Panelists for the National Commission on the Voting Rights Act Hearing in New York City on June 14, 2005 Joan Gibbs Joan Gibbs is General Counsel at the Center for Law and Social Justice (CLSJ) at Medgar Evers College of the City University of New York in Brooklyn. CLSJ is a community-based education, research and legal organization. David Paterson Click here to view testimony Since 1985, David A. Paterson has represented New York’s 30th State Senate District, encompassing Harlem, East Harlem, and the Upper West Side. Senator Paterson also has served as the State Senate Minority Leader since November 2002. He currently is the highest-ranking African-American elected official in New York State and is the first nonwhite legislative leader in Albany's history. Senator Paterson has championed legislation to crack down on hate crimes, domestic violence and child sexual abuse, and to expand voting rights, education funding, affordable housing, and sexual orientation non-discrimination, as well as to protect consumers and ensure the quality of patient care. Martin Perez Click here to view testimony Martin Perez is the President of the Latino Leadership Alliance of New Jersey. Originally from Puerto Rico, Mr. Perez worked as a labor organizer for the Unión Nacional de Trabajadores (National Workers Union). After moving to New York, he served as the Executive Director of the Look Up Children's Center and was one of the leaders of the Committee to Support the Farm Workers (C.A.T.A.). Mr. Perez also has worked as a trial attorney for the Office of the Public Defender in Hudson County and as an attorney in private practice fighting for the civil rights of Latinos, African Americans, and other underrepresented groups. Debo Adegbile Debo Adegbile is Associate Director of Litigation at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund Inc. (LDF), where he works with the Director of Litigation to oversee the organization's legal program while remaining actively engaged in voting rights litigation and advocacy. Previously, Mr. Adegbile was an Assistant Counsel at LDF, where he litigated voting rights cases on behalf of African Americans and other underserved communities. His voting rights experience with LDF encompasses constitutional cases and actions arising under the Voting Rights Act and other federal or state statutes, including NAACP v. Harris, the class action suit that arose out of the 2000 presidential election. Marc Morial Marc Morial is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Urban League. Prior to his appointment as President, Mr. Morial served two terms as the mayor of New Orleans. During his last two years in office, Mr. Morial also served as President of the United States Conference of Mayors. Mr. Morial served two years in the Louisiana State Senate; prior to his elected service, he was a private-practice lawyer at Adams and Reese, one of the Gulf South's leading law firms. One of his most noteworthy cases, the United States Supreme Court case Chisom vs. Roemer, established that the Voting Rights Act applied to the selection of judges Joseph Rich Click here to view testimony Joseph Rich is the Director of Fair Housing and Community Development at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. Prior to joining the Lawyers’ Committee, Mr. Rich spent his entire legal career in the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division. He most recently spent six years as the Chief of the Voting Section, where, in 2004, he directed and coordinated the most extensive election monitoring program in the history of the Civil Rights Division, involving coverage of eighty-six jurisdictions and election monitoring by over one thousand federal employees. Prior to his tenure in the Voting Section, Mr. Rich served for twelve years as Deputy Chief in the Housing and Civil Enforcement Section, as well as Deputy Chief and Trial Attorney in the Educational Opportunities Section. Nadine Cohen Click here to view testimony Nadine Cohen, senior staff counsel with the Boston Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, has litigated extensively in the areas of housing discrimination and voting rights. During her legal career, Ms. Cohen has served as co-counsel in class action lawsuits against the Boston Housing Authority for failure to protect tenants of color against harassment by white residents and racially discriminatory tenant selection practices. She also served as counsel in Black Political Task Force v. Galvin, which involved the Massachusetts State House redistricting plan. Kevin Peterson Kevin C. Peterson is the founder of New Democracy Coalition (NDC), a non-profit and non-partisan organization based in Boston, Massachusetts. NDC, founded in 2001 in the wake of the controversy surrounding the presidential election of 2000, is a membership organization consisting of a growing coalition of social service, civil rights, community-based, advocacy, business, academic and individual partners. Mr. Peterson has published journal articles, book reviews and opinion editorials on the subject of civic engagement. Randolph McLaughlin Randolph McLaughlin is a professor at Pace University School of Law, specializing in voting rights litigation. Prior to joining Pace’s law faculty, Professor McLaughlin was an attorney associated with Meyer, Suozzi, English & Klein, with whom he did litigation and labor law work. He began his legal career at the Center for Constitutional Rights, a civil rights/civil liberties legal organization. In 1997, Professor McLaughlin won a landmark victory in a voting rights case against the Town of Hempstead, N.Y. when a federal judge ruled that the town-wide method of electing the Town Council was discriminatory and ordered that the system be dismantled. Walter Fields Click here to view testimony Walter Fields is the Director of Political Development at the Community Service Society (CSS). He rejoined CSS after a 14-year absence during which he was the principal of a New Jersey-based political consulting firm, established a nationally recognized black public affairs web site, and served as the Director of Public Affairs for the New York State Trial Lawyers Association. In the past decade, Mr. Fields has served as a consultant to both Democratic and Republican political campaigns; conducted an assessment on democratization in sub-Saharan Africa for the U.S. Agency for International Development (US AID); and worked with Operation Black Vote on voting rights issues in the United Kingdom. Greg Moore Greg Moore is the Executive Director of the NAACP National Voter Fund, where he is responsible for the overall coordination of national programs designed to promote increased voter education and participation among African Americans and communities of color throughout the United States while promoting voter rights, election reform and issues that are critical to the NAACP and its branches. Prior to joining the NAACP, Mr. Moore worked as Chief of Staff to the Dean of the Congressional Black Caucus, United States Representative, John Conyers. From 1994 through 1997, he served as Deputy Political Director for the Democratic National Committee and was the Executive Director of the Citizenship Education Fund, the civic educational arm of the National Rainbow Coalition from 1987 through 1992. Margaret Fung Click here to view testimony Margaret Fung is Executive Director of the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, a New York-based organization founded in 1974 to protect and promote the civil rights of Asian Americans. In April 1992, Ms. Fung testified before the United States House Judiciary Committee on the Voting Rights Language Assistance Act. Her advocacy efforts led to the first fully translated Chinese-language ballots in New York City for the 1994 elections. Ms. Fung also was co-counsel for the defendant-intervenors in the 1996 redistricting case, Diaz v. Silver, in which a federal court found that Asian Americans constitute a "community of interest" within New York's 12th Congressional District. Carlos Zayas Click here to view testimony Carlos Zayas is a community activist from Reading, Pennsylvania. Marcos Devers Marcos Devers is an at-large member of the City Council, in Lawrence, Massachusetts. Mr. Devers and three other Latinos were first elected to the City Council in 1999 after the Department of Justice settled a Voting Rights lawsuit with the city of Lawrence concerning numerous violations of the Voting Rights Act, including violations of Sections 2 and 203 resulting from the lack of Spanish-language assistance. In 2001, Mr. Devers became the first Latino mayor in the history of Lawrence and the first Dominican mayor of any United States city when the City Council voted to appoint him Interim Mayor. Mr. Devers was reelected to Lawrence City Council in 2001 and 2003 as the highest vote getter. He also has served as President of the Lawrence City Council. Roger Vann (invited) Roger C. Vann is the Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut, a position to which he was appointed in March, 2005. Mr. Vann previously served more than three years as director of membership and later chief development officer of the NAACP in Baltimore. Mr.Vann has served as a volunteer in several Connecticut state roles, including the Governor's Blue Ribbon Task Force on Affordable Housing, the State Treasurer's Task Force on Individual Development Accounts and the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities. Hazel Dukes Hazel Dukes is the President of the New York State Conference of NAACP branches. She also serves on the Executive Committee of the NAACP, is Vice Chair of the Health Committee, and a Trustee of the NAACP Special Contribution Fund. Ms. Dukes is also currently the Project Coordinator & Clergy Consultant for Community Health Alliance of Harlem, where she specializes in the areas of public policy, health and diversity. Charles Walton Click here to view testimony Charles D. Walton is currently the Director for Special Programs for the Community College of Rhode Island. From 1983 to 2002, Mr. Walton served as a Rhode Island State Senator, where he was the first African American to be selected as President Pro-Tempore of the Rhode Island Senate. Senator Walton lost his bid for reelection for the first time in 18 years after a 2000 redistricting plan reduced the voting strength of the African American community. The 2000 redistricting plan led to a lawsuit filed in 2002 on behalf of African American voters in Providence against Rhode Island officials. Veronica Jung Veronica Jung is the Executive Director of the Korean American League for Civic Action (KALCA), which provides leadership training and civic education through their Internship Program, Educational Programs, Leadership Development Program, and Voter Education & Mobilization Project. Before joining KALCA, Ms. Jung was a litigation associate at the law firms of Hofheimer, Gartlir & Gross LLP and Dickstein, Shapiro, Morin & Oshinsky LLP in Washington, D.C. Ozzie Maldonado Ozzie Maldonado is a resident of Passaic, New Jersey. A retired housing inspector, Mr. Maldonado is a founding member and current President of the United Puerto Rican Council in Passaic, established in 1976. Mr. Maldonado formerly was the President of the Community Action Program, as well as a member of the Lions and Elks Clubs. Jose Garcia/Angelo Falcón Jose Garcia is the Policy Analysis and Advocacy Coordinator at the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund (PRLDEF). Angelo Falcón is the Senior Policy Executive and Director of the Policy Division at PRLDEF. 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