This week’s Defenders of Justice Awards honor some North Carolinians who are improving our state

There are plenty of reasons for pessimism these days. The ongoing economic recovery from decades of casino capitalism continues at a snail’s pace. Global warming and other environmental disasters pose a daunting to challenge to our health, wellbeing, and maybe even our long-term survival. Parts of the planet continue to breed backward-looking intolerance and levels of group anti-social behavior that are enough to make one fear for civilization. And here in North Carolina, we feel the effects of all of these trends and many others that are enough to leave us wondering about the kind of a place we’ll be handing our children.      

And then, just as one is beginning to feel the hope ebbing away, example after example from the real world jerks us back to the reality that things can, will and actually are getting better in many important ways. Despite the tough news that confronts us of late, boatloads of talented, passionate, influential and effective people are improving our world on a daily basis by building a saner, fairer, healthier, and more open-minded planet. These people refuse to give in to the forces of selfishness and reaction that would drag society backward. Instead, they keep and feed the flame of progress and inspire others to do likewise.

This Thursday in Durham, the North Carolina Justice Center will honor five such purveyors of hope and optimism and hear from a sixth. The occasion is the group’s 11th annual Defenders of Justice Awards and it promises to be a battery recharger for hundreds of the state’s progressive movement. The evening will be headlined by keynote speaker Bob Edgar, former congressman from Pennsylvania and current President and CEO of the national good government group, Common Cause. 

The honorees

Here is a brief description of each of the award winners:

AARP of North Carolina

Though known to most for its huge membership and national prominence, many North Carolinians may be unaware of the outstanding contribution that AARP of North Carolina makes to the state-level policy debate in North Carolina. For years, it has been a respected and aggressive voice for the needs of older adults, particularly those struggling to make ends meet.

AARP’s outstanding policy research and advocacy work have made an enormous difference on many issues, including consumer protection, health care, housing, budget and tax policy, access to public utilities, and transportation policy. On each of these issues and many others, AARP NC is invariably one of the state progressive community’s most reliable, committed, passionate and effective partners in the effort to protect and improve the lives of North Carolina’s most vulnerable citizens.

Angaza Laughinghouse

Angaza Laughinghouse, president of the North Carolina Public Service Workers Union, UE Local 150, has been fighting for workers’ rights for nearly four decades.

Spurred by the Greensboro Massacre, Laughinghouse arrived in North Carolina in 1979 to provide legal aid to workers in Greensboro. In the 1980’s, he and members of Black Workers for Justice, an organization he helped found, assisted residents and construction workers in Raleigh’s Chavis Heights neighborhood to secure asbestos testing and safe removal of construction materials. He also organized community support after the 1991 chicken processing plant fire in Hamlet, NC, which killed 25 people.

More recently, Laughinghouse has helped Raleigh’s sanitation workers in their struggle to secure improvements in wages and working conditions, worked with employees of the Moncure plywood factory to build public support during their recent strike advocated fiercely for the repeal of the state law banning collective bargaining for workers of government agencies.

State Rep. Mary Price “Pricey” Harrison

Rep. Pricey Harrison of Guilford County, now in her third term in the NC House, is a one of the General Assembly’s most steadfast supporters of low-income families and communities. No matter what the battle, Harrison is always ready to take on “the powers that be.”

In 2009, Harrison made invaluable contributions during the debate over the state budget. She successfully battled, both in public and behind closed doors, to raise new revenue and avoid draconian cuts that would have hurt families throughout the state. She also fought to ensure that reforms to the State Health Plan were fair and did not unduly burden struggling families and helped create a blue-ribbon task force to study long-term reforms of the plan to keep it financially solvent.

Harrison has also fought against the lottery and for progressive tax-reform measures, such as the creation and expansion of the state Earned Income Tax Credit. She has also worked for fiscal responsibility and fairness by reaching across the aisle to end giveaways to profitable corporations and other sacred cows, like special tuition breaks for university athletic booster clubs.

Finally, Harrison is also widely known as the House’s most visible leader in the field of environmental protection and has worked diligently and effectively on issues ranging from global warming to clean water to mountain-top removal.

State Sen. Floyd B. McKissick, Jr.

Though only a second term state senator, Durham’s Floyd McKissick is a veteran leader in the fight for civil rights and fairness. He takes on powerful interests but does so in a gracious and intelligent manner not often seen in the General Assembly.

Sen. McKissick was the lead senatorial sponsor of one of this past session’s most important bills: the Racial Justice Act, a groundbreaking new law that allows defendants to use statistical evidence to prove race was a factor in the imposition of or the decision to seek the death penalty. The bill faced considerable opposition from law enforcement officials, but Sen. McKissick did not back down because he understood that race still plays a role in the flawed court system. In the waning days of the session, he convinced a majority of his Senate colleagues to vote for the bill.

This year, Sen. McKissick persevered through many unwarranted challenges to pass a bill that will help people with disabilities fight housing discrimination. He also worked to secure a law that prohibits local governments from discriminating against housing developments that will include affordable units for low-income families when making land-use and permitting decisions. In addition, he successfully championed a bill to mitigate racial profiling by law officers and to create new rules for the care of minor children when parents or supervising adults are arrested.

G. Christopher Olson and John Alan Jones

Chris Olson and John Alan Jones of the law firm Martin & Jones have used their impressive legal skills to expand protections for all North Carolina consumers. In two recent cases, they recovered tens of millions of dollars for more than 10,000 sub-prime borrowers who paid for costly credit insurance premiums. But more importantly, these cases established significant consumer protections for all North Carolinians.

The settlement of Richardson v. Bank of America, et al. calls for the distribution of $38.75 million to more than 800 borrowers. The case secured an appellate court decision establishing that a consumer who suffers damages as a result of an unfair trade practice is entitled to recover three times the amount of his out-of-pocket damages. It also established that a mortgage lender owes its customers good faith and fair dealings, and that a lender who violates that obligation may be liable for punitive damages.

The case Tillman v. Commercial Credit Loans, Inc., et al. was settled for $42.5 million for more than 10,000 consumers. In this case, the NC Supreme Court issued a landmark decision that “mandatory arbitration clauses” in the consumer contracts were unenforceable. This ruling will impact every North Carolinian because these clauses, which essentially shield a business from any legal challenge, are in most consumer contracts.

For more information

For more information on the Defenders of Justice Awards event, click here or call the Justice Center at 919-856-2570. At last report, some tickets were still available.