NLJ's Sweeping Civil Legal Services Report – the Need among Clients and the Poltics of Funding
The National Law Journal has just published “The Power of Hope,” which it bills as follows:
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The National Law Journal has just published “The Power of Hope,” which it bills as follows:
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This week: Wisconsin budget controversy extends to the public interest community; NYT says don’t slash LSC funding; is “holistic defense” the future of indigent defense?; worries about government funding cuts for a Pennsylvania legal services program; the same worries are troubling California-based LSC grantees; and Uncle Sam wants to improve his intern hiring processes.
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From the National Law Journal (article may be password-protected):
Opponents of the death penalty applauded Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn for deciding on March 9 to sign legislation abolishing capital punishment in the state and to commute the sentences of the 15 inmates still on death row to life in prison without parole
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Abolitionists said the dramatic step taken by Illinois would add new momentum to efforts in other states to end the death penalty. Illinois is the fourth state in four years to end capital punishment – the others being New Mexico, New Jersey and New York. Legislators in Montana, Connecticut, Kansas and Maryland may act on repeal measures this year.
Another NLJ article back in January, which we blogged about, touched upon the potential significance of Illinois’ actions in influencing the national debate on capital punishment. As we noted at the time:
Why is movement in this one state watched by death penalty opponents and proponents alike? Well, Illinois may be a bellwether state because of its position near the middle of the cultural/political spectrum. It is a Midwestern state that is neither as socially conservative as many Southern states nor as progressive as many Northeastern states.
For more coverage of the repeal, see the Chicago Tribune (“What killed Illinois death penalty” was inaccuracy, not just morality), and the Chicago Sun-Times (“Quinn signs bill repealing Illinois death penalty”).
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Hunting for a postgraduate public interest job? NALP is very pleased to present a free webinar entitled “Destination Public Interest: Landing the Ideal Public Interest Job.” This webinar, which we present in partnership with our friends at Equal Justice Works, is designed for 3Ls and recent graduates who are pursuing public interest careers. It offers concrete best practices and tips in the areas of cover letter and résumé drafting, as well as interviewing and professional networking. And the webinar clocks in at under 35 minutes, so we like to think it offers a very efficient means for job seekers to take in a great deal of helpful information quickly.
We hope you find the webinar useful, and wish you the best of luck on your job hunt!
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Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., on Thursday introduced the 2011 Federal Internship Improvement Act
(H.R. 914) to increase the number of government interns who are converted to full-time employees. This legislation would establish reporting requirements so that the Office of Personnel Management could evaluate agencies’ implementation of intern programs based on conversion rates, as well as determine the quality of those programs through exit interviews. It also would also establish a central clearinghouse so that agencies can recruit qualified candidates who interned for another agency.
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Connolly expressed concern that agencies convert just 6.6 percent of interns to full-time employees compared with more than 50 percent in the private sector. Government will have to fill more than 200,000 mission-critical jobs in the next three years, he wrote.
It’s noteworthy that this proposal comes in the wake of large-scale changes to the way that Uncle Sam attracts junior talent.
Federal agencies currently are overhauling the process for bringing students and recent graduates into government service. President Obama on Dec. 27, 2010, issued an executive order scrapping the controversial Federal Career Internship Program. The directive also established three pathways for young talent to enter the federal workplace. OPM Director John Berry in January outlined how agencies should convert FCIP participants to competitive service, along with the steps for continuing use of current internship programs while regulations are finalized.
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Wisconsin state politics have become national news of late. But here’s a bit of particularly bad news for the legal services community that hasn’t made it to the fore of news coverage…
The Wisconsin Law Journal reported last Friday that:
Civil legal service providers for poor people in Wisconsin are facing substantial cuts pending the inclusion of a budget proposal that eliminates all state money for those organizations.
Part of Gov. Scott Walker’s 2011-13 budget reallocates money collected by the Wisconsin Trust Account Foundation and distributed to organizations such as Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee and Legal Action of Wisconsin to other aspects of the criminal justice system
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Walker’s proposal would shift money allotted to civil legal service providers to support pay increases for assistant district attorneys and also for additional court reporters in the state.
The executive director of Legal Action noted in the piece that the cut could cause his organization to lay off over 40% of its staff. The PSLawNet Blog is all for raising prosecutors’ salaries, but not – repeat, not – at the expense of cutting off legal services funding at a time of acute need.
UPDATE: here’s reaction to Governor Walker’s budget proposal from the Wisconsin State Bar. It offers some context for the funding changes which would affect public service lawyers, and notes that the budget contemplates adding 45 public defender positions statewide – a healthy development.
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This week: attorney licensing fee increases to bolster Minnesota public defense and civil legal services programs; New York’s pilot program to provide counsel to homeowners facing foreclosure; jail time for a former Southwestern Pennsylvania Legal Services employee who embezzled $188K; a North Carolina law professor minces no words in criticizing those on Capitol Hill who would do away with LSC; the funding woes plaguing the Massachusetts legal services community; in Texas, legislative proposals to channel funding to legal services; more Minnesota – this explains why funds are needed to prop up legal services providers; a couple of law student group fundraisers, including the “Spartan War Helmet” mustache(?); the Pro Bono Institute puts the lie to the notion that pro bono contributions could make up for a poorly funded legal services infrastructure; the Nat’l. Law Journal looks at law school employment bridge programs for recent grads; and, “Law Schools Revamp Their Curricula to Teach Practical Skills.”
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Our friends at Equal Justice Works have shared the following:
Summer Corps is an AmeriCorps-funded program that in 2011 will provide 700 law students with the opportunity to earn a $1,132 education award voucher for dedicating their summer to a qualifying legal project at a nonprofit public interest organization.
The Equal Justice Works Summer Corps program provides law students with the opportunity to dedicate their summer to a legal project at a qualifying nonprofit public interest organization. Summer Corps members expand the delivery of critically needed legal assistance in low-income and underserved communities across the country on a broad range of issue areas.
Summer Corps members:
- Gain first-hand experience and legal skills in areas such as client intake, representation, and legal research and writing;
- Earn a $1,132 AmeriCorps education award upon completion of 300 hours of service that can be used to pay current educational expenses or qualified student loans;
- Have access to the Equal Justice Works network of alumni, experience and expertise as the nation’s largest provider of public interest opportunities for law students and attorneys;
- Become an official member of AmeriCorps, one of the largest national service networks in U.S. history.
Please visit http://www.equaljusticeworks.org/law-school/summercorps for information how to apply. The application will only be available on the website from March 16 – April 5, 2011. Questions? Email Summercorps@equaljusticeworks.org
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The PSLawNet Blog is always happy to learn of instances where entrepreneurial, public-interest minded law students stage fundraisers to support summer and postgraduate public interest opportunities for themselves and their classmates. In fact, later this year we are going to produce a resource manual for student groups by gathering information and best practices on student-led fundraising initiatives from schools throughout the country.
For now, we want to pass along coverage about recent, successful fundraisers at Yale, and one taking place today at UC Irvine.
Don’t be bashful. Please share your school’s public-interest fundraising ideas in the comments section…
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