by Jeremy Leaming
The nation lost one of its leading advocates for the less fortunate and for equality with the death of Michael A. Rothenberg, longtime head of the New York Lawyers for the Public Interest (NYLPI).
Rothenberg, who served as the executive director of NYLPI, was found dead at the age of 47 on Feb. 23. The cause of death was a fall from the roof of a building in Brooklyn. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle reports that the New York Police Department found his body on “a terrace at 100 Jay St., after he had apparently fallen from the roof.”
The Daily Eagle noted that after graduating from the New York University Law School, he “became a litigator in the housing unit of Brooklyn Legal Services. He then won a fellowship at the Rockefeller Family Foundation, and subsequently worked on jury reform at the Vera Institute of Justice. He joined New York Lawyers for the Public Interest (NYLPI) as associate director in 1997.”
He told the NYU Law Review, the Eagle reports, that his goal was “to create a center where lawyers and community organizers can come together to create lasting social change for people in communities in need.”
The U.S. Supreme Court is hearing oral argument today in 
The forum, “Excluded from Democracy: The Impact of Recent State Voting Law Changes,” will consider these laws’ potential to decrease voter participation and access to the ballot, especially for minority, low-income, elderly and student voters. According to a 
In the experience of this attorney and Civil Rights Commissioner with a disability, there is continued need for translation of this law enacted 21 summers ago into practice in a way that maximizes the integration of the largest and poorest minority population in our neighborhoods, people with disabilities. For there to be a genuine translation of the law into daily acceptance and compliance, people with disabilities of any age need to be regularly visible and active within the marketplace, the workplace, and in the schoolhouse. A personal regular experience might clarify this point. Partnered with a guide dog, it is rare that my wife and I observe more than just us and my furry sidekick Pilot at an upscale bistro, spa, or hotel. An approach that this Civil Rights Commissioner believes states should increasingly apply to ensure that more and more of our citizens can be fully integrated or “age in place” is property tax forgiveness to homeowners with disabilities of any age or homeowners with military or first responder related service disabilities.