Alphonse A. Gerhardstein (born 1951) is a civil rights advocate in Ohio who has been at loggerheads since 1976. Although he is nationally renowned as a primary advisor to James Obergefell in the Supreme Court marriage decision of Obergefell v Hodges , he has been an advocate on behalf of prisoners, victims of police abuse and women seeking reproductive freedom throughout his career, in addition to LGBTQ leading to marital equality. In addition to recovering millions of dollars for victims of official offenses, he has sought and achieved systemic criminal justice reform through creative ordering and settlement agreements. He is also the founder of the Ohio Justice and Policy Center, a nonprofit agency that advocates and demands for criminal justice reform.
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Gerhardstein was born in Cleveland, Ohio to Carolyn and Richard Gerhardstein. His father was a commercial chicken farm manager for more than ten years, then lost his job and his promised pension. In an interview at WCET, a local affiliate of Cincinnati PBS, Gerhardstein described how this experience and its influence on his family was so impressive to him about the plight of helpless people in the face of a strong corporation. He studied at Beloit College where he met and married Mimi Gingold, daughter of the children court judge Archie Gingold of St. Paul, Minnesota. He attended the New York University School of Law about the public interest scholarship of Root-Tilden and earned his Juris Doctor degree in 1976.
Maps Al Gerhardstein
Legal career
Gerhardstein started his legal career as Reginald Heber Smith Fellow at the Legal Aid Institute in Cincinnati, Ohio. After two years, he joined Robert Laufman, a prominent civil rights lawyer, practicing mainly in the areas of employment discrimination, police abuse and inmate rights. After Laufman retired in 2004, Jennifer Branch joined him as a partner and the company became Gerhardstein and Branch, LPA. The company declared its mission as advocacy on behalf of those without power.
Civil rights practice
Right of captivity
Gerhardstein commented in a Frontline interview that prisoners have no political basis, only the power of the court to correct the complaints. He has been trying to correct their complaints through litigation.
In 1994, Gerhardstein was named a legal adviser in class action against state officials, administrators and staff from the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville, Ohio, on behalf of the inmates of the riot victims that occurred there in 1993. The plaintiffs were awarded $ 4, 1 million as part of a class action settlement that includes comprehensive reforms of the practices and procedures in the maximum security prison.
Gerhardstein and fellow lawyer Robert Laufman had earlier sued the state of Ohio for cruel and unusual punishment on behalf of some mentally ill prisoners. After filing a legal action, he worked with the Defendant Director of the Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections to address the underlying issues. The collaboration resulted in court approval decisions that provide reforms based on a treatment-oriented approach to mentally ill prisoners in all Ohio state prisons.
He also filed a class lawsuit that challenged the level of medical and dental services provided to inmates by the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction in 2003. The challenge resulted in a settlement agreement that provides a five-year supervision plan to substantially improve the service.
From 2008-2015, Gerhardstein worked with the Children's Law Center in Covington, Kentucky and achieved significant reforms in the juvenile justice system in Ohio by entering into an agreed order in cooperation with the accused administrator of the Ohio Department of Youth Service on behalf of the teen who was imprisoned.. The deal ultimately resulted in dramatic reductions in prisoner populations, the closure of several juvenile prisons, the abolition of solitary confinement and the improvement of mental, educational and recreational services for children in state-wide detention facilities across the state.
Incorrect police behavior
"There are many different strategies that do not rely on catching blacks and feeding more mass arrests, and that's what we do very hard." Gerhardstein was quoted as saying in an article published in The Atlantic.
In 2001, Gerhardstein and his legal advisers filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of the Cincinnati Black Front and Ohio ACLU challenged the excessive use of force and racial profiling by the Cincinnati Police Department. The case is resolved through a collaborative plan, a process of mediation that is very different from the approach taken in similar actions put forward in other jurisdictions. Gerhardstein explained, "[We] went to court because we have been tracking 30 years of city promises We must have a set of promises that can be upheld." One month after the action was filed, unarmed black teens were shot and killed by a Cincinnati police officer, sparking riots across the city. Continuing its approach to solving fundamental systemic problems, Gerhardstein participated together with city officials, police unions and citizens in the creation of a collaborative agreement that established broad reforms in departments that have become models for other jurisdictions.
One of Gerhardstein's focus is Taser reform. He has filed lawsuits and published white papers seeking policies and training that require officers to avoid chest shot and other tactics that increase the risk of injury. The local sheriff's association responded to white paper, opening up valuable local dialogues. Significant federal court decisions involving tasers include Goodwin , Brown (two challenging chest cases), and Peabody (challenging Taser's expulsion in men on the fence).
Reproductive freedom
Gerhardstein has represented Planned Parenthood affiliates in Cincinnati and other Ohio abortion providers since 1985. After the Planned Parenthood clinic was set ablaze in December 1985, he received an order requiring hundreds of demonstrators to honor the women who came as patients in the temporary clinic and to respect their access rights. His lawsuits challenge many Ohio laws that limit abortion and many are considered unconstitutional.
LGBTQ Rights
Gerhardstein has also been an active advocate for the rights of the LGBTQ community. In 1994, for example, he sued the city of Cincinnati unsuccessfully for five years in an attempt to overthrow the famous Cincinnati Charter provision that prohibits the enactment of laws protecting gay communities. After the decision of the Supreme Court in Romer v. Evans, in violation of Colorado legislation in a language similar to the one in the Cincinnati Charter, the case is returned to the Sixth Circuit for consideration based on the new precedent. However, the Sixth Circuit upheld the amendment for the second time, and it stood upside down by Cincinnati voters in 2004. He and his legal partner, Jennifer Branch, have also represented gay and transgender individuals in acts of employment discrimination.
The opportunity to advance the cause of gay rights arrived when Gerhardstein was first introduced to James Obergefell and her dying husband, John Arthur, in 2013. She met with them and explained that Ohio would not recognize their same-sex marriage in Maryland. As a result, when he dies, the death certificate for John will state that he is one person without a surviving spouse. Changing it would require immediate legal action against the state. Obergefell says that Al is the perfect lawyer for them and not sure they will go ahead with anyone else. Gerhardstein filed a lawsuit in a federal court seeking an emergency order that prohibited the state of Ohio issued a death certificate for John who lists the deceased as single and without a living partner. The court decided to support them, stating that "[USA] The United States Constitution, Ohio must admit to the Ohio death certificate applies same-sex marriage of other countries."
From then on, the decision came quickly. A similar case was also decided to marry parents of the same sex who gave birth after following an in-vitro conception and who adopted children and wanted both parents to register their child's birth certificate. The state of Ohio appealed to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. The cases were consolidated with others from the district courts on the wider Sixth Circuit and directly challenged the ban on gay marriage. The appeals court overturned a court ruling and declared that countries can indeed ban same-sex marriage.
In the end, Gerhardstein and other lawyers whose case has been consolidated filed a petition to the United States Supreme Court for trial, which was granted. Gerhardstein observed in a televised interview in April 2015 that this is a citizenship lesson for a country whose constitutional principles are independent of the majority to decide. On June 26, 2015, the Court announced its historic decision at Obergefell v. Hodges which establishes marital equality, finds that same-sex couples have the constitutional right to marry in all fifty states. The decision was called "the sweetest victory in Al's career."
Legacy strategy
Gerhardstein was advised early in his career by Bob Laufman that their law firm was "not causing a case." Over the past 40 years, Al has made this his philosophy. Its implementation has led to a collaborative model and to pursue the comprehensive settlement that has characterized the practice. The resolution has incorporated revised policies, training, warnings, apologies, placards, and reconciliation meetings. One of the most important recent settlements involved the family of Sam DuBose, who was shot and killed by a police officer of the University of Cincinnati in 2015. The case was settled for $ 4.85 million, apology, campus warning, forgiveness of tuition fees for 12 son Sam, and family involvement in police reform at the university.
When asked in an interview how he succeeded in producing a workable, creative and often collaborative resolution in the general climate of the lawsuit, Al responded that you should know your opponents thoroughly and respect their goals; go to court only after you have made a great effort to resolve the dispute; and ensure that whether the resolution of the problem is best achieved through litigation, mediation or settlement, it includes monetary and drug compensation that remedy the injustice to its victims and efforts to prevent its recurrence.
Referenced Cases
Di Southern Southern Correctional Facility , 173 F.R.D. 205 (S.D. Ohio 1997).
Fussel dkk. v. Wilkinson , Kasus No. 1-03-CV-704, 2005 WL 3132321, (S.D. Ohio 22 November 2005).
Dunn v. Voinovich , Kasus No. C1-93-0166 (S.D. Ohio 2000).
S.H. v. Taft , No. 2: 04-cv-1206, 2007 WL 1989753 (S.D. Ohio 9 Juli 2007).
Dalam Cincinnati Policing , 209 F.R.D. 395 (S.D. Ohio 2002).
Goodwin v. Kota Painesville, 781 F.3d 314 (6th Cir. 2015).
Brown v. Chapman , 814 F.3d 447 (6th Cir. 2016).
Peabody v. Perry Twp., Ohio , No. 2: 10-cv-1078, 2013 WL 1327026 (S.D. Ohio 2013).
Planned Parenthood Ass'n. dari Cinti., Inc. v. Project Jericho , 556 N.Ed. 157 (Ohio St 1990).
Women's Medical Professional Corp v. Taft , 114 F. Supp. 2d 664 (S.D. Ohio 2000).
Cincinnati Women Services v. Taft , 468 F.3d 361 (6th Cir. 2006).
Planned Parenthood Southwest Ohio Region v. Hodges, USDC, SDOH, Case No. 2: 15-cv-3079.
Glover v. Williamsburg Local School Dist. Bd. dari Educ ., 20 F.Supp.2d 1160 (S.D. Ohio 1998).
Barnes v. Kota Cincinnati , 401 F.3d 729 (6th Cir. 2005).
Obergefell v. Kasich , No. 13-cv-501, 2013 WL 3814262 (S.D. Ohio, July 22, 2013).
DeBoer v. Snyder , 772 F.3d 388 (6th Cir. 2014).
Obergefell v. Hodges , 135 S.Ct. 2584, 192 L.Ed.2d 609 (2015).
Publikasi (daftar pilihan) *
Alphonse Gerhardstein, Making Money While Making a Difference, 21 Michigan Journal of Race & amp; Law 251 (2016).
Alphonse Gerhardstein & amp; David Krings, Not Comfortable, Police Breaking Cases, The Key to the Right Resolution Method , 10 Public Management (2012).
Alphonse Gerhardstein, Can Effective Apology Appear Through Litigation? 72 Contemporary Laws and Problems No. 2, Spring 2009.
Alphonse Gerhardstein, Utilizing Maximum Reform while Enforcing Minimum Standards , XXXVI Fordham Journal of Urban Law no. 1, January 2009.
Alphonse Gerhardstein,
Alphonse Gerhardstein, PLRA Can Affect Private Practitioners' Ability to Represent Prisoners, XIII Correctional Law Reporter 66 (Feb/Mar 2002).
Awards and acknowledgments (option list) *
2016 - Penghargaan Holmes-Weatherly, Unitarian Universalist Association, Boston, Massachusetts
2016 - Honorary Degree, Doctor of Humane Letters, Meadville School of Theology Lombard, Chicago, IL
2016 - Making Democracy Work Award (Together with wife, Mimi Gingold), Women's Voters League from the Cincinnati Region
2015 - Courage Award, Ohio Justice Association
2015 - Ally for Equality Award, untuk dukungan kepada LGBT Community, Equality Ohio
2014 - Racial Justice Award, Greater Cincinnati YWCA
2014 - Theodor M. Berry Award, Cincinnati Round, NAACP
2010 - Courage Award, Ohio Justice Association
2008 - Diamond Award for Leadership, Service and Support, Planned Parenthood Southwest Ohio Region
2008 - Jewish National Fund/Judge Carl B. Rubin Law Firm This Year
2007 - Presidential Award, for dedication to public services, civil rights, and to the Sentinel Police Association Mission, Sentinel Police Association
2005 - Martin Luther King Spirit Award Conference of Baptist Ministers, Cincinnati Health Alliance, UC Medical Center
2003 - Charles P. Taft Civic Gumption Award, Charter Party of Cincinnati
2002 - Wright-Overstreet Award for Community Service, NAACP Cincinnati Chapter
2001 - Exceptional Achievement Award, Women's Political Caucus of Cincinnati
1998 - Public Service Award, Stonewall Cincinnati
1995 - Andrew B. Dennison Penghargaan Advokat Berani Potter Stewart Inn of Court
* For a complete list of cases submitted by, articles written by and awards received by Gerhardstein, see Gerhardstein & amp; Branch Co. LPA website @ www.gbfirm.com
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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