PSJD Public Interest News Digest – October 6, 2017
Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives
Happy Friday, everyone! I and many other NALP staffers will be out of the office today for the NALP Summit on Emerging Careers for Law Grads. In keeping with today’s theme, therefore, some choice words from legal futurist Richard Susskind:
“[I]f you’re interested in access to justice, there’s never been a better time because you can greatly change the way in which we deliver access to justice.”
—Richard Susskind, in remarks to the Indiana State Bar Association (28 Sept. 2017)
Immigration/DACA
- Despite a major effort from legal professionals (chronicled in previous digest editions), only 75% of DACA recipients renewed their status in advance of the Trump Administration’s October 5th deadline–including many recipients in Texas and Florida.
- Lawyers in Halifax, Canada are volunteering to help groups hoping to host refugees overcome bureaucratic hurdles.
- The LA Times chronicled the ways in which ICE’s practice of detaining immigrants in remote facilities prevents legal services from effectively assisting them.
Student Loans
- Pennsylvania Attorney General sued Navient, alleging the student loan services company intentionally steered borrowers away from income-based repayment plans.
- A consulting firm for Manitoba has advised the province to scrap its program of interest-free post-secondary student loans.
Disaster Relief
- The Puerto Rican Bar Association partnered with 17 mainland law schools to allow students at Puerto Rico’s three law schools to continue their studies in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria.
- The Louisiana Civil Justice Center–an outgrowth of Hurricane Katrina–stepped in to coordinate pro bono efforts for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Civil Access to Justice
Criminal Justice
- In South Dakota, inmates are losing access to paid legal aides in exchange for tablets connected to an electronic legal library.
- The Tennessee Supreme Court has largely endorsed the recommendations of a task force it appointed to develop improvements for the state’s indigent defense system.
- To adapt to Michigan’s new standards for indigent defense (discussed in an earlier digest edition), Ingham County, MI wants to move from a court-appointed attorney system to a full time Public Defender’s office.
- Counties in Texas have begun to plan for potential changes that may become necessary, pending the ultimate outcome of a federal lawsuit challenging pretrial bail practices in Harris County, TX on due process grounds.
- The ACLU sued a Florida judge, alleging a practice of dismissing defendants’ public defenders when prosecutors promise not to seek jail time without considering whether such dismissal would disadvantage the defendants in question.
- In the New Mexico Supreme Court, prosecutors are battling against public defenders and trial judges over whether prosecutors should be given opportunities to repair cases when they miss deadlines.
- The Connecticut Board of Pardons and Paroles reformed its procedures concerning parole violations in response to a January 2016 report by Yale Law School’s Criminal Justice Clinic.
Music Bonus!
And now, some parting words from Leonard Cohen: