The Romero Institute is a nonprofit law and public policy center in Santa Cruz, California. The institute has two main projects: the Lakota People's Law Project based in part in the Dakotas, and Greenpower, based in California.

History

Beginnings in the Christic Institute

The

Christic Institute The Christic Institute was a public interest law firm founded in 1980 by Daniel Sheehan, his wife Sara Nelson, and their partner, William J. Davis, a Jesuit priest, after the successful conclusion of their work on the ''Silkwood'' case. Based on ...

was a public interest law firm founded in 1980 by Daniel Sheehan, his wife Sara Nelson, and their partner, William J. Davis, a

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

priest. They had gained a win in the ''

Silkwood ''Silkwood'' is a 1983 American biographical drama film directed by Mike Nichols and starring Meryl Streep, Kurt Russell, and Cher. The screenplay by Nora Ephron and Alice Arlen was adapted from the book ''Who Killed Karen Silkwood?'' by ''Rollin ...

'' case and wanted to continue public interest law. Christic represented victims of the nuclear disaster at

Three Mile Island 3 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 3, three, or III may also refer to: * AD 3, the third year of the AD era * 3 BC, the third year before the AD era * March, the third month Books * ''Three of Them'' (Russian: ', literally, "three"), a 1901 ...

. In 1985, they filed a civil suit for damages against

KKK The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and ...

and American Nazi Party members who had killed civil rights demonstrators in the 1979 Greensboro Massacre. In litigation by the state in a criminal trial and the federal government under civil rights law, all defendants had been acquitted by all-white juries. In addition, the Institute had accused local police and Federal agents of knowing of the potential for violent confrontation and failing to protect the marchers. The Institute defended Catholic workers providing sanctuary to Salvadoran refugees (American

Sanctuary Movement The Sanctuary movement was a religious and political campaign in the United States that began in the early 1980s to provide safe haven for Central American refugees fleeing civil conflict. The movement was a response to federal immigration policies ...

). The institute was based in Washington, D.C., with offices in several other major U.S. cities. The Institute received funding from a nationwide network of grass-roots donors, as well as organizations like the New World Foundation. In 1988, the Christic Institute was ordered to pay $955,000 in

attorneys fees Attorney's fee is a chiefly United States term for compensation for legal services performed by an attorney (lawyer or law firm) for a client, in or out of court. It may be an hourly, flat-rate or contingent fee. Recent studies suggest that when l ...

and $79,500 in court costs as the result of a $24 million lawsuit that was deemed to be frivolous by the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. The ruling was subsequently upheld by the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit and the

Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

. In addition, the Institute lost its non-profit status, as the IRS ruled that its suit had been politically motivated. In the wake of this loss, Daniel Sheehan and Sara Nelson regrouped. In 1992, they became the leaders of the Christic Institute's successor organization, the Romero Institute.

Other projects

Lakota People's Law Project

Founded in 2004, the Lakota People's Law Project (LPLP) began as a group of Lakota grandmothers organizing around issues relating to the Indian Child Welfare Act. The "Lakota Child Rescue Project" was created to assist in the return of Lakota children to families, tribes, and communities and expanded to include the creation of a tribal foster care program funded with direct Title IV-E of the

Civil Rights Act of 1964 The Civil Rights Act of 1964 () is a landmark civil rights and United States labor law, labor law in the United States that outlaws discrimination based on Race (human categorization), race, Person of color, color, religion, sex, and nationa ...

funds from the federal government. In 2016, the Lakota People's Law Project expanded its mission to include land and water issues during the controversial protests against the

Dakota Access Pipeline The Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) or Bakken pipeline is a underground pipeline in the United States that has the ability to transport up to 750,000 barrels of light sweet crude oil per day. It begins in the shale oil fields of the Bakken Forma ...

on the

Standing Rock Sioux Tribe The Standing Rock Reservation ( lkt, Íŋyaŋ Woslál Háŋ) lies across the border between North and South Dakota in the United States, and is inhabited by ethnic " Hunkpapa and Sihasapa bands of Lakota Oyate and the Ihunktuwona and Pabaks ...

Indian Reservation in North Dakota. LPLP defended water protector and attorney Chase Iron Eyes following his arrest in February 2017 and attempted to use a

Necessity Defense In the criminal law of many nations, necessity may be either a possible justification or an exculpation for breaking the law. Defendants seeking to rely on this defense argue that they should not be held liable for their actions as a crime ...

in his trial, claiming that Iron Eyes had no choice to resist the Dakota Access Pipeline due to risks posed to his family and drinking water. Prosecutors dropped felony charges against Iron Eyes in August 2018.

Greenpower

Greenpower, founded in the beginning of 2016, is a community-based organization aiming to aid the transition away from

fossil fuels A fossil fuel is a hydrocarbon-containing material formed naturally in the Earth's crust from the remains of dead plants and animals that is extracted and burned as a fuel. The main fossil fuels are coal, oil, and natural gas. Fossil fuels ...

to locally produced and controlled

renewable energy Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources that are naturally replenished on a human timescale. It includes sources such as sunlight, wind, the movement of water, and geothermal heat. Although most renewable energy ...

. Accomplishments include a robust organizing effort for Monterey Bay Community Power, a community choice energy program in San Benito, Santa Cruz, and Monterey counties. More recently, Greenpower has extended its work to advocate for community choice energy in other parts of the state.

U.C. Santa Cruz Course on Justice

Daniel Sheehan taught a college-level course at the University of California at Santa Cruz on social justice entitled "The Trajectory of Justice: Eight Cases that Changed America." The course examines foundational cases between 1970 and 2000: ''

Eisenstadt v. Baird ''Eisenstadt v. Baird'', 405 U.S. 438 (1972), was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court that established the right of unmarried people to possess contraception on the same basis as married couples. The Court struck down a Massachusetts la ...

'' (1970), '' Pentagon Papers Case'' (1971), ''In re Pappas'' (1972), ''U.S. v. James W. McCord, Jr.'' (1973), ''

Silkwood v. Kerr-McGee Corp. Karen Gay Silkwood (February 19, 1946 – November 13, 1974) was an American chemical technician and labor union activist known for raising concerns about corporate practices related to health and safety in a nuclear facility. She wor ...

'' (1975), '' Greensboro Massacre (Waller v. Butkovich) (1985)'', '' American Sanctuary Movement Case (''U.S. v. Stacey Lynn Merkt, et al.'')'' (1984) and '' Avirgan v. Hull and the Iran-Contra Affair'' (1986).

References

{{reflist

External links

Lakota People's Law Project website

Greenpower website

Romero Institute website
Lakota Native American rights organizations Santa Cruz, California Law firms based in California 1998 establishments in California Óscar Arnulfo Romero