PSJD Public Interest News Digest – November 22, 2019
Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives
Hello there, interested public! Playing catchup after last week and it’s a bumper crop of news stories for you all, so buckle in. Of particular note: the Washington State Attorney General’s office published a report based on interviews it has conducted with children in Washington formerly detained on the southern border, unionization drives at two major civil rights organizations have met with resistance from management, and California is considering first-in-the-nation enforceable borrower protections for student loan debtors.
As always, these stories and more are linked below.
See you around,
Sam
Immigration, Refugee & Citizenship Issues
- In Washington State, the state attorney general’s office released an investigative report “based on interviews with children who spent time in border detention facilities and are now living in Washington” as part of a challenge by 20 attorneys general to a Trump administration proposal “that would indefinitely detain migrant families and override current detention standards for children.” The report cannot be easily or adequately summarized; its assertions are lengthy, detailed, and grave.
- In Tuscon AZ, an “[f]ederal court jurors…drew a line between harboring and help [] when they acquitted border aid worker Scott Warren on felony charges for the assistance he gave to two Central American men last year….’The government failed in its attempt to criminalize basic human kindness,’ Warren told the crowd outside the downtown courthouse.”
- In Oregon, “Oregon Supreme Court Chief Justice Martha Walters enacted a new rule Thursday that will make it harder for immigration agents to make civil arrests in the state’s courthouses.”
- In New York NY, “[a] federal judge said [] that he plans to rule by the end of the year on the Trump administration’s bid to dismiss a suit led by New York Attorney General Letitia James to challenge its policy of arresting undocumented immigrants in and around state courthouses.”
- Also in New York NY, “[t]he Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office has announced a major initiative that could lead to the reduction or removal of criminal convictions for…immigrants who entered into plea agreements and have convictions for non-violent offenses that subject them to deportation[.]”
- In Colorado, “Governor Jared Polis says [the state] is limited in what it can do to protect DREAMers if the [DACA] program is ended.”
- Law 360 reported that “the federal government has increasingly used in immigration proceedings across the country since 2017 to try to whittle down a massive backlog of cases. At the same time, critics have pointed to breakdowns in the technology and wonder if it is limiting access to counsel for detainees, who can be warehoused hundreds or even thousands of miles away from the courthouse and their attorney.”
Student Loans & Student Debt
- In California, “[l]awmakers [] have put forward the first legislation in the nation that would create clear, enforceable borrower protections to rein in abuses by student loan companies[.]”
- Student Loan Hero shared “a rare example of success getting student loans forgiven with the federal PSLF program.”
- Forbes published an analysis of federal data discussing how “most PSLF applications were rejected because borrowers have not met program requirements.”
- Higher Learning Advocates released a policy brief arguing that “[o]ne of the primary accountability metrics used by the federal government [in deeming an institution ‘eligible’ for their students to receive federal student aid] … falls short of fully assessing student loan repayment outcomes[.]” The report goes on to assert that “[h]ow institutions are held accountable for defaults can be strengthened by coupling a new program-level cohort repayment rate (CRR) with the existing institution-based CDR to determine eligibility for federal student aid.”
- In Washington DC, “[u]nder threat of a subpoena, the Trump administration [has] agreed [] to provide documents detailing the Education Department’s handling of student debt relief claims to [the] House Education and Labor Committee Chairman[.]”
International Law
- Human Rights Watch released “comments on the…(draft Strategic Plan) of the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court,” noting that “As we see it, the court has achieved limited successes at a time when weakened regard for the global rule of law and politicized attacks on the court have decreased its margin for error. Court officials need to urgently address shortcomings in policy and practice to confront an emerging crisis of public confidence in the institution.”
Legal Technology
- The Knight Foundation announced plans to fund “[t]wenty-two universities, think thanks and advocacy organizations [work] delving into policy issues around technology and the internet [with a] goal[] to ‘help meet the urgent needs of federal lawmakers and other decision-makers as they shape the future of the internet, as the impact of technology on our society and democracy becomes ever more significant.’”
- In New York NY, “Axiom, the global leader in specialized on-demand legal talent, today announced a strategic partnership with Pro Bono Net, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing access to justice and legal support for the disadvantaged.”
- Also in New York NY, reformers argued that “[the] NYPD fingerprint database [recently destroyed, as mentioned in last week’s digest] [is] just part of ‘big data’ that needs oversight[.]”
- In Portland ME, “[the] City Council voted [] to postpone consideration of a proposal to ban city employees from obtaining, retaining, accessing or using facial recognition technology, or information provided by facial recognition technology.”
- In San Diego CA, “a new online tool unveiled by county prosecutors [] allows people to report suspected abuse of students in school.”
- In Kentucky, “[t]he Legal Services Corporation (LSC) [] announced that Legal Aid of the Bluegrass (LABG) will receive a $176,966 Technology Initiative Grant (TIG) to reinvigorate and improve the Kentucky statewide legal information website, kyjustice.org.”
- In Santa Barbara CA, “[t]he Santa Barbara County Public Defender’s Office and Uptrust, the social justice text messaging communication platform, has announced a pilot program to reduce the number of Failure to Appear (FTA) incidents, arrest warrants and technical violations in the county.”
- TechCrunch.com reported that “[w]ith the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) taking effect in January 2020, companies have a limited time to get a handle of customer information they have and how they need to care for it.”
- The Atlantic published an article discussing the recent revelation “that Google had secretly harvested ‘tens of millions’ of medical records–patient names, lab results, diagnoses, hospitalization records, and prescriptions–from more than 2,600 hospitals as part of a machine-learning project code-named Nightingale.”
- In Washington DC, “[a] group of top Senate Democrats said on Monday that any federal privacy legislation should include the possibility that violators will face criminal penalties or consumer lawsuits.”
- Also in Washington DC, “Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) [] introduced a bill that would curtail the flow of sensitive information about people in the US to China through large tech companies like Apple and TikTok.”
Non-Profit & Government Management & Hiring
- In Washington DC, “the National Center for Transgender Equality discharged all employees in a bargaining unit organized under the Nonprofit Professional Employees Union (NPEU); the employees were seeking recognition of a union.” According to an open letter from former staff members:
- Meanwhile, in Montgomery AL, “staff at the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) went public with their union organizing campaign. SPLC staff [sought] voluntary recognition from the nonprofit, so that contract negotiations may begin promptly.” But, according to other reports, “Southern Poverty Law Center management said [] they would not voluntarily recognize a union organized by employees at the civil rights nonprofit and have hired a Virginia law firm whose website boasts about victories over labor organization attempts.”
- In New York NY, “[f]ollowing years of complaints from the contracted providers…the New York City Council approved a budget that allows support of indirect cost rates (ICR) exceeding 10 percent of a contract between community-based organizations and the city, starting this week.”
- Also in New York NY, “[t]he New York City Council is considering legislation that would create a new office to assist non-profit organizations in navigating regulations and applying for city contracts and funding.”
- Also also in New York NY, “[a]pproximately two-thirds of unionized so-called nonattorney advocates…need to find second jobs simply to make ends meet, according to the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys[.]”
- In the United States, “[e]mployees at Jewish nonprofits all over the country are disseminating a spreadsheet meant to help inform workers–especially female ones–about the salaries of their peers[.]”
- In Alberta, the “justice ministry’s operating budget…which covers everything from jails to legal aid to prosecutors to government lawyers — is expected to shrink from $1.45 billion to $1.35 billion. The UCP government argues this can be done by modernizing labour-intensive court procedures, including digitizing services as part of an “eCourts” system[.] It has also set aside money to hire 50 additional Crown prosecutors, and increased funding for drug treatment courts[.]”
- In Washington DC, “[a] new strike force of federal and state investigators is targeting antitrust violations in government procurement…The [initiative] is part of DOJ’s focus to reverse a downturn in antitrust prosecutions and collections in recent years.”
- In Georgia, a professor at Georgia State University discussed his research indicating that the US policy of “giving [veterans] a leg up in getting a job with the federal government…has had some negative effects…particularly in terms of lessening the civil service’s diversity[.]”
- In Connecticut, Nonprofit Quarterly discussed the “[b]udget and inequity issues [that] have plagued the state of Connecticut and its nonprofits for years.”
- In Oregon, “[a] contract public defender recently dropped by Weber County says he thinks it happened because he rocked the boat by filing a conflict of interest motion against prosecutors. [He] also says he saw enough during his tenure to conclude that the county’s system of hiring and managing public defenders ‘is in complete violation of the Sixth Amendment.’”
Access to Justice – Civil
- In Philadelphia PA, “[the] City Council unanimously passed a bill Thursday that will provide free legal representation to low-income tenants facing eviction, all but cementing Philadelphia on a list of cities that have strengthened renters’ rights amid what many say is a growing national eviction problem.”
- In British Columbia, “legal aid staff lawyers will start [a] work-to-rule job action [] as they seek wages closer to those of other lawyers in the system.” According to a different story, “[a]ll legal aid centres will remain open. However, the 26 LSS staff lawyers will now only be completing their essential client and case work [and] no longer [] performing other administrative duties[.]”
- In Milwaukee WI, local radio profiled Legal Action of Wisconsin’s Eviction Defense Project.
- In New York NY, “[o]rganizations advocating for a right to counsel for tenants facing evictions [hosted] a town hall in Elmhurst [] as part of an effort to expand the law and ensure all tenants know about it.”
- In California, “[a state] task force aiming to broaden access to legal services now has a few more months to make its final recommendations, as debate continues about whether nonlaywers should be allowed to assist consumers with legal matters.”
Access to Justice – Criminal
- In Maine, “[a] three month-investigation by Pine Tree Watch into the Maine Commission on Indigent Legal Services found that attorneys’ invoices are frequently incorrect, resulting in them often being overpaid for representing Maine’s poor. For nine years, the commission’s director has uncovered these inaccuracies on a daily basis, but he did not change how attorney payments are approved even as the agency’s spending nearly doubled. Lawmakers began to question the commission’s financial oversight earlier this year after a report by the nonpartisan Sixth Amendment Center revealed that 33 attorneys could have over-charged the state $2.2 million between 2014 and 2018 by billing hours that greatly exceeded full-time work.”
- Meanwhile, “[l]ast April, a national civil liberties organization released a report on Maine’s indigent defense system — which is farmed out to private attorneys — warning that the state is not adequately providing low income Mainers with the effective legal counsel to which they are constitutionally entitled.”
- In Wyoming, the state “Supreme Court has heard opposing arguments in a case involving public defender representation in state courts [after] State Public Defender Diane Lozano…declared the public defender’s office unavailable for misdemeanor cases due to heavy caseloads and an understaffing crisis [and Campbell County Circuit Judge] Phillips found Lozano in contempt of court[.]”
- In Missouri, the Kansas City Star published a profile of the state’s public defender crisis.
- The Star additionally published a piece noting that “[p]rosecutors across Missouri have overwhelmed public defenders by filing more and more cases every year, charging some people with much more serious offenses than they committed…In some cases, prosecutors seem confident about the charges until it’s time to show evidence in court.” When prosecutors drop charges just before trial, the result is that “many [Missourians] serve[] time without ever being convicted of anything.”
- On a related note, in New Mexico, “[a state] legislator said [] he intends to reintroduce legislation to reform the state’s bail bond system and crack down on what he called the potentially deadly problem of pretrial release of defendants connected to serious crime…Rehm’s legislation, tabled during the last legislative session, is intended to ‘turn the table, and now the defendant must prove that he should be released[.]’ However, attorneys in the New Mexico Law Offices of the Public Defender say that turning the table and putting the burden on the defendant is unconstitutional and fundamentally unfair.”
- In Louisiana, “[p]ublic defenders…get extra funding when their clients are convicted, creating perverse incentives that make it harder to establish trust between poor defendants and their attorneys[:] an accused offender who gets a court-appointed attorney can be charged $45 for ‘special costs,’ but the public defender’s office only gets the money if the client is convicted.”
- In Oregon, efforts continued in a “recent push to overhaul the state public defense system [after] a January study by the Sixth Amendment Center finding that Oregon’s public defender system was so unfair to defendants it was unconstitutional.”
Criminal Justice Reform
- In New York NY, “[t]he attorney of a Black teen allegedly punched and harassed by New York Police Department officers is releasing new video he hopes will show a pattern of illegal stop-and-frisk searches targeting his client.”
- In New Jersey, “[i]n conjunction with the release of a report by the Transgender Equality Task Force,…the [state] Attorney General issued a directive to all state, county, and local law enforcement agencies that governs interactions with transgender individuals.”
- In Iowa, “[a] supervisor in the Iowa public defender’s office quit his longtime side job as a police officer after critics said his dual roles created a conflict of interest[.]”