PSJD Public Interest News Digest – August 17, 2018
Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives
Hello there, interested public! Immigration policy continues to be a major story, with a number of new developments this week. You’ll also want to check out the A2J news out of LA, which may join other major cities in the right-to-counsel-for-eviction movement.
Closer to home (or rather, my desk), I’d like to take this opportunity to welcome the 2018-2019 PSJD Fellow, Awa Sowe! You’ll begin seeing Awa’s work on PSJD.org and here on the blog in the coming weeks. We’re very lucky to have her with us.
One more thing: PSJD is currently considering nominations for the 2018 Pro Bono Publico Award. If you know students at PSJD subscriber schools who have made outstanding pro bono contributions to their communities, please take a moment and let us know about their work. The deadline for nominations is 8/31.
See you around,
Sam
Immigration & Refugee Issues
- The Huffington Post reported that “[o]nly a small fraction of the nearly 600 migrant children reported to still be in the custody of the U.S. government at the beginning of the month have been reunified with their families, according to a status update from the Trump administration filed Thursday.”
- NBC News reported that “The Trump administration is expected to issue a proposal in coming weeks that would make it harder for legal immigrants to become citizens or get green cards if they have ever used a range of popular public welfare programs…part of White House senior adviser Stephen Miller’s plan to limit the number of migrants who obtain legal status in the U.S. each year.”
- In Washington, DC, “a federal judge…halted a deportation in progress…and threatened to hold Attorney General Jeff Sessions in contempt after learning that the Trump administration started to remove a woman and her daughter while a court hearing appealing their deportations was underway.“
- In Boston, MA, the ACLU filed documents in an immigration case that “show officials from the Boston-area offices of ICE…discussed scheduling interviews with immigrants at times that were convenient for ICE agents who would be waiting to arrest them — and in some cases initiate the deportation process…ICE officials ask[ed] to spread the interviews over time to avoid media scrutiny and for logistical reasons.”
- In response to an EOIR memo requiring immigration judges to complete at least 700 cases per year, “more than 120 law professors denounced the Justice Department’s new performance metrics for immigration judges as a danger to due process and an infringement on judicial independence.”
Disaster Legal Aid
Public Service Job Search
- You may hear some familiar voices on the Los Angeles County Bar Association’s latest edition of their “ADMITTED” podcast for law students: Rachel Kronick Rothbart of USC and Katrina Denny of Loyola LA. The episode covers legal career search issues generally, but includes some tips specific to public service careers, such as the ideal timeline when reaching out to employers in the LA area.
Voting Rights
- Noting that “although voting restrictions for ex-offenders are getting looser in a handful of states, many of those potential voters aren’t aware of changing laws,” NonProfit Quarterly suggested that “responsibility for educating [those affected] is part of the ongoing debate on voting rights for ex-felons.“
Legal Technology
- The ABA’s Legal Rebels podcast interviewed Nicole Bradick about her technology-focused approach to access to justice issues. “For example,…creating an app to help low-income tenants in Chicago navigate landlord-tenant matters such as evictions and to help pro bono lawyers better serve these tenants by providing information and automated document tools.”
Access to Justice – Civil
- In Los Angeles, CA, the “City Council’s Housing Committee has recommended that the city explore a ‘right to counsel’ ordinance that would guarantee tenants have access to the information and representation they need when faced with landlord harassment, eviction or other issues.” This move puts LA on track to join other major cities such as NYC and SF in initiatives to provide counsel in eviction cases, as noted in earlier editions of this digest.
- In Ohio, the state’s “nonprofit legal aid societies are teaming up to provide more legal services to low-income residents[–]the Alliance of Ohio Legal Aids[.]“