The Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action (GNOFHAC) center is looking for dedicated, motivated, and talented law students to assist its staff with the investigation and enforcement of fair housing complaints.

GNOFHAC is a private, non-profit civil rights organization that was established in the summer of 1995 to eradicate housing discrimination throughout the greater New Orleans area through education, investigation, and enforcement activities. GNOFHAC is dedicated to fighting housing discrimination not only because it is illegal, but also because it is a divisive force that perpetuates poverty, segregation, ignorance, fear, and hatred.

Law clerks assist attorneys in all aspects of litigation including client intake, performing legal research, conducting factual investigation, drafting memoranda and motions, analyzing discovery materials, attending court proceedings, and preparing briefs.  Law clerks may also assist with community outreach events designed to educate the public about their fair housing rights.

For more information and to learn how to apply, check the listing at PSLawNet!

Yes, here’s another opportunity come work with us at NALP in D.C.! Here are the deets:

NALP is lookging for part-time summer project assistants to update and manage database content on its PSLawNet website. This is an ideal opportunity for law or graduate students who desire to supplement their income while interning or clerking in Washington, DC this summer.

PSLawNet is an online public interest/public sector resource center for law students and lawyers seeking internships, fellowships, or permanent positions. The site contains profiles of over 13,000 employer organizations and over 1,100 job listings, offering the most extensive listing of legal and law-related public service opportunities available anywhere.

We are seeking students with an interest in public interest law to assist us with data update and maintenance projects. Hours are flexible and can be arranged around an internship or other activity.

Since 2003, NALP has housed and administered PSLawNet. Founded in 1971 as the National Association for Law Placement, NALP is a nonprofit educational association of law schools and legal employers. NALP is dedicated to facilitating legal career counseling and planning, recruitment and retention, and the professional development of law students and lawyers.

Find out how to apply at PSLawNet!

By: Steve Grumm

That kind of rhymed.  Anyway, from the Washington Post:

The burden of paying for college is wreaking havoc on the finances of an unexpected demographic: senior citizens.

New research from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York shows that Americans 60 and older still owe about $36 billion in student loans, providing a rare window into the dynamics of student debt. More than 10 percent of those loans are delinquent. As a result, consumer advocates say, it is not uncommon for Social Security checks to be garnished or for debt collectors to harass borrowers in their 80s over student loans that are decades old.

That even seniors remain saddled with student loans highlights what a growing chorus of lawmakers, economists and financial experts say has become a central conflict in the nation’s higher education system: The long-touted benefits of a college degree are being diluted by rising tuition rates and the longevity of debt.

Some of these older Americans are still grappling with their first wave of student loans, while others took on new debt when they returned to school later in life in hopes of becoming more competitive in the labor force. Many have co-signed for loans with their children or grandchildren to help them afford ballooning tuition.

As noted, some of this debt was incurred by parents and grandparents who co-signed on others’ education loans.  Nevertheless this story offers a helpful scare about how even our own “first generation debt” can hang with us if we don’t borrow wisely and take full advantage of repayment solutions.  You can learn more about solutions/resources through folks like Heather Jarvis and the people at Equal Justice Works.

From the San Francisco Chronicle:

California Attorney General Kamala Harris has joined officials from 10 other states in asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Arizona’s immigration law, saying the law exceeds state authority, conflicts with national policy and would drive illegal immigrants into other states.

The law would require police to demand proof of legal status from anyone in their custody whom they suspect of being in the country illegally. Largely blocked by court order since its passage two years ago, it is scheduled for a Supreme Court hearing on April 25, with a ruling due by the end of June.

Harris said Tuesday that the Arizona law would disrupt a “cohesive federal immigration policy” that is particularly important in California. She cited a 2011 report by the Pew Hispanic Center that said California has more undocumented immigrants – 2.5 million – making up a greater share of the workforce – 9.7 percent – than any other state.

. . .California and other states opposing the law told the Supreme Court that the Arizona statute goes beyond federal law in several respects – making it a crime, for example, to be in the country illegally and to seek work – and would interfere with a uniform national approach to immigration.

“Arizona is impermissibly attempting to chart its own course in the identification, apprehension and detention of undocumented immigrants for purposes of expelling them from the state,” said the brief, drafted by the New York attorney general’s office and signed by Harris and her counterparts in nine other states.

Read more here.