Over the past 30 years Ron McGuire has been legal council for CUNY students whom voices are heard but never listened to. The minorities in CUNY schools hold a majority of the population in their classrooms. One of the greatest parts of McGuire's work was not just the success he had in court but also the Pro Bono work he does for them. He doesn't charge them and he also helps their word become equal with the voices of other students when dealing with academic publications or SGA elections.
Unfortunately his work is overlooked by others and the NYC society and his work is not compensated for even by the State Government and minority organizations. So he went to the court of Appeals to try and get compensated $800,000 dollars for the most recent 17 years of work he has done but now the bargain is set at $56,000 and slowly decreasing. He personally doesn't care about the money but he worries that if he isn't compensated by someone for his work, no other attorneys will want to work and fight for these unheard voices in these situations.
The most unique cases he has worked on was the reversal of appeals of judgements made by authorities in CUNy schools regarding elections and school chronicles. In one particular case 34 minorities were set to win an election, but the election was taken over and changed because of the circumstances they were put in. McGuire has set many precedents in the court of appeals though that will fight for the students of CUNY long after he has retired.
No comments:
Post a Comment