PSJD Public Interest News Digest – September 7, 2018
Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives
Hello there, interested public! Major news this week includes regulatory action from the Trump administration that would allow the government to detain children for the duration of their asylum proceedings, the resignation of a CFPB official charged with safeguarding student borrowers, and a Louisiana court’s class certification in a structural right-to-counsel lawsuit brought by the Southern Poverty Law Center. For these stories and more, read on!
Meanwhile, in NALP news:
- Registration is now open for the 2018 NALP/PSJD Public Service Mini-Conference. Scheduled each year to occur immediately before Equal Justice Work’s Annual Conference and Career Fair weekend, the Mini-Conference is an ideal opportunity to meet and network with colleagues from across the country, attend substantive and skills-based programs, and interact with NALP staff members! The conference will take place on Thursday, October 25th, with additional programming for newcomers to the field on the evening of Wednesday, October 24th.
See you around,
Sam
Immigration & Refugee Issues
- According to TIME magazine, “the [Trump] Administration filed proposed regulation to terminate [a ‘longstanding court agreement that requires the government to release immigrant children after 20 days in detention’ and detain entire families for the duration of the legal proceedings that determine if they can stay. The rule, which will published (sic) on Friday, would also allow the federal government to transfer family units to facilities that are not ‘state licensed,’ which is currently required.”
- In Boston, MA, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Economic Justice filed a class action lawsuit “call[ing] on the federal government to compensate the estimated 2,500 children affected by the family separation policy and to establish a fund for mental heath care for children traumatized after being forcibly removed from their parents.”
- In Washington, DC, the Washington Post called attention to the fact that “unlike other cities that have created immigrant defense funds since Trump took office, Washington does not use tax dollars to help undocumented adults once they are detained by federal authorities and face deportation.”
Student Loans
- In Washington, DC, “[t]he consumer protection official charged with safeguarding student borrowers [resigned] in protest of the Trump administration, claiming it is siding with predatory lenders over consumers and enacting policies that will lead to ‘far-reaching harm.’“
- FiveThirtyEight.com reviewed the student loan crisis and federal proposals to fix it, using the hypothetical example of a Georgetown Law grad to underline the role of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program.
Legal Technology
- In California, “[s]tate lawmakers voted to pass a bill…ensur[ing] all California broadband customers have equal access to content on the internet. The law would be the strictest for internet providers in the United States, and put California at odds with the federal government.”
- The international law firm Dentons “announced last week that it is partnering with workflow platform provider Paladin to develop a system which will allow attorneys at law firms to discover pro bono opportunities without having to seek them out themselves.”
Access to Justice – Civil
- In San Francisco, CA, the San Francisco Public Press laid out next steps for the city’s right to counsel in evictions program, now that voters have approved plan to set up a program to provide universal representation in eviction cases by July 2019.
- In Sacramento, CA, Dean Schwartz of McGeorge School of Law wrote an overview of ongoing rural access to justice initiatives, framed by a forthcoming article in the Harvard Law & Policy Review.
Access to Justice – Criminal
- In Louisiana, the Southern Poverty Law Center announced that “a [state] court has certified a class action lawsuit from the SPLC that challenges the constitutionality and funding structure of the state’s overburdened public defender system.”