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{{Short description|Socio-economic community advocacy group}}
{{Otheruses4|the advocacy organization|other uses|Acorn (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox organization

{{Infobox Organization
|name = Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now |name = Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now
|image = ACORN.svg |image = Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (logo).svg
|image_border = |image_border =
|size = 200px
|caption = |caption =
|map = |map =
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|motto = |motto =
|formation = 1970 |formation = 1970
|extinction = |dissolved =
|type = ] |type = ]
|status = |status = Active; defunct (US)
|purpose = |purpose =
|headquarters = ] |headquarters =
|location = |location =
|region_served = ], ], ], ], ], ] |region_served = {{hlist | United States | ] | Argentina | Mexico | India | Canada | United Kingdom}}
|membership = |membership =
|language = |language =
|leader_title = President |leader_title =
|leader_name = Maude Hurd (1990-present) |leader_name =
|main_organ = |main_organ =
|parent_organization = |parent_organization =
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|num_staff = |num_staff =
|num_volunteers = |num_volunteers =
|budget = $100 Million USD+ |budget =
|website =
|remarks =
}} }}


The '''Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now''' ('''ACORN''') is a ]-based{{fact}} organization in the ] that advocates for low- and moderate-income families by working on neighborhood safety, ], ], affordable housing, and other social issues. ACORN has over 400,000 members and more than 1,200 neighborhood chapters in over 100 cities across the ],<ref name="about-acorn"/> as well as in ], ], ], and ]. ACORN was founded in 1970 by ] and Gary Delgado.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sonoma.edu/users/w/wallsd/community-organizing.shtml |last=Walls |first=David |authorlink =David Walls (academic) |title=Power to the People: Thirty-five Years of Community Organizing |work=The Workbook |month=Summer |year=1994}}</ref> Maude Hurd has been National President of ACORN since 1990. The '''Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now''' ('''ACORN''') is an international collection of autonomous ]-based organizations that advocates for low- and moderate-income families by working on neighborhood safety, ], ], ], and other ]s. They, along with a number of other community unions, are affiliated under ].<ref name="PP"/>


== Organization ==
ACORN's priorities have included: better housing and wages for the poor, more community development investment from banks and governments, better public schools, and other social justice issues.<ref name=r8144>{{cite web|url=http://www.acorn.org/index.php?id=1139&L=0%3Fid%3D8144|publisher=ACORN (press release)|title=New Report Finds Widespread Local Use of Affordable Housing Program Being Currently Debated in Congress|date=2002-07-23}}</ref> ACORN pursues these goals through demonstration, negotiation, lobbying for legislation, and voter participation.<ref name=r8144/> ACORN is a ], ] organization that typically champions liberal and progressive causes. It is made up of numerous legally distinct parts including local non-profits, a national ] organization, and the ACORN Housing Corporation.
In the US, ACORN was composed of a number of legally distinct ] entities and affiliates including a nationwide ] established as a ] that performed ]; local chapters established as ] ] charities; and the national nonprofit and nonstock organization, ACORN Housing Corporation. ACORN's priorities included: better housing and wages for the poor, more ] investment from banks and governments, better public schools, ] causes and ] issues. ACORN pursued these goals through ], ], ] for legislation, and ].<ref name=r8144>{{cite web|url=http://www.acorn.org/index.php?id=1139&L=0%3Fid%3D8144|publisher=ACORN (press release)|title=New Report Finds Widespread Local Use of Affordable Housing Program Being Currently Debated in Congress|date=2002-07-23|access-date=October 9, 2008|archive-date=September 27, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927100659/http://www.acorn.org/index.php?id=1139&L=0%3Fid%3D8144|url-status=dead}}</ref>


Unlike in the US, ACORN groups in other countries have little organizational funding.<ref name="PP"/> Under the ACORN model, most members are volunteers. Employed union organizers come from those working in local ACORN campaigns rather than from existing organizations and are paid a low wage.<ref name="PP"/> The union works on local and national level campaigns.<ref name="PP"/>
ACORN has been the subject of public controversy and has been accused of actions including embezzlement, management fights, and voter registration fraud committed by its workers.<ref name=cbs/><ref name="nyt"/>


==History==
==Issues and actions==
{{Further|History of ACORN in the United States}}
=== Predatory lending and affordable housing ===
Founded in 1970 by ] and Gary Delgado,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sonoma.edu/users/w/wallsd/community-organizing.shtml |last=Walls |first=David |author-link =David Walls (academic) |title=Power to the People: Thirty-five Years of Community Organizing |work=The Workbook |date=Summer 1994 |access-date=2010-12-03| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20101115100115/http://www.sonoma.edu/users/w/wallsd/community-organizing.shtml| archive-date= 15 November 2010 | url-status= live}}</ref> at its peak ACORN had over 500,000 members and more than 1,200 neighborhood chapters in over 100 cities across the U.S.<ref name=csm>{{cite news|newspaper=]|title=What is the ACORN controversy about?|author=Michael B. Farrell|date=2009-09-16|url=http://features.csmonitor.com/politics/2009/09/16/what-is-the-acorn-controversy-about/}}</ref><ref name="about-acorn">{{cite web|url=http://www.acorn.org/index.php?id=12342|title=Who is ACORN? (organization homepage)|access-date=2009-09-15|archive-date=December 31, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121231215325/http://www.acorn.org/index.php?id=12342|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 2002, ] was created to aid the spread of ACORN's model to other countries.<ref name=":1" /> There are currently ACORN affiliates in ], ], ], ],<ref name="AGMT">A. Gilchrist and M. Taylor, ''The Short Guide to Community Development'' 2nd edn (Bristol: ], 2016)</ref> ],<ref name="JT">J. Talpin, '' (29/06/17) on metropolitics.org</ref> ], ], ], ], ], ], ],<ref name="PS">P. Smythe, '' (29/04/20) in '']''</ref> ], ], and ].<ref name="AGMT" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=16 May 2023 |title=ACORN International |url=https://acorninternational.org/ |website=ACORN International}}</ref>
ACORN investigates complaints against companies accused of ] practices. ACORN also works to support strict state laws against predatory
practices, organizes against ], and steers borrowers toward loan counseling;<ref name="ACORN_2003"/> Following a three-year campaign, Household International (now owned by ] and renamed ]), one of the largest ] in the country, and ACORN announced on November 25, 2003 a proposed settlement of a 2002 national ] brought by ACORN. The settlement created a $72 million foreclosure avoidance program to provide relief to household borrowers who are at risk of losing their homes.<ref name="ACORN_2003">{{cite web |url=http://www.acorn.org/index.php?id=8500 |title=ACORN Annual Report 2003 |publisher=ACORN |year=2003 |accessdate=2007-11-12}}</ref> The settlement came on the heels of an earlier $484 million settlement between Household, Attorneys General, and bank regulators from all 50 US states.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.atg.wa.gov/householdfinance/facts.shtml |title=Household Finance Settlement |publisher = Washington State Office of the Attorney General |date=] |accessdate=2007-11-12 |archivedate=2007-09-27 |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20060927065346/http://www.atg.wa.gov/householdfinance/facts.shtml}}</ref>


], ACORN suffered a damaging ] in the fall of 2009 after ] and Hannah Giles secretly made, edited and released videos of interactions with low-level ACORN personnel in several of their offices, leading to several investigations by state officials that concluded the videos were inaccurately portraying the personnel as encouraging criminal behavior.<ref name=":0"> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101112143648/http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/04/01/calif-ag-determines-acorn-broke-criminal-laws/ |date=November 12, 2010 }} FOX News; April 1, 2010</ref><ref name=":2"></ref><ref name=":3">, '']'', December 8, 2009</ref><ref name=":4"> {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091213181344/http://www.nonprofitquarterly.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1654%3Anpq-on-acorn-investigation-results&catid=58%3Anpq-in-the-news&Itemid=54 |date=December 13, 2009 }}, ''The Nonprofit Quarterly''</ref><ref name="nymag1">, '']''; March 2, 2010</ref><ref name="NYT2010Newman">{{cite news|last=Newman|first=Andrew|title=Advice to Fake Pimp Was No Crime, Prosecutor Says|work=]|date=2010-03-01|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/02/nyregion/02acorn.html|access-date=2010-03-07| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100325060338/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/02/nyregion/02acorn.html| archive-date= 25 March 2010 | url-status= live}}</ref><ref name="Salon2010Madden">{{cite web|last=Madde|first=Mike|title=Brooklyn prosecutors clear local ACORN office|work=]|date=2010-03-01|url=http://www.salon.com/2010/03/01/acorn_cleared/|access-date=2010-03-07}}</ref> The organization didn't recover from the negative publicity in the US and dissolved,<ref name=bankruptcy>{{cite news |first=Ian |last=Urbina |date=March 19, 2010 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/20/us/politics/20acorn.html |title=Acorn on Brink of Bankruptcy, Officials Say |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=2010-03-20| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100323024816/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/20/us/politics/20acorn.html| archive-date= 23 March 2010 | url-status= live}}</ref><ref name=foxnewsvideo>{{cite news|publisher=]|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,549241,00.html|title=Second Video Shows ACORN Officials Helping 'Pimp,' 'Prostitute' in Washington Office|date=September 11, 2009|access-date=2009-09-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090913020053/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,549241,00.html|archive-date=2009-09-13|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=cbs>{{cite news|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/acorn-issue-fueling-bailout-opposition/|title=ACORN Issue Fueling Bailout Opposition|author=Ryan Grim|author-link=Ryan Grim|date=September 27, 2008|work=CBS News}}</ref><ref name=acornfolds>{{cite news|url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/acorn-closing-in-wake-of-scandal|title=ACORN Closing in Wake of Scandal|access-date=March 22, 2010|date=March 22, 2010|work=FOX News|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100325063906/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,589768,00.html|archive-date=March 25, 2010|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":5">; Los Angeles Times; November 2, 2010</ref> with ACORN members and organizers forming new organizations such as the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE) Action.<ref name=ACCE>{{cite press release |title=January 13th Statement |publisher=Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment |date=January 13, 2010 |url=http://www.calorganize.org/node/683 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130414092307/http://www.calorganize.org/node/683 |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 14, 2013 |quote=The leadership and staff that were working with ACORN in California made the decision to break off from ACORN and launch a new organization here in California called Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE). |access-date=2011-05-12 }}</ref><ref name="jsonline.com">{{cite news|url=https://archive.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/97339544.html|title=Milwaukee chosen to pilot program aimed at foreclosures|newspaper=Milwaukee Journal Sentinel|date=June 28, 2010|access-date=December 22, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100720130342/https://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/97339544.html/|archive-date=July 20, 2010 }}</ref><ref name=bankruptcy/> ACORN groups outside of the US continued unaffected. ACORN, under ACORN International, still works within the US through its Home Savers Campaign, for example.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Akers |first1=Joshua |last2=Seymour |first2=Eric |last3=Butler |first3=Diné |last4=Rathke |first4=Wade |title=Liquid Tenancy: 'Post-crisis' economies of displacement, community organizing, and new forms of resistance |journal=Radical Housing Journal |date=4 April 2019 |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=9–28 |doi=10.54825/JGJT2051|doi-access=free}}</ref>
ACORN and its affiliates advocate for affordable housing by urging the development, rehabilitation and establishment of housing ] at the local, state, and federal levels.<ref name=a44>{{cite web|url=http://www.acorn.org/index.php?id=44|publisher=ACORN|title=Affordable Housing}}</ref> The group also pushes for enforcement of affordable-housing requirements for developers and promotes programs to help homeowners repair their homes and organize tenant demands.<ref name=a44/>


== Issues and actions ==
An ACORN official voiced support for a proposal ] made during the presidential primary election to create a federal fund for distressed homeowners.<ref></ref>
===Predatory lending and affordable housing===
ACORN investigated complaints against companies accused of ] practices. ACORN also worked to support strict state laws against predatory practices, organized against ], and steered borrowers toward loan counseling;<ref name="ACORN_2003"/> Following a three-year campaign, Household International (now owned by ] and renamed ]), one of the largest ] in the country, and ACORN announced on November 25, 2003, a proposed settlement of a 2002 national ] brought by ACORN. The settlement created a $72 million foreclosure avoidance program to provide relief to household borrowers who were at risk of losing their homes.<ref name="ACORN_2003">{{cite web |url=http://www.acorn.org/index.php?id=8500|title=ACORN Annual Report 2003|publisher=ACORN|year=2003|access-date=2007-11-12| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070928100304/http://www.acorn.org/index.php?id=8500| archive-date= 28 September 2007 | url-status= live}}</ref> The settlement came on the heels of an earlier $484 million settlement between Household, Attorneys General, and bank regulators from all 50 U.S. states.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.atg.wa.gov/householdfinance/facts.shtml|title=Household Finance Settlement|publisher = Washington State Office of the Attorney General|date=2003-12-05|access-date=2007-11-12|archive-date=2006-09-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060927065346/http://www.atg.wa.gov/householdfinance/facts.shtml}}</ref>


===Living wages=== ===Voter registration===
Since the 1980s, ACORN conducted large-scale voter registration drives,<ref>Christopher Hayes, '']'', September 1, 2008, </ref> focusing primarily on registering poor and minority citizens.<ref name="APMud">{{cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/2008-10-18-3995453887_x.htm| title=ACORN controversy: Voter fraud or mudslinging?| agency=Associated Press| date=2008-10-18 | first=Deborah | last=Hastings | work=USA Today}}</ref><ref name="MiamiFuror"> ''],'' 2008-10-24. {{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>
] ordinances require private businesses that do business with the government to pay their workers a wage that enables them to afford basic necessities. ACORN has helped pass local living wage laws in 15 cities including ], ], ], and ]. ACORN maintains a website that provides strategic and logistical assistance to organizations nationwide.

]

===Katrina relief===
ACORN members across the country, particularly in the ] region, have organized fundraising and organizing drives to ensure that victims of ] will receive assistance and will be able to return to affected areas.{{Citation needed|date=September 2009}} ACORN's home cleanout demonstration program has gutted and rebuilt over 1850 homes with the help of volunteers. The ACORN Katrina Survivors Association formed in the aftermath of the storm is the first nationwide organization for Katrina survivors and has been working for equitable treatment for victims. Displaced citizens were bused into the city for the ] primary and general elections. ACORN says its Housing Services have helped more than 2000 homeowners affected by the storm and is an official planner working with the city on reconstruction.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.acorn.org/index.php?id=9703 |title=Two years after Katrina, still fighting and winning |year=2005 |publisher=ACORN |accessdate=2007-11-12}}</ref>


===Education=== ===Education===
ACORN pushes ] usually in the form of organizing neighborhood groups and "community" or "ACORN schools". In ], ACORN has advocated for a certified teacher to be in every classroom. In ], ACORN has documented the need for textbooks and school repairs. ACORN works with teachers unions to get money for school construction and more funding for schools.<ref name="ACORN_school_overview">{{cite web |url=http://www.acorn.org/index.php?id=2660 |title=School Overview |publisher=ACORN |accessdate=2007-11-12}}</ref> ACORN also supports school reform and the "creation of alternative public schools" such as ]s.<ref name="ACORN_school_overview"/><ref name=a735>{{cite web|url=http://www.acorn.org/index.php?id=735|publisher=ACORN|title=Detailed History of ACORN:New Victories, 1995 - 2002}}</ref> ACORN opposed the privatization of some NYC schools, favoring its own Charter School plan.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2001/03/14/26edison.h20.html|date=2001-03-14|title= N.Y.C. Parents To Vote on Edison Charter Plan|author=Mark Walsh|publisher=Education Week}}</ref> The ACORN model for schools emphasizes small classes, parent involvement, qualified teachers and "community oriented curricula".<ref name=a735/> In 2001, ACORN opposed the privatization of some ], favoring its own ] plan.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2001/03/14/26edison.h20.html|date=2001-03-14|title=N.Y.C. Parents To Vote on Edison Charter Plan|author=Mark Walsh|newspaper=Education Week}}</ref>

===Voter registration===
ACORN has conducted large-scale voter registration drives since at least the 1980s,<ref>http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080901/hayes</ref> focusing primarily on poor and minority citizens.<ref name="APMud">{{cite news |url=http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/2008-10-18-3995453887_x.htm| title=ACORN controversy: Voter fraud or mudslinging?| publisher=The Associated Press| date=2008-10-18}}</ref><ref name="MiamiFuror"> ''],'' 10-24-2008</ref> During the 2008 election season, ACORN gathered over 1.3 million voter registration forms in 21 states. Many of these registration forms were flagged by ACORN's internal auditors for election official review, with approximately 400,000 being ultimately rejected as incomplete, duplicated or fraudulent. 450,000 of the registrations were for first-time voters, with the remainder being address change forms.<ref name="NYTTally">{{cite news|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/24/us/politics/24acorn.html|title=Groups Tally of New Voters Was Vastly Overstated|publisher=New York Times|date=October 23, 2008}}</ref>

As required by law in most states, ACORN must submit all registration forms collected by its workers, including those flagged by ACORN as incomplete or suspicious. Fraudulent voter registrations are investigated at local, state and federal levels, and have sometimes resulted in criminal convictions for ACORN employees. ACORN has fired employees for fraudulent registration practices and turned them over to authorities. When asked about catching duplicate voter registrations in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, ACORN's local representatives affirmed that ACORN does not have the resources or internal controls to ensure absolute perfection in catching them. The Cleveland head organizer stated that the group cannot be expected to catch everything, "None of us have ever achieved perfection".<ref>http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2008/10/voterregistration_cant_be_tota.html</ref> As of 2006 ACORN was improving its fraud detection and reporting procedures, and cooperating with authorities in efforts to prosecute violators.<ref name="KC_MO">{{cite news|publisher=KMBC=TV|url=http://www.thekansascitychannel.com/politics/10214492/detail.html|title=ACORN Workers Indicted For Alleged Voter Fraud|date=2006-11-01}}</ref><ref name="SeattleTimes1">{{cite news |url=http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003806904_webvotefraud26m.html |title=Felony charges filed against 7 in state's biggest case of voter-registration fraud |publisher=The Seattle Times |date=] |first=Keith |last=Ervin |accessdate=2007-11-12}}</ref><ref name="NYTIssues">{{cite news |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/22/us/22acorn.html?sq=ACORN&st=cse&scp=11&pagewanted=print |title=Acorn Report Raises Issues of Legality |publisher=New York Times |date=] |first=Stephanie |last=Strom |accessdate=2007-11-19}}</ref><ref>Sheffield, Reggie. '']'' (Harrisburg, Penn.), July 24, 2008</ref> In ] many of the 5,000 new voter registration forms from an ACORN registration drive were deemed problematic by ACORN quality control workers, but were still turned in to election officials as required by state law. These forms were rejected by the election officials, who believed the names had been found and signatures forged based on a local telephone book. Jeff Ordower, ACORN's Midwest Director, observed, "There is no scenario where those people on problematic cards would show up at the polls." <ref>{{cite news|title=County rejects large number of invalid voter registrations|author=Bill Dolan|date=2008-10-02|publisher=The Times Media Company|url=http://www.nwi.com/articles/2008/10/02/news/lake_county/doc5399904569d23a75862574d600010e55.txt}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=ACORN defends fraudulent Lake voter drive|author=Bill Dolan|date=2008-10-23|publisher=The Times Media Company|url=http://www.nwi.com/articles/2008/10/23/news/top_news/doce273bd903d615e49862574ea00806d36.txt}}</ref> Of 26,513 registrations submitted by ACORN over a nine month period in ], 4655 were initially flagged, a 17 percent error rate, compared to usually less than five percent for voter drives by other organizations, according to county officials. Upon further review, the registrar was able to validate 2806 of the flagged submissions, reducing the error rate to seven percent.<ref name="san_diego_county">{{cite news|title=ACORN active in voter registration in county|url=http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20081016-1250-bn16acorn.html|author=Hiram Soto and Helen Gao|publisher=San Diego Union-Tribune|date=October 16, 2008}}</ref> In a case in ] where 7 temporary employees of ACORN were charged with submitting fraudulent voter registrations, ACORN agreed to pay ] $25,000 for its investigative costs and acknowledged that the national organization could be subject to criminal prosecution if fraud occurs again. According to the prosecutor, the misconduct was done "as an easy way to get paid , not as an attempt to influence the outcome of elections."<ref name="SeattleTimes1"/><ref>{{cite news |url=http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/304877_acorn23.html |title=Reform group turned in 2000 suspicious voter registrations: County may make criminal inquiry |publisher=Seattle Post Intelligencer |date=] |author=Rachel La Corte |accessdate=2007-11-12}}</ref> In August, 2009, ACORN's former Las Vegas director pled guilty to a reduced charge of "conspiracy to commit the crime of compensation for registration of voters" in connection with a quota system for paid registration staff and (a prosecutor claimed) would testify against ACORN's regional office and another ACORN employee.<ref> Associated Press, August 19, 2009</ref> Arrest warrants were issued in Miami on September 9, 2009, for 11 ACORN workers suspected of falsifying information on voter registration cards, after ACORN alerted the state attorney's office following review of hundreds of voter registration cards it suspected were fraudulent. <ref>, September 9, 2009.</ref>


===Gun control=== ===Gun control===
In 2006, ACORN intervened on behalf of ], ] in a lawsuit brought against the city challenging a local ordinance that limited individuals' handgun purchases to one gun a month.<ref name=toutant>{{cite web |url=http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1166448999875 |title=N.J. Judge Voids City's Gun Control Law |first=Charles |last=Toutant |publisher=New Jersey Law Journal |date=] |accessdate=2007-11-12}}</ref> The ] Superior Court struck down the ordinance on the grounds that it violated the New Jersey Constitution's ], and a state statute prohibiting towns and municipalities from enacting firearms legislation.<ref name=toutant/> In 2006, ACORN intervened on behalf of ], ], in a lawsuit brought against the city challenging a local ordinance that limited individuals' handgun purchases to one gun a month.<ref name=toutant>{{cite web |url=http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1166448999875 |title=N.J. Judge Voids City's Gun Control Law |first=Charles |last=Toutant |publisher=New Jersey Law Journal |date=2006-12-20 |access-date=2007-11-12| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20071013152238/http://law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1166448999875| archive-date= 13 October 2007 | url-status= live}}</ref> The ] Superior Court struck down the ordinance on the grounds that it violated the New Jersey Constitution's ], and a state statute prohibiting towns and municipalities from enacting firearms legislation.<ref name=toutant/> On September 29, 2008, the ] Appellate Division denied ACORN's appeal of the ] Superior Court's decision striking down Jersey City's ordinance.<ref>{{cite web|title=Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division, No. A-4443-06T2 and A-4708-06T2|date=September 29, 2008|url=http://www.judiciary.state.nj.us/opinions/a4443-06a4708-06.pdf}}{{dead link|date=December 2010}}</ref>

On September 29, 2008, the ] Appellate Division denied ACORN's appeal of the ] Superior Court's decision striking down Jersey City's ordinance.<ref>{{cite web|title=Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division, No. A-4443-06T2 and A-4708-06T2|date=September 29, 2008|url=http://74.6.239.67/search/cache?ei=UTF8&p=www.judiciary.state.nj.us%2Fopinions%2Fa4443-06a4708-06.pdf&fr=yfp-t-501&u=www.judiciary.state.nj.us/opinions/a4443-06a4708-06.pdf&d=S490IULURjvc&icp=1&.intl=us}}</ref>


===Home Defender Program=== ===Home Defender Program===
In 2009, ACORN advocated allowing homeowners delinquent in their mortgage payments to remain in their homes pending a government solution to the housing ] crisis. ACORN introduced a program called the Home Defender Program, intended to mobilize people to congregate at homes faced with foreclosure to "defend a family's right to stay in their homes."<ref>{{cite web|title=ACORN Home Defender Program|url=http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/o/2749/t/3071/signUp.jsp?key=2134}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.nwi.com/articles/2009/02/19/news/lake/doc853b6aa5c26aca0286257561007d5737.txt|publisher=The Times Media Company|title=ACORN plans local action to stem NWI mortgage foreclosures|author=Bill Dolan|date=2009-02-19}}</ref> One ACORN Web page advocated ] against foreclosure evictions stating that people in foreclosed homes should refuse to leave, and in some cases, move back in.<ref>{{cite web|title=Refusing to Leave: ACORN Members Step up Fight to Stay in Homes|date=February 13, 2009| In 2009, ACORN advocated allowing homeowners delinquent in their mortgage payments to remain in their homes pending a government solution to the housing ] crisis. ACORN introduced a program called the Home Defender Program, intended to mobilize people to congregate at homes faced with foreclosure to "defend a family's right to stay in their homes."<ref>{{cite web|title=ACORN Home Defender Program|url=http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/o/2749/t/3071/signUp.jsp?key=2134|access-date=February 18, 2009|archive-date=February 13, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090213213914/http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/o/2749/t/3071/signUp.jsp?key=2134|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.nwi.com/articles/2009/02/19/news/lake/doc853b6aa5c26aca0286257561007d5737.txt|publisher=The Times Media Company|title=ACORN plans local action to stem NWI mortgage foreclosures|author=Bill Dolan|date=2009-02-19}}</ref>
url=http://alturl.com/2va}}</ref>


==History== == Legal issues ==
In a 2007 case in ], in which seven temporary employees of ACORN were charged with submitting fraudulent voter registrations, ACORN agreed to pay ] $25,000 for its investigative costs and acknowledged that the national organization could be subject to criminal prosecution if fraud occurred.<ref name="SeattleTimes1" /><ref>{{cite news|author=Rachel La Corte|date=2007-02-23|title=Reform group turned in 2000 suspicious voter registrations: County may make criminal inquiry|newspaper=Seattle Post Intelligencer|url=http://www.seattlepi.com/local/304877_acorn23.html|access-date=2007-11-12}}</ref><ref>; ''Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel'', August 7, 2008</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Archived copy|url=http://www.doj.state.wi.us/absolutenm/templates/template_share.aspx?articleid=2165&zoneid=1|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110930145552/http://www.doj.state.wi.us/absolutenm/templates/template_share.aspx?articleid=2165&zoneid=1|archive-date=2011-09-30|access-date=2011-08-20}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Prosecutors: ACORN 2008 Milwaukee Voter Drive &quot;Marred by Fraud&quot; - 620 WTMJ - Milwaukee's Source for Local News and Weather|url=http://www.620wtmj.com/news/local/86913867.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927155037/http://www.620wtmj.com/news/local/86913867.html|archive-date=2011-09-27|access-date=2011-08-20}}</ref> In May 2009, six ACORN employees in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty to charges of a combined total of 51 counts of forgery and other violations while registering voters during the 2008 election cycle.<ref>{{cite news|last=Roddy|first=Dennis B.|date=2009-05-08|title=7 ACORN workers charged with forgery|work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|url=http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09128/968661-178.stm}}</ref>
<!-- The info in this History section are well sourced in the Delgado book -->


During the 2008 election season, ACORN gathered over 1.3 million voter registration forms in 21 states. ] estimated that 400,000 registrations collected by ACORN were ultimately rejected, the vast majority for being duplicate registrations submitted by citizens. Project Vote estimated that only a few percent of registrations were fraudulent, based on past years and samples from some drives in 2008.<ref name="NYTTally">{{cite news|last1=Falcone|first1=Michael|last2=Moss|first2=Michael|date=2008-10-23|title=Groups Tally of New Voters Was Vastly Overstated|newspaper=]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/24/us/politics/24acorn.html|access-date=2010-03-27}}</ref> Project Vote estimated that 450,000 of the registrations collected by ACORN represented first-time voters, while the remainder were address changes submitted by citizens updating their addresses.<ref name="NYTTally" />
===1970–1975: Founding===
ACORN was founded by ] when he was sent to ] by the ] (NWRO) in 1970 as an organizer.<ref>{{cite journal|first=Sol|last=Stern|journal=City Journal|title=ACORN’s Nutty Regime for Cities|url=http://www.city-journal.org/html/13_2_acorns_nutty_regime.html|date=Spring 2003|accessdate=2007-01-24}}</ref> Gary Delgado and George A. Wiley were also instrumental to its founding. ACORN's first campaign was to help welfare recipients attain their basic needs, such as ] and ]. This drive, inspired by a clause in the ] ] laws, began the effort to create and sustain a movement that would grow to become the Arkansas Community Organizations for Reform Now, the beginnings of ACORN.<ref name=Delgado>{{cite book|last=Delgado|first=Gary|title=Organizing the Movement: The Roots and Growth of ACORN|publisher=Temple University Press|year=1986|isbn=0-87722-393-9|oclc=12134922 59256995}}</ref>


ACORN has fired employees for fraudulent registration practices and turned them over to authorities.<ref name="KC_MO">{{cite news|date=2006-11-01|title=ACORN Workers Indicted For Alleged Voter Fraud|publisher=KMBC=TV|url=http://www.thekansascitychannel.com/politics/10214492/detail.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070625215229/http://www.thekansascitychannel.com/politics/10214492/detail.html|archive-date=2007-06-25}}</ref><ref name="SeattleTimes1">{{cite news|last=Ervin|first=Keith|date=2007-07-28|title=Felony charges filed against 7 in state's biggest case of voter-registration fraud|newspaper=The Seattle Times|url=http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003806904_webvotefraud26m.html|url-status=live|access-date=2007-11-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071117153636/http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003806904_webvotefraud26m.html|archive-date=17 November 2007}}</ref><ref name="NYTIssues">{{cite news|last=Strom|first=Stephanie|date=2008-10-22|title=Acorn Report Raises Issues of Legality|newspaper=]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/22/us/22acorn.html?_r=1&sq=ACORN|access-date=2007-11-19}}</ref><ref>Sheffield, Reggie. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081212014541/http://www.pennlive.com/news/patriotnews/index.ssf?%2Fbase%2Fnews%2F1216864520180960.xml&coll=1|date=2008-12-12}}, '']'' (Harrisburg, Penn.), July 24, 2008</ref><ref>{{cite news|author=Bill Dolan|date=2008-10-02|title=County rejects large number of invalid voter registrations|publisher=The Times Media Company|url=http://www.nwi.com/articles/2008/10/02/news/lake_county/doc5399904569d23a75862574d600010e55.txt}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|author=Bill Dolan|date=2008-10-23|title=ACORN defends fraudulent Lake voter drive|publisher=The Times Media Company|url=http://www.nwi.com/articles/2008/10/23/news/top_news/doce273bd903d615e49862574ea00806d36.txt}}</ref> Of 26,513 registrations submitted by ACORN over a nine-month period in ], 4,655 were initially flagged, but 2,806 of those were later validated. County officials said this resulted in a 7% error rate by ACORN, compared to usually less than 5% for voter drives by other organizations.<ref name="san_diego_county">{{cite news|author=Hiram Soto and Helen Gao|date=October 16, 2008|title=ACORN active in voter registration in county|newspaper=San Diego Union-Tribune|url=http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20081016-1250-bn16acorn.html}}</ref>
ACORN's goal was to "unite welfare recipients with ] around issues such as ], ], ] rights, and emergency room care." <ref> acorn.org</ref>


In plea deals in a 2009 ] case, former ACORN field director Amy Busefink and ACORN official Christopher Edwards pleaded guilty to "conspiracy to commit the crime of compensation for registration of voters," in connection with a quota system for paid registration staff.<ref>{{cite news|last=Friess|first=Steve|date=May 5, 2009|title=Acorn Charged in Voter Registration Fraud Case in Nevada|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/05/us/05acorn.html|access-date=March 7, 2012}}</ref> Edwards was sentenced to a year's probation and agreed to testify for prosecutors in charges against ACORN and against Busefink. Busefink appealed her case to the ], challenging the constitutionality of the statute.<ref>{{cite news|last=McCoy|first=Cara|date=November 23, 2009|title=Ex-ACORN official gets probation for voter registration plan|newspaper=]|url=http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/nov/23/ex-acorn-official-gets-probation-voter-registratio/|url-status=live|access-date=2011-05-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110611232846/http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/nov/23/ex-acorn-official-gets-probation-voter-registratio/|archive-date=11 June 2011}}</ref><ref name="lvrj.com">; Las Vegas Journal-Review; April 6, 2011</ref> In April 2011, ACORN entered a guilty plea to one count of felony compensation for registration of voters, for which they were fined $5,000,<ref name="Fined">{{cite news|last1=McCabe|first1=Francis|date=2011-08-10|title=Judge fines ACORN $5,000 for voter registration scheme|newspaper=]|url=http://www.lvrj.com/news/judge-fines-acorn-5-000-for-voter-registration-scheme-127467598.html|access-date=2011-08-12}}</ref> but did not concede that the law was constitutional.<ref name="lvrj.com" />
===1975–1980: Growth beyond Arkansas===
In 1975, ACORN created branches in ] and ]. On December 13, 1975, sixty leaders from the three ACORN states elected the first associate Executive Board and the first ACORN president, Steve McDonald, to deal with matters beyond the scope of the individual city and state boards. Each year thereafter saw three or more states join ACORN, building to a total of 20 states by 1980. This expansion led to multi-state campaigns beginning with a mass meeting of 1,000 members in ] in 1978. At the end of the conference, ACORN convention delegates marched on the ] conference with the outline of a nine-point "People’s Platform" which would go on to become the foundation of ACORN's platform when it was ratified in 1979.


==ACORN International==
ACORN was active in the ] with the "People's Platform" serving as its standard.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.umsl.edu/~whmc/guides/whm0040.htm |title=WESTERN HISTORICAL MANUSCRIPT COLLECTION |publisher=UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI-ST. LOUIS |month=June |year=1980 |accessdate=2007-11-12}}</ref> It led ] aimed at both major party candidates; demanded to meet with ]; marched on the president's campaign finance committee chair's home; and presented its platform to the ] platform committee.


] was created in 2002<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Atlas |first=John |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RbEjF94o4ZUC&pg=PA22 |title=Seeds of Change: The Story of ACORN, America's Most Controversial Antipoverty Community Organizing Group |date=2010 |location=Nashville, Ten.|publisher=] |isbn=978-0-8265-1705-0 |language=en}}</ref> as an offshoot of ACORN to aid the spread of ACORN's model to other countries,<ref name="PP">D. Beck and R. Purcell (2013). ''International Community Organising''. Bristol: ].</ref> including Argentina, Canada, Mexico, and Peru.<ref name="WDAD">{{citation |title=What does ACORN do? |url=http://www.acorn.org/index.php?id=2617 |access-date=2010-12-03 |publisher=ACORN |archive-date=September 27, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927100927/http://www.acorn.org/index.php?id=2617 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The first ACORN branch in the UK opened in Bristol in 2014 by three people, two of whom were graduates of the ].<ref name="AGMT"/>
===1980–1988: Acorn in the Reagan era===
By 1980, ACORN’s staff was stretched thin by the demands of meeting its expansion goals. Much of its resources and energy had been dedicated to the presidential primaries and national party conventions. ACORN launched ] campaigns in an attempt to obtain affordable housing, and encouraged ]s to refit the premises for comfortable living.


Other groups are affiliated with ACORN: for example, ] in Scotland<ref name="PS"/> and ] in France.<ref name="JT"/>
In June 1982 ACORN sponsored "] Ranches" in over 35 cities believing the president's focus to be on military as opposed to social spending. These ] were erected for two days and were met with resistance from the ], which tried repeatedly to evict the tenters. The protesters remained and then marched on the ] and testified before a ] about what they described as the housing crisis in America. The last Reagan Ranch was held at the Republican Convention in ] in 1984.


==See also==
In addition to protesting, ACORN also developed and strengthened its ]s and encouraged its members to run for office. For the ] ACORN wanted to endorse a candidate, setting a 75% support in polls among members as its requirement. No candidate reached that level, though there was strong support for ]. ACORN also established a legislative office that year in ]. During this period ACORN also focused on local election reform in a number of cities, including ], ], and ], encouraging the change of at-large legislative bodies to district representation.
* ]

* ]
ACORN grew to 27 states, adding chapters in ], ], and ] by the end of Reagan's first term.<ref name=Delgado />

During the ] ACORN held its National Convention in the same city as the Democratic Convention &mdash; ]. During the preceding four years ACORN had strengthened its ties with ] and accounted for 30 Jackson delegates. It also sponsored a march at the convention.

ACORN's membership grew to 70,000 plus in 28 states during this time. It increased its legislative lobbying efforts in Washington, DC, and strengthened its ]s (PACs). It also developed what it called the ] (AM/FM). Starting with station ] in Dallas, AM/FM moved on to establish radio stations, ] television and ] programming. It also sought and received appointments to the ] (RTC) which was formed to dissolve the assets of failed ] resulting from the ].

===1988–1998: Focus on housing===
]
While some of ACORN’s most notable efforts were in the area of housing, it has counted health, public safety, education, representation, work and workers’ rights and communications concerns among its victories.

The 1990 ACORN convention in Chicago focused on the fast-breaking housing campaign. It featured a squatting demonstration at an RTC house. Later, ACORN members demanded cooperation from banks about providing loan data on low- and moderate-income communities and compliance with the 1977 ] (CRA).

ACORN fought weakening of the CRA in 1991, staging a two-day takeover of the ] hearing room. It also established ACORN Housing Corporation to service people moving into homes under the housing campaign, rehabilitated hundreds of houses addressed by CRA.

The ACORN convention in New York in 1992, called the "ACORN-Bank Summit", was organized to make deals with giant banks. When ], the nation’s largest bank, did not participate, conventioneers protested at its downtown ] headquarters, and won a meeting to negotiate for similar programs.

ACORN supported and lobbied for the ]. After its passage, ACORN members attended ] signing ceremony. ACORN then pursued new registration laws in Arkansas and ] and filed suit in ], ], ], ], ], and ] as a result of the act.

In 1993, ACORN also began a national campaign to fight ] ], a practice that put the gains made in other housing campaigns at risk. The campaign targeted ], hitting sales offices in 14 cities and a stockholders meeting. Allstate agreed to negotiate and signed an agreement in 1994 for a $10 million partnership with ACORN and ] for below-market mortgages to low-income homebuyers. ] agreed to a Neighborhood and Home Safety Program, linking access to insurance and lower rates to public safety programs.

===1998–2004: Building capacity===
ACORN's subsequent activities have included its "Living Wage" programs, voter registration, and ].

In 1998 ACORN helped form the ] in ] which counts increasing the minimum wage as its centerpiece issue.

A March 27, 2003 decision of the ] found that ACORN attempted to thwart ] efforts within its own organization by laying off two workers who were attempting to organize.<ref name=nlrb>{{cite web| title = Decisions of the NLRB, 338–129| publisher = National Labor Relations Board| date = ]| url = http://www.nlrb.gov/shared_files/Board%20Decisions/338/338-129.pdf| format = PDF| accessdate = 2006-10-12 }}</ref> The two workers, both field organizers with ACORN, began discussions with the ] and later sought to organize under ] in response to their $20,200 annual salary for a 54-hour work week.<ref></ref> The NLRB ordered the two employees be reinstated in their former jobs and ACORN cease from interrogating employees about organizing activity.<ref name=nlrb /> ACORN has since strengthened its ties with the Service Employees International Union, which donated $2.1 million to ACORN in 2005,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB116113323291895978-search.html?KEYWORDS=ACORN+%2B+union&COLLECTION=wsjie/6month |title=The Wal-Mart Posse |publisher=Wall Street Journal |accessdate=2007-11-12}}</ref> often working collaboratively on issues (including health insurance costs and the minimum wage) and sharing office space.

In 2004, Florida ACORN helped to raise Florida's minimum wage by $1.00 an hour by lobbying for a minimum wage amendment to be placed on the ballot. Over 1 million Florida employees were affected by the raise, which is adjusted annually for ]. That year, ACORN become an international organization, opening offices in ], ], and beginning work in ]. Since then offices have opened in ] and ].

] reported on July 9, 2008, that Dale Rathke, the brother of ACORN's founder Wade Rathke, was found to have ] $948,607.50 from the group and affiliated charitable organizations back in 1999 and 2000.<ref name="nyt">{{cite web |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/09/us/09embezzle.html |title=Funds Misappropriated at 2 Nonprofit Groups |publisher=New York Times |first=Stephanie |last=Strom |date=July 9, 2008 |accessdate=2008-10-13}}</ref> ACORN executives decided to handle it as an internal matter, and did not inform most of the board members or law enforcement, and instead signed an enforceable restitution agreement with the Rathke family to repay the amount of the embezzlement. $210,000 has already been repaid, and a donor has offered to pay the remaining debt. The Times reported that, according to Wade Rathke, "the decision to keep the matter secret was not made to protect his brother but because word of the embezzlement would have put a 'weapon' into the hands of enemies of ACORN, a liberal group that is a frequent target of conservatives who object to ACORN's often strident advocacy on behalf of low- and moderate-income families and workers." A whistleblower revealed the embezzlement in 2008. On June 2, 2008, Dale Rathke was dismissed, and Wade stepped down as ACORN's chief organizer, but he remains chief organizer for Acorn International L.L.C.
<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/09/us/09embezzle.html?ex=1373342400&en=d2ad71953fd2c157&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink |title=Funds Misappropriated at 2 Nonprofit Groups |publisher=The New York Times |date=] |first=Stephanie |last=Strom |accessdate=2008-08-09}}</ref>

In September 2008, following revelations of Dale Rathke's embezzlement, two members of ACORN's national board of directors filed a lawsuit seeking to obtain financial documents and to force the organization to sever ties with Wade Rathke.<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/10/us/10acorn.html</ref> ACORN's executive committee voted unanimously to remove the two, "because their actions – such as releasing a confidential legal memo to the press – were damaging the organization."<ref>http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/s_606173.html</ref>

==ACORN in political discourse==
ACORN is a ] organization, but its legally separate political action arm frequently champions liberal causes, and endorsed Democratic presidential candidate ] in 2008.<ref name="about-acorn">http://www.acorn.org/index.php?id=12342</ref><ref name="wsj0731"/><ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.thenation.com/blogs/campaignmatters?bid=45&pid=289192|date=2008-02-23|title=ACORN: Obama Gets It|author=Katrina vanden Heuvel|publisher=]}}</ref><ref name="endorse_obama">{{cite press release|publisher=ACORN|title=ACORN’s Political Action Committee Endorses Obama |url=http://www.acorn.org/index.php?id=8539&tx_ttnews%5Bpointer%5D=4&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=21759&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=8538&cHash=ff99d11068}}</ref> ACORN has lobbied in every ] since ],<ref name=a730>{{cite web|publisher=ACORN|url=http://www.acorn.org/index.php?id=730|title=Detailed History of ACORN: The ACORN 80 Plan}}</ref> and has had members elected as ]s to those conventions;<ref name=a730/> ACORN has also lobbied at ] conventions.<ref name=a730/> ACORN has been criticized by Republicans for its support of a Democratic candidate, and for its general support of liberal political positions that are more often favored by Democrats.<ref name="wsj0731"/>

In a report released in October 2008, the ] Inspector General concluded that former U.S. Attorney ] was fired for political reasons by Attorney General ] after Iglesias declined to prosecute a New Mexico ACORN chapter. The report said claims Iglesias was fired for poor performance were not credible, and the "real reason for Iglesias’s removal were the complaints from New Mexico Republican politicians and party activists about how Iglesias handled voter fraud ."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.usdoj.gov/oig/special/s0809a/final.pdf |format=PDF|author=US Department of Justice Inspector General|title= An Investigation into the Removal of Nine U.S. Attorneys in 2006, pgs 156-167 and 190}}</ref>

During the debate on the ], some conservative commentators claimed that a draft provision (omitted in the adopted bill) to give money to funds run by the ] could potentially lead to money flowing to groups like ACORN.<ref name=wsj0731>{{cite news | last =Williamson | first =Elizabeth | coauthors =Mullins, Brody | title =Democratic Ally Mobilizes In Housing Crunch | work =] | pages = | language = | publisher = | date =July 31, 2008 | url =http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121745181676698197.html | accessdate = }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.politico.com/static/PPM41_ayo08b28.html|publisher=US House of Representatives|title=Draft bill}}</ref> When asked how much money ACORN or other community groups would get, a spokesman for Financial Services Committee chairman ], said, "Absolutely none. All funds would go to state and local governments."<ref name=cbs>{{cite web |url=http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/09/27/politics/politico/thecrypt/main4483168.shtml |title=ACORN Issue Fueling Bailout Opposition |accessdate= |author=] |date=September 27, 2008 |work=CBS News |publisher=}}</ref> Conservative critics have claimed that ACORN's complex organizational structure allows it to escape public scrutiny.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=95696267|title=ACORN Has Long Been In Republicans' Cross Hairs|author=Peter Overby}}</ref>

In September 2009, in response to controversies involving ACORN, the ] cut ties with ACORN, which had been tapped to participate in the ].<ref name=foxnewscensus>{{cite news | url=http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/09/11/census-bureau-severs-ties-acorn/ | publisher=] | title=Census Bureau Severs Ties With ACORN | date=2009-09-11 | accessdate=2009-09-11 }}</ref>

===The 2008 presidential campaign===
ACORN was a political issue in the 2008 United States Presidential Election over allegations of conflict of interest and voter registration fraud. During the ] ACORN's national political action committee, ACORN Votes, endorsed Barack Obama. Obama, with several other attorneys, had served as local counsel for ACORN in a 1995 voting rights lawsuit joined by the ] and the ].<ref>{{cite news|publisher=New York Times|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/11/us/politics/11acorn.html?_r=1&oref=slogin|title=On Obama, Acorn and Voter Registration|author=Stephanie Strom|date=2008-10-08}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-debate16-2008oct16,0,5385470.story|title=McCain, Obama duel in caustic debate finale|last=Barabak|first=Mark Z.|coauthors=Seema Mehta|date=2008-10-16|publisher=Los Angeles Times|accessdate=2008-10-17}}</ref> Obama's campaign hired an ACORN affiliate for $800,000 to conduct a get-out-the-vote effort during that primary,<ref name=davidbrown>{{cite news|publisher=Pitsburgh Tribune Review|url=http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/election/s_584284.html|title=Obama to amend report on $800,000 in spending|author=David M. Brown|date=2008-08-22}}</ref><ref name=yanooz>{{cite news|url=http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081009/ap_on_el_ge/voter_fraud_6|title=Missouri officials suspect fake voter registration|author=Bill Draper|date=2008-10-08|publisher=Associated Press}}{{Dead link|date=November 2008}}</ref> but did not retain ACORN for the general presidential election.<ref name=davidbrown/><ref name=yanooz/>

Throughout the election season, supporters of Republican candidates portrayed ACORN's submission of invalid voter registration applications as widespread vote fraud. In October 2008, the campaign for Republican presidential candidate ] released a Web-based advertisement claiming ACORN was responsible for "massive voter fraud", a point that Sen. McCain repeated in the final presidential debate. ] called this claim "breathtakingly inaccurate".<ref>{{cite web|last=Novak|first=Viveca|title=The Whoppers of 2008 -- The Sequel|publisher=factcheck.org|url=http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/the_whoppers_of_2008_--_the_sequel.html|date=2008-10-31|accessdate=2009-01-23}}</ref> The ads also claimed that home loan programs ACORN promoted were partly responsible for the sub-prime mortgage crisis. Newsweek and Factcheck.org also found these claims to be exaggerated and inaccurate.<ref>{{cite news|publisher=Newsweek|url=http://www.newsweek.com/id/164722/page/1|title=ACORN Accusations|author=Jess Henig|date=2008-10-18}}</ref>

===2009 undercover videos===
{{Current|section|date=September 2009}}

On September 9, 2009, a video was released by activists containing hidden-camera footage of ACORN employees in Baltimore speaking with two actors, ] and ], posing as a ] and a ] in order to solicit inappropriate statements from these employees. These two employees gave unethical advice on home loans, tax evasion and on obscuring the status of under-aged, undocumented sex workers, and were subsequently fired by ACORN.

An ACORN board member called the first video "false", "defamatory", an attempt at "]", and a violation of Maryland wiretap laws, adding that undercover teams had failed in similar attempts in at least five local offices in different states.<ref name=nytimesvideo>{{cite news | publisher='']'' | url=http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/09/10/us/AP-US-ACORN-Hidden-Camera.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=ACORN&st=cse | title=ACORN Fires 2 After Hidden-Camera Footage Aired | author=] | date=2009-09-10 | accessdate=2009-09-10 }}</ref><ref name=cnnvideo>{{cite news | publisher=] | url=http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/09/10/acorn.prostitution/ | title=ACORN workers caught on tape | author=CNN Politics | date=2009-09-11 | accessdate=2009-09-11 }}</ref><ref name=bmoresunvideo>{{cite news | url=http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/bal-md.ci.acorn11sep11,0,7738162.story | title=Video prompts ACORN firings | publisher='']'' | author=Justin Fenton | date=2009-09-11 | accessdate=2009-09-11 }}</ref> Within a few days, additional videos were released which showed similarly unethical advice offered by ACORN loan advisers in Washington DC, New York City, and San Bernadino.<ref name=foxnewsvideo>{{cite news | publisher=] | url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,549241,00.html | title=Second Video Shows ACORN Officials Helping 'Pimp,' 'Prostitute' in Washington Office | date=2009-09-11 | accessdate=2009-09-11 }}</ref>

The Brooklyn District Attorney's office announced an investigation into ACORN.<ref>{{cite news|author=Jay Dow| title=ACORN Under Investigation After Undercover Video| date=2009-09-14| publisher=WCBS-TV| url=http://wcbstv.com/local/acorn.pimp.prostitute.2.1182630.html}}</ref> Following the release of the Washington DC and New York videos, the Senate voted 83 to 7 to pass an amendment to exclude ACORN from funding under the Housing and Urban Development appropriations bill.<ref>{{cite news | publisher=] | url=http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/09/14/senate-votes-cut-acorn-housing-funding/ | title=Senate Votes to Cut Off ACORN Housing Funding | date=2009-09-14 | accessdate=2009-09-14 }}</ref><ref name="AP20090914">{{cite news
| last = Taylor
| first = Andrew
| coauthors =
| title = Senate votes to deny funds to ACORN
| work =
| pages =
| language =
| publisher = ]
| date = 2009-09-14
| url = http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jxhq8CPN8LdLntDEDtE5NrEBQ2IgD9ANF3F01
| accessdate = 2009-09-15}}</ref>


==References== ==References==
{{reflist|2}} {{Reflist|30em}}


==Bibliography== ==Bibliography==
*{{cite book |first=Gary |last=Delgado |title=Organizing the Movement: The Roots and Growth of ACORN |location=Philadelphia |publisher=] |year=1986 |isbn=0-87722-393-9 |oclc=12134922 59256995}} *{{cite book |first=Gary |last=Delgado |title=Organizing the Movement: The Roots and Growth of ACORN |location=Philadelphia |publisher=] |year=1986 |isbn=0-87722-393-9 |oclc=12134922 |url=https://archive.org/details/organizingmoveme0000delg }}
*{{cite book |first=Heidi J. |last=Swarts |title=Organizing Urban America: Secular and Faith-based Progressive Movements |location=Minneapolis |publisher=] |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-8166-4839-9 }} *{{cite book |first=Heidi J. |last=Swarts |title=Organizing Urban America: Secular and Faith-based Progressive Movements |url=https://archive.org/details/organizingurbana0088swar |url-access=registration |location=Minneapolis |publisher=] |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-8166-4839-9 }}
*{{cite book |first=John |last=Atlas|title=Seeds of Change: The Story of ACORN, America's Most Controversial Antipoverty Community Organizing Group|url=https://archive.org/details/seedsofchangesto0000atla |url-access=registration |location=Nashville|publisher=] |year=2010|isbn=978-0-8265-1705-0 }}
* ''Acorn and the Firestorm'' (2018). New York: ]. A ] written and directed by ] and ].


==External links== ==External links==
{{Commons category|ACORN}}
*
* - with information about ACORN branches in various countries
*

{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2019}}
{{Squatting}}
{{Authority control}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Association Of Community Organizations For Reform Now}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Association Of Community Organizations For Reform Now}}
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Latest revision as of 04:28, 26 October 2024

Socio-economic community advocacy group
Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now
AbbreviationACORN
Formation1970
TypeNon-governmental organization
Legal statusActive; defunct (US)
Region served
  • United States
  • Peru
  • Argentina
  • Mexico
  • India
  • Canada
  • United Kingdom

The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) is an international collection of autonomous community-based organizations that advocates for low- and moderate-income families by working on neighborhood safety, voter registration, health care, affordable housing, and other social issues. They, along with a number of other community unions, are affiliated under ACORN International.

Organization

In the US, ACORN was composed of a number of legally distinct nonprofit entities and affiliates including a nationwide umbrella organization established as a 501(c)(4) that performed lobbying; local chapters established as 501(c)(3) nonpartisan charities; and the national nonprofit and nonstock organization, ACORN Housing Corporation. ACORN's priorities included: better housing and wages for the poor, more community development investment from banks and governments, better public schools, labor-oriented causes and social justice issues. ACORN pursued these goals through demonstrations, negotiation, lobbying for legislation, and voter participation.

Unlike in the US, ACORN groups in other countries have little organizational funding. Under the ACORN model, most members are volunteers. Employed union organizers come from those working in local ACORN campaigns rather than from existing organizations and are paid a low wage. The union works on local and national level campaigns.

History

Further information: History of ACORN in the United States

Founded in 1970 by Wade Rathke and Gary Delgado, at its peak ACORN had over 500,000 members and more than 1,200 neighborhood chapters in over 100 cities across the U.S. In 2002, ACORN International was created to aid the spread of ACORN's model to other countries. There are currently ACORN affiliates in Cameroon, Canada, Czech Republic, England, France, Honduras, India, Ireland, Italy, Kenya, Peru, Scotland, Tunisia, United States, and Wales.

In the US, ACORN suffered a damaging nationwide controversy in the fall of 2009 after James O'Keefe and Hannah Giles secretly made, edited and released videos of interactions with low-level ACORN personnel in several of their offices, leading to several investigations by state officials that concluded the videos were inaccurately portraying the personnel as encouraging criminal behavior. The organization didn't recover from the negative publicity in the US and dissolved, with ACORN members and organizers forming new organizations such as the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE) Action. ACORN groups outside of the US continued unaffected. ACORN, under ACORN International, still works within the US through its Home Savers Campaign, for example.

Issues and actions

Predatory lending and affordable housing

ACORN investigated complaints against companies accused of predatory lending practices. ACORN also worked to support strict state laws against predatory practices, organized against foreclosure rescue scams, and steered borrowers toward loan counseling; Following a three-year campaign, Household International (now owned by HSBC Holdings and renamed HSBC Finance Corporation), one of the largest subprime lenders in the country, and ACORN announced on November 25, 2003, a proposed settlement of a 2002 national class-action lawsuit brought by ACORN. The settlement created a $72 million foreclosure avoidance program to provide relief to household borrowers who were at risk of losing their homes. The settlement came on the heels of an earlier $484 million settlement between Household, Attorneys General, and bank regulators from all 50 U.S. states.

Voter registration

Since the 1980s, ACORN conducted large-scale voter registration drives, focusing primarily on registering poor and minority citizens.

Education

In 2001, ACORN opposed the privatization of some New York City schools, favoring its own Charter School plan.

Gun control

In 2006, ACORN intervened on behalf of Jersey City, New Jersey, in a lawsuit brought against the city challenging a local ordinance that limited individuals' handgun purchases to one gun a month. The Hudson County Superior Court struck down the ordinance on the grounds that it violated the New Jersey Constitution's Equal Protection clause, and a state statute prohibiting towns and municipalities from enacting firearms legislation. On September 29, 2008, the New Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division denied ACORN's appeal of the Hudson County Superior Court's decision striking down Jersey City's ordinance.

Home Defender Program

In 2009, ACORN advocated allowing homeowners delinquent in their mortgage payments to remain in their homes pending a government solution to the housing foreclosure crisis. ACORN introduced a program called the Home Defender Program, intended to mobilize people to congregate at homes faced with foreclosure to "defend a family's right to stay in their homes."

Legal issues

In a 2007 case in Washington state, in which seven temporary employees of ACORN were charged with submitting fraudulent voter registrations, ACORN agreed to pay King County $25,000 for its investigative costs and acknowledged that the national organization could be subject to criminal prosecution if fraud occurred. In May 2009, six ACORN employees in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty to charges of a combined total of 51 counts of forgery and other violations while registering voters during the 2008 election cycle.

During the 2008 election season, ACORN gathered over 1.3 million voter registration forms in 21 states. Project Vote estimated that 400,000 registrations collected by ACORN were ultimately rejected, the vast majority for being duplicate registrations submitted by citizens. Project Vote estimated that only a few percent of registrations were fraudulent, based on past years and samples from some drives in 2008. Project Vote estimated that 450,000 of the registrations collected by ACORN represented first-time voters, while the remainder were address changes submitted by citizens updating their addresses.

ACORN has fired employees for fraudulent registration practices and turned them over to authorities. Of 26,513 registrations submitted by ACORN over a nine-month period in San Diego County, California, 4,655 were initially flagged, but 2,806 of those were later validated. County officials said this resulted in a 7% error rate by ACORN, compared to usually less than 5% for voter drives by other organizations.

In plea deals in a 2009 Las Vegas case, former ACORN field director Amy Busefink and ACORN official Christopher Edwards pleaded guilty to "conspiracy to commit the crime of compensation for registration of voters," in connection with a quota system for paid registration staff. Edwards was sentenced to a year's probation and agreed to testify for prosecutors in charges against ACORN and against Busefink. Busefink appealed her case to the Nevada Supreme Court, challenging the constitutionality of the statute. In April 2011, ACORN entered a guilty plea to one count of felony compensation for registration of voters, for which they were fined $5,000, but did not concede that the law was constitutional.

ACORN International

ACORN International was created in 2002 as an offshoot of ACORN to aid the spread of ACORN's model to other countries, including Argentina, Canada, Mexico, and Peru. The first ACORN branch in the UK opened in Bristol in 2014 by three people, two of whom were graduates of the Community Organisers programme.

Other groups are affiliated with ACORN: for example, Living Rent in Scotland and Alliance Citoyenne in France.

See also

References

  1. ^ D. Beck and R. Purcell (2013). International Community Organising. Bristol: Policy Press.
  2. "New Report Finds Widespread Local Use of Affordable Housing Program Being Currently Debated in Congress". ACORN (press release). July 23, 2002. Archived from the original on September 27, 2011. Retrieved October 9, 2008.
  3. Walls, David (Summer 1994). "Power to the People: Thirty-five Years of Community Organizing". The Workbook. Archived from the original on November 15, 2010. Retrieved December 3, 2010.
  4. Michael B. Farrell (September 16, 2009). "What is the ACORN controversy about?". The Christian Science Monitor.
  5. "Who is ACORN? (organization homepage)". Archived from the original on December 31, 2012. Retrieved September 15, 2009.
  6. ^ Atlas, John (2010). Seeds of Change: The Story of ACORN, America's Most Controversial Antipoverty Community Organizing Group. Nashville, Ten.: Vanderbilt University Press. ISBN 978-0-8265-1705-0.
  7. ^ A. Gilchrist and M. Taylor, The Short Guide to Community Development 2nd edn (Bristol: Policy Press, 2016)
  8. ^ J. Talpin, 'The Americanization of French social movements? Community organizing and its discontents in the banlieues' (29/06/17) on metropolitics.org
  9. ^ P. Smythe, 'Housing will be the basis for all change in our country': an interview with Living Rent' (29/04/20) in The Student
  10. "ACORN International". ACORN International. May 16, 2023.
  11. California AG Determines ACORN Broke No Criminal Laws Archived November 12, 2010, at the Wayback Machine FOX News; April 1, 2010
  12. "ACORN Workers Cleared Of Illegality By Outside Probe"
  13. "ACORN and the Ethics of Leadership", Atlantic Monthly, December 8, 2009
  14. ACORN Investigation Results Archived December 13, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, The Nonprofit Quarterly
  15. "Damaging Brooklyn ACORN Sting Video Ruled 'Heavily Edited' – No Charges to Be Filed", New York Magazine; March 2, 2010
  16. Newman, Andrew (March 1, 2010). "Advice to Fake Pimp Was No Crime, Prosecutor Says". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 25, 2010. Retrieved March 7, 2010.
  17. Madde, Mike (March 1, 2010). "Brooklyn prosecutors clear local ACORN office". Salon.com. Retrieved March 7, 2010.
  18. ^ Urbina, Ian (March 19, 2010). "Acorn on Brink of Bankruptcy, Officials Say". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 23, 2010. Retrieved March 20, 2010.
  19. "Second Video Shows ACORN Officials Helping 'Pimp,' 'Prostitute' in Washington Office". Fox News. September 11, 2009. Archived from the original on September 13, 2009. Retrieved September 11, 2009.
  20. Ryan Grim (September 27, 2008). "ACORN Issue Fueling Bailout Opposition". CBS News.
  21. "ACORN Closing in Wake of Scandal". FOX News. March 22, 2010. Archived from the original on March 25, 2010. Retrieved March 22, 2010.
  22. ACORN filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy; Los Angeles Times; November 2, 2010
  23. "January 13th Statement" (Press release). Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment. January 13, 2010. Archived from the original on April 14, 2013. Retrieved May 12, 2011. The leadership and staff that were working with ACORN in California made the decision to break off from ACORN and launch a new organization here in California called Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE).
  24. "Milwaukee chosen to pilot program aimed at foreclosures". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. June 28, 2010. Archived from the original on July 20, 2010. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
  25. Akers, Joshua; Seymour, Eric; Butler, Diné; Rathke, Wade (April 4, 2019). "Liquid Tenancy: 'Post-crisis' economies of displacement, community organizing, and new forms of resistance". Radical Housing Journal. 1 (1): 9–28. doi:10.54825/JGJT2051.
  26. ^ "ACORN Annual Report 2003". ACORN. 2003. Archived from the original on September 28, 2007. Retrieved November 12, 2007.
  27. "Household Finance Settlement". Washington State Office of the Attorney General. December 5, 2003. Archived from the original on September 27, 2006. Retrieved November 12, 2007.
  28. Christopher Hayes, The Nation, September 1, 2008, Obama's Voter-registration Drive
  29. Hastings, Deborah (October 18, 2008). "ACORN controversy: Voter fraud or mudslinging?". USA Today. Associated Press.
  30. "Furor over ACORN allegations gaining momentum" Miami Herald, 2008-10-24.
  31. Mark Walsh (March 14, 2001). "N.Y.C. Parents To Vote on Edison Charter Plan". Education Week.
  32. ^ Toutant, Charles (December 20, 2006). "N.J. Judge Voids City's Gun Control Law". New Jersey Law Journal. Archived from the original on October 13, 2007. Retrieved November 12, 2007.
  33. "Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division, No. A-4443-06T2 and A-4708-06T2" (PDF). September 29, 2008.
  34. "ACORN Home Defender Program". Archived from the original on February 13, 2009. Retrieved February 18, 2009.
  35. Bill Dolan (February 19, 2009). "ACORN plans local action to stem NWI mortgage foreclosures". The Times Media Company.
  36. ^ Ervin, Keith (July 28, 2007). "Felony charges filed against 7 in state's biggest case of voter-registration fraud". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on November 17, 2007. Retrieved November 12, 2007.
  37. Rachel La Corte (February 23, 2007). "Reform group turned in 2000 suspicious voter registrations: County may make criminal inquiry". Seattle Post Intelligencer. Retrieved November 12, 2007.
  38. Vote Sign-up Fraud Probed; Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, August 7, 2008
  39. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on September 30, 2011. Retrieved August 20, 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  40. "Prosecutors: ACORN 2008 Milwaukee Voter Drive "Marred by Fraud" - 620 WTMJ - Milwaukee's Source for Local News and Weather". Archived from the original on September 27, 2011. Retrieved August 20, 2011.
  41. Roddy, Dennis B. (May 8, 2009). "7 ACORN workers charged with forgery". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
  42. ^ Falcone, Michael; Moss, Michael (October 23, 2008). "Groups Tally of New Voters Was Vastly Overstated". The New York Times. Retrieved March 27, 2010.
  43. "ACORN Workers Indicted For Alleged Voter Fraud". KMBC=TV. November 1, 2006. Archived from the original on June 25, 2007.
  44. Strom, Stephanie (October 22, 2008). "Acorn Report Raises Issues of Legality". The New York Times. Retrieved November 19, 2007.
  45. Sheffield, Reggie. "Former temp worker accused of bogus registrations" Archived 2008-12-12 at the Wayback Machine, The Patriot-News (Harrisburg, Penn.), July 24, 2008
  46. Bill Dolan (October 2, 2008). "County rejects large number of invalid voter registrations". The Times Media Company.
  47. Bill Dolan (October 23, 2008). "ACORN defends fraudulent Lake voter drive". The Times Media Company.
  48. Hiram Soto and Helen Gao (October 16, 2008). "ACORN active in voter registration in county". San Diego Union-Tribune.
  49. Friess, Steve (May 5, 2009). "Acorn Charged in Voter Registration Fraud Case in Nevada". The New York Times. Retrieved March 7, 2012.
  50. McCoy, Cara (November 23, 2009). "Ex-ACORN official gets probation for voter registration plan". Las Vegas Sun. Archived from the original on June 11, 2011. Retrieved May 12, 2011.
  51. ^ ACORN pleads guilty to felony compensation for registration of voters; Las Vegas Journal-Review; April 6, 2011
  52. McCabe, Francis (August 10, 2011). "Judge fines ACORN $5,000 for voter registration scheme". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved August 12, 2011.
  53. What does ACORN do?, ACORN, archived from the original on September 27, 2011, retrieved December 3, 2010

Bibliography

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