Habig, a lawyer by training and involved in local and state government for most of the past decade, discusses civil rights in schools, as well as chronic absence and the school-to-prison pipeline.

Today, the nonpartisan Public Rights Project announced that it is launching its fellowship program in Oakland. The program will place a full-time legal fellow in the City Attorney’s Office to help with lawsuits to safeguard the rights of Oakland’s diverse communities, including communities of color, women, immigrants and low-income residents. 

“States and cities have long been at the front lines of protecting their communities from predatory practices and financial fraud,” Pearl said. “With the CFPB withdrawing from this space, the role of state and local governments is more important than ever."

A lawyer on the CFPB’s enforcement command staff is preparing to leave the agency to join the California-based Public Rights Project in February as legal director.

The Georgetown Law Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection (ICAP) and the Oakland-based Public Rights Project filed a 63-page defense of the 2017 Gary ordinance Bopp claims violates Indiana's 2011 prohibition on sanctuary cities.

Nearly 25 million employees lost their day in court when the U.S. Supreme Court in Epic Systems v. Lewis gutted the ability of American workers to stand up for themselves when their rights are threatened by their employers. 

In the 135 days since the Trump administration took control of the nation's consumer watchdog agency, it has not recorded a single enforcement action against banks, credit card companies, debt collectors or any finance companies whatsoever.

In the end, it’s the cities and states that will pick and win the important fights against the exclusionary policies represented by this administration.