Following Hernandez, a constitutional challenge to the domestic worker exemption would likely succeed in establishing collective bargaining rights for the hundreds of thousands of New York workers employed in private homes.
Ultimately, lawyers and legislators should reject separation as an acceptable response to pregnant people who use substances and should instead pour efforts into services that will keep families together and help them not simply survive but thrive.
The current practice of requiring monetary payments from unwed fathers, but not from mothers or wed fathers of children in foster care is, in the words of Justice Ginsburg, “stunningly anachronistic.”
Our 18 months of COVID-19 state prison litigation and advocacy have sharpened our strategies, deepened our commitment, and heightened our resolve to grow with the movement, always honoring our role.