ¹⁴