In case readers did not catch these articles when they were published in the the Clearinghouse Review in the July-August and September-October 2010 issues, here is your chance.  Poverty’s Place Revisited:  Mapping for Justice and Democratizing Data to Combat Poverty by Maya Roy (Legal Services of Northern California) and Jason Reece (Kirwan Institute) describes an emerging movement to bring Geographic Information Systems (GIS) mapping directly to lower-income communities and communities of color.  The article includes mapping case studies from Massachusetts and Connecticut and surveys on-line tools used to “democratize” data.  “Public Notice Forums”:  Choosing Among Alternatives to Confront the Intent Requirement by legal services founder Edgar Cahn and his colleagues Cynthia Robbins and Keri A. Nash of the Racial Justice Initiative provides one approach to challenging the requirement that plaintiffs prove that the defendants intended to discrimination to prevail in a race discrimination cases brought under the Equal Protection clause and in other contexts.   This approach, which the authors are endeavoring to apply in the juvenile justice arena, among others, relies on the “deliberate indifference standard” in City of Canton v. Harris.  The authors assert that intent can be inferred when government policymakers choose an injurious course of action over one that is non-injurious and less costly.

Finally, Opportunity and Risk in State and Regional Climate-Planning Efforts–Some Lessons from the Field by Michael Rawson (Public Interest Law Project) and Mona Tawatao (Legal Services of Northern California) urges advocates to engage in advocacy that helps ensure that climate change reforms in land use policy and other areas is beneficial and not harmful to those communities disproportionately affected by greenhouse gas emissions and other negative environmental impacts–lower income communities of color.   These articles are free to Clearinghouse Review subscribers.