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

Happy Friday! Spring Break is right around the corner.  Do you have a spring break service project planned?  Let us know. We’d love to feature your project on the Blog.

Here are the week’s headlines:

• Michigan Indigent Defense Commission issues first comprehensive statewide survey on the defense of poor people;
• Student Debt Basics: Equal Justice Works explains;
• CAIR Coalition launches The Crim-Imm Pro Bono Project;
• Utah lawmakers move to fix indigent defense system;
• The New York State Association of Counties says state budget should include indigent defense costs;
• Spotlight on Public Service Servants;
• Super Music Bonus!

The summaries:

March 5, 2016 – “The U.S. Constitution says that all defendants in court are entitled to adequate legal representation. But in Michigan, that right is routinely violated because many poor defendants can’t afford to hire an attorney or get adequate representation, according to a new survey released by a state commission. The report by the Michigan Indigent Defense Commission is the first comprehensive statewide survey on the defense of poor people, said the commission. It found wide variations in how indigent people are represented across the state, with only 6%  of district courts requiring an attorney at both the bail hearing and at arraignment. And only 15% have guidelines for continuing legal education standards for attorneys appointed to represent the needy. ‘Michigan is one of the worst states for indigent defense,’ said Frank Eaman, a Detroit attorney who’s one of 16 members on the commission.” “The Supreme Court is expected to decided in early July whether to approve  the commission’s proposed standards, which would then have to be funded by the state Legislature.” (Detroit Free Press)

March 7, 2016 – Ashley Matthews, former PSJD Fellow and current Program Manager for Law School Engagement & Advocacy for Equal Justice Works explains the current state of student debt and loan repayment for the Huffington Post. (HuffPost College)

March 7, 2016 – “CAIR Coalition is excited to announce the launch of its newest initiative: The Crim-Imm Pro Bono Project. The goal of the Project is to defend detained non-citizens from the disproportionate immigration consequences of criminal convictions and expand strategic litigation. Three firms have mobilized to serve as leaders of this cutting-edge project in its pilot phase, Arnold & Porter, Mayer Brown, and Wiley Rein. Together, CAIR Coalition and the firms’ teams will intervene in the criminal-immigration (‘crim-imm’) pipeline by increasing access to counsel trained in the intersection of criminal and immigration law.” (CAIR Coalition)

March 9, 2016 – “A bill aimed at addressing Utah’s anemic — and likely unconstitutional — indigent defense system has passed in both the House and the Senate and is now headed to the governor’s office for a signature. But the bill won’t receive as much funding as sponsor Sen. Todd Weiler, R-Woods Cross, initially sought. The first draft sought $3 million to fund the creation of a statewide commission that would oversee indigent-defense services. Now, the bill seeks $2 million total — $1.5 million in fiscal year 2016, followed by $500,000 the following year. ‘We have serious concerns that it does not go far enough,’ said Kent Hart, executive director of the Utah Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, on Wednesday. ‘The amount budgeted is not enough.'” “The legislation is a result of four years of study by a state task force, which included Weiler and Hart. As part of the study, the task force hired the Sixth Amendment Center to review the way the accused are being represented in Utah.” (The Salt Lake Tribune)

March 10, 2016 – “The New York State Association of Counties (NYSAC) and its member counties are calling on the New York Legislature to include budget language that would allow for a phased in state takeover of the costs of indigent legal defense services. Indigent legal defense services is one of the nine state mandated programs that consume 99 percent of county property taxes levied statewide. NYSAC is asking state lawmakers to include language from a two-house bill (S.6341, DeFrancisco/A.6202B, Fahy) in the proposed budgets being developed by the Senate and Assembly this week. The measure would require the state reimburse mandated county costs for indigent defense services and improve indigent defense services for the poor.” “In New York, state leaders shifted this responsibility and cost to county governments, which resulted in an array of different indigent legal defense programs across the state. Last year, the state settled the lawsuit Hurrell Harring et al. v. the State of New York, which required the five counties named in the suit to expand indigent defense services, cap caseloads for public defenders and provide counsel for defendants on first arraignment. ‘It’s only a matter of time, or another lawsuit, that will require the other 52 counties to expand their indigent defense services. Our proposal provides the state with an opportunity to phase in a takeover of these costs, before it is forced on us by the courts,’ said NYSAC Executive Director Stephen J. Acquario.” (Rockland County Times)

Featured Spring Break Service Projects:

Thank you to Laren Spirer, Director of Pro Bono Programs at Columbia University School of Law for submitting their Spring  Break Pro Bono Caravans.

Columbia law students will be travelling to 18 different sites all across the country this spring break to provide pro bono assistance.  Students will work on a variety of issues from criminal to Native American and LGBTQ rights. Approximately 120 students will participate and provide a vital service to many communities.  Thank you to these wonderful law students!

Spotlight on Outstanding Public Servants:

Marion Baker couldn’t wait to become an attorney — and didn’t. In the 1930’s, the Washington, D.C-based Columbus University was one of the few law schools in the country that would occasionally admit exceptional students straight out of high school. Baker won a writing contest to gain admission, then took night classes until she emerged with her legal degree. During her 20-plus years with the Legal Aid Society, Baker was a boulder in a tumbling stream. Low pay, high case loads and general stress tend to keep turnover at Legal Aid offices consistently high, but Baker remained in place for decades, much of that time as a volunteer. The legal services community has lost a champion. Read more about here extraordinary career here — The News & Advance.