Blog of Rights

Sandra S.
Park

Sandra Park is a staff attorney with the ACLU Women’s Rights Project. She previously worked at the Legal Aid Society, Bronx Neighborhood Office, first as a Skadden Fellow and then as a staff attorney. She also clerked for U.S. District Court Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein in the Southern District of New York. A magna cum laude graduate of New York University School of Law and Harvard University, Park has also worked as a research associate at the Brennan Center for Justice.

VICTORY! Supreme Court Decides: Our Genes Belong to Us, Not Companies

By Sandra S. Park, ACLU Women's Rights Project at 11:35am

Should companies be able to patent human genes? Today, the Supreme Court answered that profound question with a resounding NO.

Seems like common sense, right? But over the last 30 years, the U.S. Patent Office has issued patents on thousands of human genes, including genes associated with colon cancer, Alzheimer's disease, muscular dystrophy, and many other devastating diseases. The status quo meant that companies controlling gene patents had the right to stop all other scientists from examining, studying, testing, and researching our genes.

Human Gene Patents Struck Down: Reactions from the Plaintiffs

By Sandra S. Park, ACLU Women's Rights Project at 4:18pm

For the last four years, I've had the honor of representing 20 amazing organizations and individuals in our challenge to human gene patents. They include: leading organizations of pathologists and geneticists; scientists, physicians, and genetic counselors who work every day to improve our understanding of the connection between genes, disease, and treatment and the care they provide to patients; breast cancer and women's health groups, who spoke out against the effects of these patents on patients; and women who have family histories of breast and ovarian cancer, or who have already been diagnosed with cancer, and faced obstacles to their medical care because of these patents.

James Watson, Discoverer of DNA: Patenting Human Genes Is “Lunacy”

By Sandra S. Park, ACLU Women's Rights Project at 12:11pm

Recently, Dr. James Watson filed an amicus brief opposing gene patents in our lawsuit challenging the patents on two human genes associated with hereditary breast and ovarian cancer. Dr. Watson, along with Francis Crick, identified DNA’s ability to create life through its double helical structure and its information-coding sequences in 1953. His brief explains why, from the perspective of a scientist whose work laid the foundation for all genetic research, gene patenting is “lunacy.”

Are Human Genes Patentable? Supreme Court Will Decide

By Sandra S. Park, ACLU Women's Rights Project at 3:54pm

Today, the Supreme Court granted our petition seeking review of an appellate court’s 2-1 ruling upholding patents on two human genes associated with hereditary breast and ovarian cancer.  We represent 20 plaintiffs, including geneticists, patients, and scientific organizations representing over 150,000 pathologists and laboratory professionals.   The case is the first challenging whether human genes can be patented.

New HUD Rules Target Stereotyping of Domestic Violence Victims

By Sandra S. Park, ACLU Women's Rights Project at 3:34pm

Tanica Lewis and her children were evicted from their apartment after her ex-partner, Reuben Thomas, broke in while she was at work. Her landlord decided that Thomas was her "guest" and held her responsible for his property damage, despite the protective order she previously had obtained against him and his arrest for home invasion.

After Kathy Cleaves-Milan reported that her ex-partner had threatened her with a gun, she and her daughter were evicted. A copy of her order of protection was stapled to the eviction notice, and the housing manager stated, "The basis for that eviction was the fact the violence had occurred."

Calling the Police Can Get You Evicted

By Katie Miller & Sandra S. Park, ACLU Women's Rights Project at 4:46pm

Across the country, a growing number of cities are adopting nuisance ordinances that impose fines and criminal penalties on landlords and tenants when the police are called too many times to the property. In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, landlords may be fined if the police are called to the premises three or more times within 30 days. While the stated goal is to deter crime and recoup costs, these ordinances endanger domestic violence survivors, particularly women of color.

Ending Double Victimization of Domestic Violence Survivors

By Sandra S. Park, ACLU Women's Rights Project at 9:41am

In 2005, Congress declared: “Women and families across the country are being discriminated against, denied access to, and even evicted from public and subsidized housing because of their status as victims of domestic violence.” This was the experience of our clients Tiffani Alvera, Aaronica Warren, Quinn Bouley, “T. J.,” and Tanica Lewis, all of whom faced eviction in private, public, and subsidized housing because they had been subjected to domestic violence. Some were punished by “zero tolerance for crime” policies, even though they were the victims, and not the perpetrators, of violence. Others were blamed for the property damage caused by their abusers. In effect, these women were doubly victimized: first by the violence, then by housing discrimination.

Supreme Court: Liberate the Human Genome!

By Sandra S. Park, ACLU Women's Rights Project at 1:14pm

Today, we asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review an appellate court’s 2-1 ruling upholding patents on two human genes associated with hereditary breast and ovarian cancer.  The case challenges patents that pose a serious barrier to using new discoveries in genetic testing and how genes influence the way cancers develop and can be treated.

BRCA1 and BRCA2 are two of the 23,000 genes in the human genome, 20 percent of which have been patented.  We all have these genes, but women with certain genetic mutations are estimated to have up to an 85 percent risk for breast cancer and 50 percent risk for ovarian cancer.  Myriad Genetics obtained patents on the “isolated” forms of the two genes, which simply means it obtained a patent on the human gene once it has been removed from the cell.  It does not matter whether the genes come from you, me or any of the other 285 million people in the U.S., or whether you have a mutation or not – the patents claim them all.  Even though laboratories around the country are fully capable of providing genetic testing for BRCA1 and BRCA2 (and were already testing patients before the patents forced them to stop), the patents in essence give a monopoly over these genes. 

Our Genes, Our Rights — To Be Argued Monday

By Sandra S. Park, ACLU Women's Rights Project at 5:15pm

The ACLU was before a federal appeals court today arguing that human genes should not be patented.  Arguing with us was Acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal, who argued that patents on human genes issued by the Patent Office are invalid.

Victims of Domestic Abuse Deserve Protection, Not an Eviction Notice

By Elayne Weiss, Washington Legislative Office & Sandra S. Park, ACLU Women's Rights Project at 2:08pm

Imagine coming home to find that you are being evicted from your apartment. But it’s not because you haven’t paid rent; it’s because you are a victim of domestic violence. That’s exactly what happened to ACLU client Tanica Lewis.

In 2006, Tanica and her two daughters were kicked out of their apartment, after her ex-boyfriend violated a protective order and broke into Tanica’s apartment by smashing her windows and kicking in the door. A few days later, Tanica was told she had to vacate the premises because she failed to properly supervise her “guest.” Tanica and her daughters were forced to move into another apartment, but at a higher rent and farther from Tanica’s job.

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