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In the more than 20 years that I've been actively engaged in
social justice advocacy,
whether in the public sector or
as a civil rights litigator, or running non-profits, I've always had
enormous respect
for Open Society Foundations.
The experience of growing up in Washington significantly contributed
to the commitment I have to justice and fairness. When my parents moved to
Washington DC, because Washington DC is not a state, they were unable to vote
for President.
And even now,
Washington DC does not have any elected Members of Congress who have
voting rights.
And that reality of disenfranchisement, of a community of over 600,000
people, was something that I grew up with and saw how it affected the
ability of community, especially a community that is majority
a minority, to exercise self-governance.
We're going to see a very different America in 30 years. The idea that this
country will be a majority/minority nation by
2042 or 2050 depending on which demographer you're
listening to,
means that there's change and growing diversity everywhere
in the United States that will have profound influences on our politics,
and on our policy.
I was particularly fortunate
to play a role in
the first legislative abolition of the death penalty since the Supreme Court
decision in 1973.
I was serving as chief counsel to Governor Corzine of New Jersey. On the
Friday before Governor Corzine was going to sign the bill on Monday, I got a call from
Rome asking if
there was any legal objection Governor Corzine had to the Roman
Coliseum being lit up
when Governor Corzine signed the bill.
It's a reminder to me
about the potential impact
that actions in a particular locality
in the United States can have internationally, and just as much
the other way around. One of the most significant crises that the country
faces continues to be what's going to happen with the mortgage finance system.
I think it's actually an area in which what happens internationally, particularly
in Europe,
Has significant ramifications for what happens in the Unites States, and vice
versa. The
particular challenges I think the Obama administration has in this area
are to some extent the story of lost opportunity. But as we think of the ways
in which the country got in to the mortgage finance crisis and is going
to come out of it, ensuring that there are the right kind of accountability mechanisms
is particularly critical. I mean I think more broadly, what happens as the
United States
fundamentally rebuilds
its mortgage finance system, it's going to have huge ramifications particularly on
low-income communities and communities of color.
And it's going to be something that's going to be worth paying some attention to.