Lawsuit Challenges Congress' 'Unconstitutional' Defunding of ACORN

Interview with Jules Lobel, vice president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, conducted by Scott Harris

Conservative activist James O'Keefe and his friend Hannah Giles, traveled across the U.S. this past summer to offices of the group, ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, where they posed as a pimp and prostitute. The couple, stereotypically dressed for their roles, asked ACORN employees in various offices for help in obtaining a housing loan to open a brothel for underage Salvadoran girls. Some workers attempted to assist the pair, while at least one office ejected them and filed a police report.

These encounters were secretly videotaped by O'Keefe and later broadcast nationwide on the Internet and television, creating a firestorm among Republican legislators and conservative commentators. The video recordings were then employed by GOP lawmakers to launch a successful drive for a congressional vote to defund ACORN of all federal funding for the group's programs assisting low-income people on how to secure mortgages and fair housing education and outreach. The lopsided defunding vote attracted many Democrats, and victory was declared against ACORN, long a GOP target for the group's successful voter registration drives.

Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with Jules Lobel, professor of international and constitutional law at the University of Pittsburgh and vice president of the Center for Constitutional Rights. He explains the center's decision to file a lawsuit challenging what they believe to be Congress’s unconstitutional defunding of ACORN for declaring an organization guilty of a crime and punishing it and its members without benefit of a trial.

Contact the Center for Constitutional Rights by calling (212) 614-6464 or visit their website at www.ccrjustice.org

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