by Christina Jackson, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives & Fellowships

Happy Friday!

Here are the week’s headlines:

• Minnesota legislature increases public defender budget;
• Kentucky area clinics receive grant;
• Attorneys ask Florida Justices to reconsider dues fee hike;
• Goodwin Procter announces recipients of 2015 Public Interest Fellowships for law students of color;
• Vermont Law School library offering services to public;
• Spotlight on Public Service Servants;
• Super Music Bonus!

The summaries:

July 17, 2015 – “The Minnesota legislature this year decided to add $6,480,000 to their chief public defender budget for next year. That’s about an 8 percent increase. Part of the reason for the new funding was the government’s projected budget surplus. But also important was the legislature’s realization that public defenders are good for Minnesota. The new appropriation by the legislature will provide funds to give public defenders their first pay raise in a long time, hire additional attorneys and support staff, and improve the overall standard of representation. The new law also includes an additional $879,000 for legal aid agencies to help victims of domestic violence and prevent improper evictions and foreclosures.” (Lake County News Chronicle)

July 18, 2015 – “The Kentucky Bar Foundation recently awarded $30,000 to legal clinics to benefit impoverished families in three Kentucky communities: Warren, Daviess and McCracken counties. One-third of the grant will be devoted to clinics hosted in Warren County Family Court. The family law clinics will be designed to help impoverished families gain access to the courts to resolve their family law legal issues.” (Bowling Green Daily News)

July 20, 2015 -“A group of 522 attorneys has asked the Florida Supreme Court to reconsider allowing the Florida Bar to raise its annual dues to help fund legal aid. The high court ruled 4-3 this month to deny a petition that would have allowed the Florida Bar board of governors to increase annual dues by up to $100. Dues have held steady at $265 since 2001. The petitioners asked the court Friday to consider tweaking the proposed amendment to Bar rules, rather than denying it outright. The group seeks to avoid the ‘time-consuming and onerous’ process of starting from scratch in its effort to help the poor afford legal representation.”  (Daily Business Review)

July 21, 2015 – “Goodwin Procter, a national Am Law 50 firm, today announced the recipients of its 2015 Public Interest Fellowships for Law Students of Color. The fellowships support first-year students from law schools across the country who spend the summer working in community service legal positions. This year’s fellows are: Sonam Bhagat, Boston University School of Law;Rachel Clark, The George Washington University Law School; Cindy Guan, Harvard Law School; and Amari Lynn Hammonds, Stanford Law School.”  (Business Wire)

July 21, 2015 – “The Vermont Law School library is providing legal reference services to the public, seeking to fill the gap created with the closure of the state library’s law program in Montpelier. The Julien and Virginia Cornell Library at the South Royalton school is offering a new ‘Ask a Law Librarian Line’ at 802-831-1313 for reference requests by phone. It’s also offering a new Community Legal Information Corner with two public-access computers with Westlaw, an online legal research service, and a legal self-help collection. The library submitted a proposal to the state last spring, and the Legislature subsequently approved a $67,000 grant to offset the costs associated with the school opening its library doors to the public.” (WCAX)

Spotlight on Outstanding Public Servants: NASA Astronauts

At 12:51 EDT on July 24, 1969, Apollo 11, the U.S. spacecraft that had taken the first astronauts to the surface of the moon, safely returns to Earth. The American effort to send astronauts to the moon had its origins in a famous appeal President John F. Kennedy made to a special joint session of Congress on May 25, 1961: “I believe this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to Earth.” Eight years later, on July 16, 1969, the world watched as Apollo 11 took off from Kennedy Space Center with astronauts Neil Armstrong, Edwin Aldrin Jr., and Michael Collins aboard. After traveling 240,000 miles in 76 hours, Apollo 11 entered into a lunar orbit on July 19. The next day, at 1:46 p.m., the lunar module Eagle, manned by astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin, separated from the command module, where a third astronaut, Michael Collins, remained. Two hours later, the Eagle began its descent to the lunar surface, and at 4:18 p.m. the craft touched down on the southwestern edge of the Sea of Tranquility.  Read more about this historic flight at History.com.

Super Music Bonus!  This week our pick comes from Mary Beal, NALP’s Director of Member Professional Development