Volume 30
Issue
III

Letter from the Editors

by Samantha M. Rudelich & Megan C. Kilduff
This year, we started off this volume with a deep commitment to honoring the last twenty-nine volumes of the Georgetown Journal on Poverty Law and Policy. We came to this year both reflecting on the foundation of our journal and charting the path forward, with the rapid of change the past couple of years at […]

A Tale of Two Tent Cities: The Critical Role of Housing Engagement in Addressing Homeless Encampments

by Jon DeCarmine and Joseph S. Jackson
Local governments have essentially three choices in responding to the presence of homeless encampments. They can adopt a law enforcement approach, forcing individuals to move their camps on pain of arrest for trespassing. They can adopt an “out of sight, out of mind” approach, designating a specified area where homeless individuals are permitted to camp. […]

The Interdependence of Family, State, and Market: Childcare in the Shifting Landscape of the COVID-19 Pandemic

by Rebecca Horwitz-Willis and Leanna Katz
In response to the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. federal and state governments enacted various supports for childcare, including expanded fund-ing and flexibility for the childcare market, expanded paid leave, more generous and inclusive unemployment insurance, loans available to childcare providers, and tax rebates. In this Article, we trace the distributional consequences […]

Contesting Racial Wages

by Pamela A. Izvănariu
This Article uses archival research to recover the important work of John P. Davis, the Negro Industrial League (NIL), and the Joint Committee on National Recovery (JCNR) as they fought for a racially just New Deal and substantive equality in the Jim Crow era. Specifically, it analyzes the battle between southern industrialists mobilized against Black […]

Accessing Justice in Hybrid Courts: Addressing the Needs of Low-Income Litigants in Blended in-Person and Virtual Proceedings

by Katherine L.W. Norton
The COVID-19 pandemic forced courts across the country to close their doors to in-person proceedings. Courts had to quickly adopt remote technologies that they ignored for years to keep courts operational. As courts have re-opened, courts have maintained hybrid court processes recognizing the benefits that hybrid courts offer for judicial efficiency. However, due to the […]

Disaster Discordance: Local Court Implementation of State and Federal Eviction Prevention Policies During the COVID-19 Pandemic

by Lauren Sudeall, Elora Lee Raymond, and Philip M.E. Garboden
Eviction sits at the nexus of property rights and the basic human need for shelter—the former benefits from a strong framework of legal protection while the latter does not. In most eviction courts across the country, therefore, the right to housing is unrecognized, while landlords’ economic interests in property are consistently vindicated. The public health […]

Fighting Child Poverty in the United States: The Universal Child Benefit

by Steven Jessen-Howard
More than ten million children in the United States live in poverty, largely because of the country’s relative lack of investment in children and families. Child poverty is associated with higher rates of child maltreatment and contributes to a host of outcomes that harm children and society. Recent legislation that increased the size and scope […]

The Detroit Land Bank Authority: A Modern Tool Perpetuating Racism & Classism in the City

by Samantha Rudelich
Detroit has a long history of pushing out local residents and limiting their land ownership; a history rooted in racism and classism. This has led to large amounts of land in the city not under the control of residents and long-time Detroiters, but under the control of the city itself. Cities with large amounts of […]

Reworking Women’s Work: Legal and Policy Solutions for Alleviating Poverty Among Working Women

by Madeline Terlap
Women, especially women of color, are more likely to live in poverty, work low-wage jobs, and are less likely to exit poverty through work. This Note explores the question of why working women are stuck in poverty and proposes work-related solutions to remedy poverty among women. First, this Note proposes three possible factors that contribute […]