Jamila Michener

Ditto! SO excited about your new book.

Uncivil Democracy How the civil legal system undermines the political lives of marginalized communities

My book w/@profsorelle.bsky.social will be out in January! These ideas have brewed since I interned at Queens Legal Services 20 years ago. The book is for anyone who cares about people, justice, power & democracy. Much more to share more in the coming months!

press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...

For the #EGEssaySeries, @povertyscholar.bsky.social points to how forces fueling right-wing populism are evident in the housing market and how tenant organizing can be powerful for creating better economic policies and strengthening U.S. democracy.

Read more 🔗: equitablegrowth.org/housing-inse...

Medicaid turned 60 this week! My piece in Health Affairs Forefront argues that its future "hinges on who has the power to direct its course." Building & organizing power among Medicaid beneficiaries is the path towards transformative change. Read more here 👇🏾
www.healthaffairs.org/content/fore...

Think the Medicaid cuts don't affect you? Think again. : It's Been a Minute Republicans have passed President Trump's One Big, Beautiful bill, but is it built on bad faith stereotypes? The legislation guts funding for Medicaid, and for a long time Republicans have been attack...

Me & @joanalker1.bsky.social on @npr.org's "It's Been a Minute" talking about the erroneous stereotypes that drive Medicaid cuts & the fundamental connections between all of us. When we harm those whom government deems "underserving," we ultimately harm everyone.
www.npr.org/2025/07/04/1...

Thanks 🙏🏾

July 4th has never resonated. Too many people remained unfree after the U.S. declared independence & too many would be made unfree as a result of that declaration. Today, as so many devastatingly harmful policies unfold, charting a course towards freedom is unfinished work that depends on us.

*Update: Deep thanks to those who shared links, contacts, & encouragement. My brother helped find this family temporary housing. The road ahead for them will be hard. For low-income people, being evicted in NYC means navigating a confusing maze of programs that too often demoralize & discourage.

Jamaica, Queens (NYC).

Today I am on the hunt for ways to help. Message me if you have suggestions! The family wants to stay together (mother, father, baby). Their stuff is still in the apartment. They’d like to negotiate w/ the landlord to stay if possible. They need housing & a lawyer. This is in Jamaica, Queens (NYC).

He called me asking what to do. I study poverty & social policy but acute situation are not my forte. I decided to pay for a hotel stay for them for a while so they could look for emergency housing. But we could not even find a nearby hotel with space. They slept at my brother’s place (2/n)

I don’t normally do this but I am posting w/an ask today. Please read the thread 🧵

My brother took in the family from the apartment across the hall from him last night. They were evicted w/ their 4-month-old. My brother, who has few resources of his own, could not bear to see them on the street.

Sadly, must share this again today: Most. People. Don’t. Want. Medicaid. Cuts. And as @povertyscholar.bsky.social and I argue, there could (should) be political repercussions for this undemocratic act.

In Renton, we’re holding officials accountable and upholding democracy | Op-Ed Renton residents aren’t just trying to stop an expansion plan. We are trying to transform how power operates in our community.

During a bleak time (w/massive Medicaid cuts looming), I'm inspired by ordinary people organizing to fight displacement & harm. As @mperezbrower.bsky.social so powerfully writes, democracy hinges on efforts to "transform how power operates in our community."
www.seattletimes.com/opinion/in-r...

Though some elected officials are no longer even pretending to represent the preferences of their constituents, it remains important to underscore the gaping chasm between what people want (RE: Medicaid) & what is actually happening. Read our piece for more on this democratic disconnect👇🏾

Looking forward to this discussion today. Join us.

It is a hard, but important time to be thinking and talking collectively about Medicaid. Join us next week (June 12th) for a historically grounded, future facing discussion.

New Medicaid work requirements "impossible" for people to navigate Millions of Americans could lose Medicaid coverage because of cutbacks, but experts warn of the legislation's complexity.

I am under no illusion that the elected officials pushing Medicaid cuts care about the facts. But it is still important to state them clearly, publicly, and incessantly: “Work requirements are simply Medicaid cuts by another name. They serve little other purpose."

www.newsweek.com/medicaid-wor...

🔥🔥🔥Such a great collab!

I enjoyed this discussion today. I learned a lot from my fellow panelists (even those I disagreed with). And as moderator, @jerusalem.bsky.social wasn’t afraid to challenge us with tough questions. I find that approach super generative.

The false dichotomy is historically enduring (predating even the “founding”) and it has survived many different iterations of word choice. The idea itself —that we must decide who is disadvantaged enough to access public resources—almost inevitably produces harm relative to more universal approaches

We cannot harm those deemed “undeserving” without also harming many who are supposedly “deserving.” These false dichotomies serve only the most wealthy/elite. MLK was on point when he said that “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” We ignore that wisdom to our own peril.

Beyond fear of backlash: Effects of messages about structural drivers of COVID-19 disparities among large samples of Asian, Black, Hispanic, and White Americans Although U.S. health disparities are well-documented, the very communities that bear the brunt of those disparities are, ironically, underrepresented …

And of course, read the paper itself! www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

It's worth reading the whole thread, where @neillewisjr.bsky.social so brilliantly describes the paper and its implications. bsky.app/profile/neil...

I'm glad to be part of this team of scholars. I'm not an experimentalist, but by working closely with colleagues who use experiments as a primary research tool, I've been able to explore one of the core preoccupations of my own research agenda (centering the marginalized) in new and novel ways.

A Descriptive Analysis of Tenant Right to Counsel Law and Praxis 2017–2024 This article provides the first comprehensive description of state and local tenant right to counsel (RTC) policies. From July 2017 through June 2024, five states, 17 cities, and one county passed ...

This part on the centrality of power in the civil justice landscape is the core preoccupation of my forthcoming book. But that won't be out for a while (late 2025 or early 2026). In the meanwhile, anyone interested in civil justice should read this paper (END). www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

3. RTC programs struggled to identify tenants facing eviction & engage tenants in feedback systems. So even though RTC increases legal representation, not all tenants benefit from it & RTC programs are missing critical voices. Bottom-line: even beyond "access"--power remains a central factor.

2. Local actors cited deficits related to capacity, funding, etc. as an implementation barrier. The intentions of RTC—from protecting public health to addressing eviction to upholding fundamental principles of justice—cannot be realized if programs are not fully supported or funded.

The paper is chock full of detail, too much to fully convey here. But here are a few takeaways:

1. There is substantial variation between right to counsel (RTC) laws as adopted in legislation vs executed on the ground. Passing policy is not enough. Implementation is key for access to justice.

A Descriptive Analysis of Tenant Right to Counsel Law and Praxis 2017–2024 This article provides the first comprehensive description of state and local tenant right to counsel (RTC) policies. From July 2017 through June 2024, five states, 17 cities, and one county passed ...

This work has given me that chance to engage in truly interdisciplinary research. In a new paper out this week, I work with a legal scholar, a sociologist, & public health scholars to chart the landscape of tenant "right to counsel" law. Check it out here: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....