Lisa J. Krisher oral history interview, July 18, 2002

Interviewed by Cliff Kuhn. Among topics discussed: Entrance into Georgia Legal Services; Antioch University, Washington, D.C.; Jack Sammons; experiences of racial and poverty issues in Charleston, South Carolina; Antioch Law School and Legal Services; arrival in Augusta; Burke County; Georgia State Prison at Reidsville; Williams v. Butts; Joe Baird; Bob Cullen; Martha Miller; Ben Allen; due process issues in 1970s and 1980s; rural housing lease challenges; Farmers Home Administration (FmHA); federal courts; class action work; jail cases, Reidsville in particular, prison conditions; NAACP Legal Defense Fund; Judge Anthony Alaimo; Bob Cullen; prohibition on class actions by Legal Services by Congress in 1996; J.R. & J.L. v. Parham; John Cromartie; children placed in mental institutions without being mentally handicapped; prohibition on working with prisoners; attempts of legislation to curb Legal Services; Phyllis Holmen; work with community-based organizations; issues with judges; new recruits: characteristics, training, orientation; funding cuts during Ronald Reagan's administration; Dalton, Savannah; litigation; Phyllis Holmen. Change in litigation since staff attorney at Augusta; FmHA case; National Consumer Law Center; National Senior Citizens Law Center; Housing Law Project; HIV as disability; paradox involving success; lobbying restrictions; Buxton v. Lodge; Lodge v. Rogers; Bob Cullen; Burke County discrimination; Herman Lodge; Legal Service office opened in Waynesboro, Georgia; Burke County school redistricting case; voting rights cases in Augusta; Plant Vogtle; Williams v. Butts; Krisher's love of litigation; Macon; Howard Sokol; Bethlehem Area Community Association in segregated area of Augusta; Community Development Block Grant money; similar case in Alabama; development of other community organizations; commitment of staff and private bar; Atlanta Legal Aid.