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{{Short description|Socio-economic community advocacy group}}
{{Long NPOV}}
{{Infobox organization
|name = Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now
|image = Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (logo).svg
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|abbreviation = ACORN
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|formation = 1970
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|status = Active; defunct (US)
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|region_served = {{hlist | United States | ] | Argentina | Mexico | India | Canada | United Kingdom}}
|membership =
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]'''ACORN''', the '''Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now''', is a non-partisan political organization, claiming to be the largest community organization of low and moderate-income families in the ]. ACORN has an active membership of over 160,000 families, organizerd into more than 750 neighborhood chapters in more than 60 cities across the country. ACORN was founded by ], a community and ] ], in ]. 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 ==
Many of ACORN's positions are expressed in its "Peoples' ]" which the organization adopted in ] and revised in ]. Some goals ACORN members push for are:
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"/>
*neighborhood safety
*] reforms in funding and community involvement
*]
*]
*work and ]
*] for low and moderate-income taxpayers
*community ] control
*]

ACORN groups win reform through direct actions, negotiations, working with the media, and, sometimes, by getting involved in electoral politics.


==History== ==History==
{{Further|History of ACORN in the United States}}
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 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>
=== 1970-1975: Founding & Early Growth ===

ACORN was founded by Wade Rathke when he was sent to ] by the ] (NWRO) in ] as an organizer. Rathke's first campaign was aimed at helping 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 original ACORN.

ACORN's goal was to unite welfare recipients with ] around issues of free school lunches, ] issues, ], and ] care. The broad range of issues did not stop there as the organization grew throughout Arkansas. ACORN organized ] to take on ] issues concerning ] emmissions.

Meanwhile, in ] back in Little Rock, ACORN was holding neighborhood rallies on a variety of issues, endorsing candidates for local office and eventually had members running for office themselves in ].


=== 1975-1980: Growth of the movement ===

In ], ACORN became a multi-state organization with new branches in Texas and South Dakota. On ], 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 with a total of twenty states in ].

The great expansion of the organization led to multi-state campaigns beginning with a mass meeting of 1,000 members in ] in ]. 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 the organization's platform when it was ratified in ].

ACORN was heavily involved in the ] with the "People's Platform" serving as its standard bearer. ] aimed at both major party candidates including demands to meet with ], marching on the president's campaign finance committee chair's home, and presenting the platform to the ] platform committee.



===1980-1988: Reagan Era===

]ACORN’S staff was stretched thin by the demands of meeting the goal of expanding to twenty states by ]. Much of its resources and energy had been dedicated to participating in the presidential primaries and national conventions of the Republican and Democratic Parties. ACORN launched a campaign to obtain affordable housing which resulted in ] campaigns. ACORN took the concept a step further though by encouraging people to move into a vacant, usually poorly kept house and to refit it for comfortable living. It also involved the risk of arrest for breaking and entering and ].

In June of ] ACORN sponsored "] Ranches" in over 35 cities believing the president's focus to be on military as opposed to social spending. "Reagan Ranches" were tent cities erected nationally for two days and met with serious resistance from the ] who tried repeatedly to evict ACORN tenters. The protesters remained and then marched on the ] and testified before a ] about what they described as the housing crisis in America. The Republican Convention in ] in ] was the culminating "Reagan Ranch".

In addition to protesting ACORN also developed and strengthened its ] 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 ]. A legislative office was also established 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 twenty-seven states, adding chapters in ], Washington, DC, and ] by the end of Reagan's first term.

During the ] ACORN held its National Convention in the same city as the Democratic Convention -- ]. During the preceding four years ACORN had strengthened its ties with Jessie Jackson and accounted for thirty Jackson delegates. They also sponsored a march at the convention.

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

===1988-Present: 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 which was reclaimed for use in an ACORN neighborhood. Later, ACORN members demanded cooperation from banks about providing loan data on low- and moderate-income communities and compliance with ] Community Reinvestment Act (CRA).

ACORN fought weaking of the CRA in ], when ACORN staged a two-day takeover of the House Banking Committee hearing room to be sure their voices were heard by Congress. 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, the “ACORN-Bank Summit,” was organized to hammer out deals with giant banks. When ], the nation’s largest bank, did not participate conventioneers protested at Citibank’s downtown Manhattan 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 ], ACORN also began a national campaign to fight insurance ], a practice that put the gains made in other housing campaigns at risk. The campaign targeted ], hitting sales offices in fourteen cities and a stockholders meeting. Allstate agreed to negotiate and signed an agreement in ] for a $10 million partnership with ACORN and NationsBank for below-market mortgages to low-income homebuyers. Travelers Insurance came on board with a Neighborhood and Home Safety Program, linking access to insurance and lower rates to public safety programs.

====Still Multi-Faceted====

ACORN's recent activities have mainly centered on its "Living Wage" programs, voter registration, and ]. In ] ACORN helped form the ] in ] which counts increasing the minimum wage as its centerpiece issue. ACORN has also strengthened its ties with the ] often working collaboratively on issues (including health insurance costs and the minimum wage) and even sharing office space.

The organization continues its multi-issue focus however, still pursuing ] usually in the form of organizing neighborhood groups and "community" or "ACORN schools" but frequently combats ] and for-profit schooling initiatives (most notably the proposed Edison Schools takeover of the New York City public schools in ]).


== Issues and actions ==
A more recent effort has been concerning the rights of illegal or "undocumented" ]. ACORN has promoted ] for such workers, most notably at a rally in Chicago in ] and as a major sponsor of the Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride Coalition.
===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>


===Voter registration===
==Controversies==
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>


===Left-Wing Orientation=== ===Education===
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>
Despite claiming to be non-partisan the group is almost unabashedly ] given its criticism of the ], particularly the ], and strong positions regarding the distribution of wealth. The very first section of ACORN's tax plank in its ''People's Platform'' is titled "Tax the Wealth of America".


===Gun control===
ACORN also advocates ] in the form of banning corporate contributions (a mainstay of ] fundraising) to ] while making no mention of restricting contributions by unions (a mainstay of ] fundraising) or other entities.
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>


===Home Defender Program===
Although ] has advocated amnesty for illegal/undocumented workers, a very important issue to the group, it has been silent on his amnesty initiative. ACORN's sharp attacks on Bush's ] have drawn the criticism that ACORN caters to the interests of ] given both the ] and the ] are among the act's most vocal critics.
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>


== Legal issues ==
===Living Wage Campaign===
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>


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" />
Other critics have made charges of ] concerning ACORN's "living wage" campaigns. One such ] campaign in ] is seeking to raise the city's ] 50% higher than the federal minimum wage. Others have advocated minimum ] in excess of $48,000 per year.


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>
Meanwhile, a ], ] decision of the ] found (in ) ACORN attempted to thwart ] efforts within its own organization by laying off workers who were attempting to organize. The workers, all "field organizers" with ACORN, began working with the ] and later the ] to organize in response to their $16,000 annual salary for a 54-hour work week. The NLRB ordered the employees be reinstated in their former jobs and ACORN cease from interrogating employees about organizing activity.


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" />
Additionally, ACORN filed a lawsuit in ] seeking to exempt itself from the state's minimum wage of $4.25 per hour in ], the same year it won a victory in ] to raise the minimum wage for custodial workers to $6.25 per hour.


==ACORN International==
===Voter Registration Misconduct===


] 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"/>
In June 2004 ACORN stated it fired a worker who had turned in several dozen voter registration forms to Franklin County ] officials with duplicate and/or false information.


Other groups are affiliated with ACORN: for example, ] in Scotland<ref name="PS"/> and ] in France.<ref name="JT"/>
In August 2004 a lawsuit was filed in ] accusing state officials of not checking identification when registering voters. The lawsuit was filed, in part, in response to ACORN allegedly registering a 13-year-old and 15-year-old without their knowledge. ], ], and ] candidates are all plaintiffs in the suit. ACORN has denied any wrongdoing but stated requiring identification would discourage people from voting if they arrived without identification.


==See also==
On ], ] a ] ] ] ACORN employee and ] ] Kevin Eugene Dooley for ] ]. The indictment charges Dooley ] a signature to a voter registration form.
* ]
* ]


==References==
As Dooley and others working for ACORN to register voters are not only paid an hourly wage but a bonus per new ] registered critics have charged that ACORN's policies lead to not only voter registration fraud but its opposition to requiring identification encourages election fraud.
{{Reflist|30em}}


==Bibliography==
== External links ==
*{{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 |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==
*
{{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}}
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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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