North Dakota Human Rights Coalition
Working to effect change so that all people in North Dakota enjoy full human rights
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North Dakota Human Rights Coalition Working to effect change so that all people in North Dakota enjoy full human rights |
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~North Dakota Human Rights Coalition~ PAUR Report
Programs ~ Announcements ~ Updates ~ Resources
Visit our Website at www.ndhrc.org
June 29, 2004
Hello members and friends of the North Dakota Human Rights Coalition!
In this week’s PAUR Report:
Announcements 1) Welcome New North Dakota Human Rights Coalition Board Member 2) FM Pride Celebration, June 4 – 6, 2004, Photos Available
Newspaper Articles 3) The Forum (Fargo), Mark Bachmeier Letter: Forum’s report on rights court case was incomplete 4) Letter to The Forum (Fargo) from NDHRC Director in Response to Labor Commissioner Bachmeier’s opinion article on June 24 5) The Forum (Fargo), Human rights group receives grant
Events 6) Save the Date, UFE General Assembly and Community Training, August 7, Moorhead
Reminders 7) Mayor’s Town Hall Meeting, Within our Grasp: Building a Better Bismarck Through Diversity, July 21, Bismarck 8) Contact the NDHRC if You Have Experienced Discrimination in ND 9) Status of Class Action Lawsuit Following June 15 Hearing 10) North Dakota Human Rights Coalition Position on Anti-Gay Marriage ND Constitutional Amendment 11) Fight the Anti-Gay Marriage Amendment Initiative! 12) 2004 Training-of-Trainers Workshop: Human Rights as a Tool for Organizing, July 28 – August 1, Fargo 13) 2004 North Dakota Immigrant Access Forum, August 5, Fargo 14) Save the Date – North Dakota Human Rights Coalition Conference, November 5 & 6, 2004, Bismarck 15) Knowing & Understanding Your Rights is the First Step in Receiving Equal Rights
********************************************* Announcements *********************************************
1.) Welcome New North Dakota Human Rights Coalition Board Member
The North Dakota Human Rights Coalition is pleased to welcome our newest board member, Marsha Ann Blueshield.
Marsha Ann Blueshield is an enrolled member of the Spirit Lake Sioux Tribe. She has 3 children and 4 grandchildren. Marsha received her nursing degree from Lake Region State College in 1978 and has been working for the Tribal programs for 25 years as a Health Tracks, Asthma, and Maternal Child Health Nurse. She is very active in the community in talking about and teaching health prevention. Marsha is a trained HIV/AIDS presenter and has worked extensively with the youth of Spirit Lake on educating them and utilizing the talents they have shown as role models to other young people. She also works with the Human Service Center Attendant Program in Devils Lake on weekends. Marsha has been involved with the North Dakota Human Rights Coalition since 2004.
Please join us in welcoming Marsha to the NDHRC!
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2.) FM Pride Celebration, June 4 – 6, 2004, Photos Available
Photos from the June 4 – 6 FM Pride Celebration photos may be viewed at http://www.21stpublishers.com/FM%20Pride.htm.
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3.) The Forum (Fargo), Mark Bachmeier Letter: Forum’s report on rights court case was incomplete
Mark Bachmeier Letter: Forum's report on rights court
case was incomplete By Mark D. Bachmeier
The Forum's June 16 front-page coverage of a recent human rights court case gives the impression that the plaintiffs prevailed in their lawsuit against the Department of Labor when, in fact, the court ruled substantially in our favor. The Forum neglected to report important facts about the case.
The court disagreed with us on only one point. We believed that we were unable legally to hold hearings on cases where the discrimination occurred before the current law went into effect. We confirmed this with the Attorney General, who said we could not apply the law retroactively. The court disagreed, ruling that two parties should be provided hearings if they want them. We will offer hearings to them.
Two other parties alleged that they were discouraged from asking for a hearing. The court said they can try to prove that allegation, but noted that we had appropriately advised these people in writing that they had a right to a hearing by simply asking for one. We will gladly give these people a hearing if they want one.
All other points in the case were decided in our favor. Specifically:
The court ruled that the North Dakota Human Rights Coalition lacks standing to sue us and dismissed it from the case altogether.
The court ruled that we are acting appropriately when we resolve complaints through conciliation without first making a formal determination of whether discrimination occurred. It made clear that we do not have to make a formal determination in every case, even when the parties want to settle.
<snip>
View full article here
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4.) Letter to The Forum (Fargo) from NDHRC Director in Response to Labor Commissioner Bachmeier’s opinion article on June 24
Cheryl Bergian, Director for the North Dakota Human Rights Coalition sent the following letter to the editor in response to Labor Commissioner Bachmeier's opinion article on June 24
In his June 24, 2004 opinion letter to the Forum, Labor Commissioner Mark Bachmeier attempts to put a positive spin on the Fargo District Court’s denial of his motions to dismiss the class action lawsuit filed against the Labor Department by the North Dakota Human Rights Coalition and seven individual plaintiffs, for failure to appropriately enforce the North Dakota Human Rights Act. The first response of Commissioner Bachmeier to the class action lawsuit was to ask the court to dismiss the lawsuit on the basis that it did not state a claim against the Labor Department that the court could address.
Judge Doug Herman did not dismiss the lawsuit. Despite this fact, Commissioner Bachmeier states that “the court ruled substantially in [the Labor Department’s] favor” and that the Forum neglected to report important facts about the case. Commissioner Bachmeier did not attend the court hearing. The attorney who did attend the hearing on behalf of the Labor Department, Solicitor General Doug Bahr, was interviewed by the media after the court hearing; surely any misapprehension of what occurred in the courtroom could have been cleared up during that interview. And, there are some facts that Commissioner Bachmeier would have known if he had been personally present in the courtroom.
Instead of dismissing the lawsuit, Judge Herman issued a writ of mandamus ordering the Labor Department to provide administrative hearings to two of the plaintiffs in the class action. Judge Herman stated that he was “left with an uneasy feeling that Bachmeier and the state may have been ‘grasping at straws’ in an attempt to find reasons not to offer these two a hearing,” as quoted by the Forum in its article on June 16, 2004. Commissioner Bachmeier attempts to color his failure to offer administrative hearings to these two plaintiffs as a belief that the Labor Department was “unable legally to hold hearings” on those two cases. He ignores the court’s clear disquiet over his initial refusal to enforce the North Dakota Human Rights Act. Perhaps this disquiet was enhanced by Solicitor General Bahr’s acknowledgement (in response to Judge Herman’s questioning during the court hearing) that the Labor Department has issued only eight probable cause findings since receiving full enforcement responsibility in 2001, and has taken none of the hundreds of discrimination complaints it has received since 2001 to administrative hearing in the three intervening years.
Commissioner Bachmeier notes that the North Dakota Human Rights Coalition has been dismissed as a plaintiff in the class action, simply because of a legal question over whether the North Dakota Human Rights Coalition has “standing” to sue the Labor Department on the question of its inaction. Again, if Commissioner Bachmeier had been present at the hearing, he would have heard Judge Herman’s statements that the North Dakota Human Rights Coalition was largely responsible for the “progressive legislative action” in 2001, when the North Dakota Legislature agreed to give the responsibility to enforce the North Dakota Human Rights Act to the Labor Department. Judge Herman also stated that the North Dakota Human Rights Coalition is the leading voice on human rights issues in the state.
Commissioner Bachmeier leaves the impression that the case is completed. On the contrary, the rest of the case is pending. There was no resolution of the lawsuit in the court hearing other than the court’s order that the Labor Department fulfill its responsibility to provide for an administrative hearing in the cases it has refused to so far, and the court’s decision that the Labor Department’s motions to dismiss the case were denied.
So, despite the dismissal of the North Dakota Human Rights Coalition as a plaintiff, the case will proceed, with the other seven individual plaintiffs representing the people in North Dakota who have filed complaints with the Labor Department since it received the responsibility for full enforcement of the North Dakota Human Rights Act in 2001 (the Labor Department has had the responsibility for full enforcement of the North Dakota Housing Discrimination Act since the 1999 legislative session). We are satisfied with that result at this time, as our only goal in the lawsuit is to provide victims of discrimination in North Dakota with an effective state enforcement mechanism for redress of those wrongs through the North Dakota Department of Labor. We did not ask for monetary compensation for our efforts in the lawsuit, as none of the plaintiffs have done. For the next step in the lawsuit, the seven individual plaintiffs will ask the court to certify it as a class action, so that all people who have filed complaints of discrimination, or will file complaints of discrimination, with the Labor Department will have appropriate investigation and effective enforcement of the North Dakota Human Rights Act.
Commissioner Bachmeier states that the Labor Department “[has] not and will never deny the opportunity for an administrative hearing to anyone who is entitled to one.” This is patently wrong, given the court’s order that they provide an administrative hearing to the two plaintiffs who were refused that hearing by the Labor Department. We hope that the Labor Department’s actions in the future will truly provide enforcement of the North Dakota Human Rights Act and North Dakota Housing Discrimination Act, instead of the avoidance of that responsibility that we have observed to date.
Cheryl Bergian North Dakota Human
Rights Coalition
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5.) The Forum (Fargo), Human rights group receives grant
Human rights group receives grant
The North Dakota Human Rights Coalition works to effect change so that all people in North Dakota enjoy full human rights.
North Dakota Human Rights Coalition, Fargo, has been awarded a $2,000 accessibility grant by RESIST Inc., Somerville, Mass.
The grant will cover costs of Brailling documents and sign language interpreters for people attending the coalition's annual human rights conference in November, according to a news release from the coalition.
For more information visit www.ndhrc.org.
View online article here
********************************************* Events *********************************************
A calendar of events is available on the NDHRC web site at http://www.ndhrc.org/Events/Calendar/June.htm.
6.) Save the Date, UFE General Assembly and Community Training, August 7, Moorhead
Save the Date Saturday, August 7, 2004
WHAT: UFE
General Assembly and Community Training by Salvador Miranda
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7.) Mayor’s Town Hall Meeting, Within our Grasp: Building a Better Bismarck Through Diversity, July 21, Bismarck
The second of a series of Mayor’s Town Hall Meetings on diversity issues in the Bismarck community entitled, “Within Our Grasp: Building a Better Bismarck Through Diversity,” will be held on Wednesday, July 21, 2004, 6:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m. at the Best Western Doublewood Inn, 1400 E. Interchange Avenue, Bismarck.
This Meeting will focus on Race and National Origin Discrimination in Bismarck and build upon the Mayor’s Town Hall Meeting held in April.
Attendance is free but advance registration is required to ensure adequate seating and materials.
Additional meeting and registration information is available here.
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8.) Contact the NDHRC if You Have Experienced Discrimination in ND
Have you experienced discrimination in North Dakota?
Do you know someone who has experienced discrimination in North Dakota?
Please call the North Dakota Human Rights Coalition!
Please forward freely!
The North Dakota Human Rights Coalition is currently interviewing people in North Dakota who have experienced discrimination to document those experiences.
Our focus is on discrimination involving:
We encourage individuals who have experienced discrimination to allow us to document those experiences to present before the North Dakota Legislature to provide information on:
If you have experienced discrimination, if you know someone who has experienced discrimination, or if your organization has members who have experienced discrimination, please contact Michael Brown, summer intern for the North Dakota Human Rights Coalition.
Thank you,
Michael Brown North Dakota Human Rights Coalition P.O. Box 1961 Fargo, ND 58107-1961 (701) 232-2554
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9.) Status of Class Action Lawsuit Following June 15 Hearing
The North Dakota Human Rights Coalition is pleased that the class action lawsuit will advance, despite Judge Herman's decision that the NDHRC will not be directly involved as a plaintiff. Judge Herman's decision means that some complainants will receive the administrative hearing that the 2001 legislation mandated, overturning the decision of the North Dakota Department of Labor and the North Dakota Attorney General that those complainants were not entitled to administrative hearings. And, Judge Herman was very clear that the underlying purpose of the North Dakota Human Rights Act, to eradicate discrimination "root and branch", must be fulfilled.
Cheryl Bergian
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The Forum published the following front-page article about the hearing:
Human rights case upheld: Judge says 2 denied
discrimination hearings
North Dakota Labor Commissioner Mark Bachmeier wrongfully denied at least two people the right to have discrimination complaints formally heard, a judge determined Tuesday.
East Central District Judge Douglas Herman ruled Richard Folstrom and Christopher Beeter should be granted administrative hearings in an attempt to settle their grievances – a stipulation required by a 2001 state law.
Folstrom and Beeter were part of a class-action lawsuit filed in March against Bachmeier and the Labor Department for failure to properly enforce the state's Human Rights Act.
In 2000, the state created a division of human rights within the Labor Department to handle certain kinds of discrimination complaints.
Mark Schneider, the Fargo attorney who filed the lawsuit, said Bachmeier isn't doing his job and isn't enforcing the law.
The case was heard Tuesday in the Cass County Courthouse's smallest courtroom, which could barely accommodate the 20 or more people inside, including two wheelchairs that had to squeeze between the aisles.
<snip>
View full article here
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10.) North Dakota Human Rights Coalition Position on Anti-Gay Marriage ND Constitutional Amendment
The NDHRC Board of Directors has established a position on the proposed anti-gay marriage constitutional amendment. The position and proposed amendment is as follows:
North Dakota Human Rights CoalitionPosition onProposed Constitutional Amendment to Prohibit Gay Marriage or Civil Unionsin North Dakota
The North Dakota Human Rights Coalition opposes the proposed North Dakota constitutional amendment to prevent the recognition of marriage or civil unions for same-sex couples.
The NDHRC supports full civil rights for all residents of North Dakota, including gay/lesbian/transgender/bisexual residents of our state. Neither enshrining discrimination in our Constitution nor stripping families of basic protections would serve our state’s best interest. The North Dakota Constitution protects and ensures equal treatment for all people. It should not be used to single out a group of people for harmful and detrimental treatment.
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Text of proposed North Dakota Constitutional Amendment
Marriage consists only of the legal union between a man and a woman. No other domestic union, however denominated, may be recognized as a marriage or given the same or substantially equivalent legal effect.
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The information that the NDHRC Board of Directors used to adopt this position is available on the NDHRC web site at http://www.ndhrc.org/Goals/NDHRAct/GayMarriageAmmendmentPosition.htm. Please note that the NDHRC position is regarding the status of marriage in our civil society; this will not affect how religious bodies view gay marriage within their theologies.
The NDHRC views this as a civil rights issue, squarely within the civil rights issues of recent times, including those of black Americans and Native Americans. It is on that basis that this position was adopted.
Please feel free to contact me should you have any questions. We appreciate your continued support for our work.
Cheryl Bergian
North Dakota Human Rights Coalition
The North Dakota Human Rights Coalition works to effect change so that all people in North Dakota enjoy full human rights.
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11.) Fight the Anti-Gay Marriage Amendment Initiative!
Message from Equality North Dakota:
PLEASE DISTRIBUTE
WIDELY AND FREELY!
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12.) 2004 Training-of-Trainers Workshop: Human Rights as a Tool for Organizing, July 28 – August 1, Fargo
Date: Wednesday July 28th thru Sunday August 1st Location: Cultural Diversity Resources, Human Rights Center, 303 Roberts Street, Fargo, ND
Who should apply: Educators, students, community organizers, social activists, or those engaged in human rights training in the United States. A particular interest exists for the participation of minorities and refugee/Immigrants.
Workshop goals: To practice deep listening and understanding of diverse perspectives and experiences with regard to the role organizing plays in our life and work
To share effective techniques and processes for building healthy communities and alliances for organizing
To enhance understanding about methodologies used in human rights education
To expose the diverse ways human rights education is occurring in the United States
To explore the connection between human rights education and community organizing theory and practices
To expand knowledge of human rights framework, concepts, theory, and practice
To share human rights education, and organizing, materials and strategies for training and advocacy
To explore effective practices for facilitating conflicts
To increase the network of qualified human rights trainers in the United States
Most people in the United States don’t understand that human rights apply to them. Human rights education facilitates social change organizing through action-oriented sharing that is connected to and built upon people’s everyday lives. Human rights education encourages people to frame injustices as human rights violations. From many struggles, human rights education can help us build ONE MOVEMENT.
For more information and an application contact Tai Leathers at Cultural Diversity Resources, (701) 526-3000.
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13.) 2004 North Dakota Immigrant Access Forum, August 5, Fargo
Date: Thursday, August 5, 2004
Location: Holiday Inn, 3803 13th Avenue South, Fargo, North Dakota
Sponsors: Lutheran Social Services, Center for New Americans; North Dakota Department of Public Instruction; North Dakota Department of Human Services; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food & Nutrition Services; Equal Employment Opportunity Commission; and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
Federal and State speakers will discuss: 1. The rights of immigrants to access Federally subsidized services and programs 2. The protections afforded immigrants under Federal civil rights laws pertaining to employment/labor; TANF; HIPAA; food assistance; Medicaid; INS issues; education; housing limited English proficiency; and Medicare/prescription drug program.
Expected participants: Social service and health care providers, immigrant advocates, and beneficiaries.
Contact information: For questions contact Anna Spradlin (1-800-368-1019 or 1-303-844-7902 or anna.spradlin@hhs.gov) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights.
Cost: Estimated cost $25, CEU’s pending, and brochures forthcoming
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14.) Save the Date – North Dakota Human Rights Coalition Conference, November 5 & 6, 2004, Bismarck
!!! SAVE THE DATE !!! Friday, November 5 & Saturday, November 6, 2004 North Dakota Human Rights Coalition 2nd Annual Conference“Human Rights: The Economic Impact of Discrimination”
Location: Best Western Ramkota Hotel 800 South Third Street Bismarck, ND 58504
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15.) Knowing & Understanding Your Rights is the First Step in Receiving Equal Rights
Learn how to attain your rights
1st Thursday of Each month 1:00
p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
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North Dakota Human Rights Coalition P.O. Box 1961 Fargo, North Dakota 58107-1961 Phone: (701) 239-9323 Fax: (701) 478-4452 Email: humanrights@ndhrc.org
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