Pro Bono
ACLU Among Legal Groups Touched by Madoff Losses
Posted Jan 5, 2009, 07:06 am CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss
A group that doles out grants to public interest legal organizations had its money invested with Bernard Madoff, the hedge fund manager accused of losing $50 billion in investor money in a massive Ponzi scheme.
The group, the JEHT Foundation, is now dissolving, the National Law Journal reports. JEHT gave out $24 million last year to legal groups ranging from the American Civil Liberties Union to the Center for Constitutional Rights. To cope with the funding loss, the public interest legal groups are tightening their belts and seeking new donors.
The article says the groups most affected by the funding loss are:
• The Heartland Human Care Services' National Immigrant Justice Center, with a current grant from JEHT of $720,000.
• The ACLU, with a current grant of $680,000.
• Brandeis University's International Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life, with a grant of $600,000.
• The Center for International Environmental Law, with a grant of $600,000.
The Center for Constitutional Rights had a current grant from JEHT of $300,000. Kevi Brannelly, director of development for the center, told the National Law Journal that JEHT would fund programs that others shunned.
"JEHT was a tremendous partner," Brannelly told the publication.