0:03 Justice is the one thing that makes
0:06 everyone equal. All people, regardless
0:08 of their income or their socioeconomic
0:10 status or their race or their gender,
0:12 are deserving of representation and
0:15 should not be marginalized.
0:17 Poverty is not a crime. My name is Ivon
0:20 London and I work for the Texas Fair
0:22 Defense Project. We are located in
0:24 Austin, Texas and we became Cleo
0:28 customers in 2019. Our firm's mission is
0:31 to fight the criminalization of poverty.
0:34 So there is a program in Texas called
0:36 the failure to appear program. If
0:39 someone has a traffic ticket and they
0:42 are not able to appear at their court
0:44 appearance or if they are not able to
0:48 pay, then the court can not only issue a
0:50 warrant, there will be a hold on that
0:52 person's license. If you don't have a
0:54 license, that could impact your everyday
0:56 from taking your children to school.
1:00 Being able to be gainfully employed, if
1:02 you only have but so much money and you
1:05 have other things like paying rent or
1:07 getting groceries, you probably would
1:09 pay that before you paid a ticket. And
1:11 these are areas where legal
1:14 representation is not entitled based on
1:16 the sixth amendment. That's why we do
1:19 pro bono work. There is no fee for our
1:23 services. Our organization takes on
1:26 people who are at 200% of the poverty
1:29 level or below. We fill that gap because
1:31 we are the only ones that are able to
1:34 provide that resource. Being a community
1:39 champion means that we are able to not
1:43 only listen but help them advocate for
1:45 themselves while also advocating for
1:47 them. Anytime that you're trying to
1:50 achieve justice, it is always going to
1:52 be an uphill battle. But you are going
1:55 to have to continue to travel uphill in
1:57 order to effectuate change. You always
2:00 have to be up for the fight, and you
