PSJD Public Interest News Digest – February 7, 2020
Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives
Hello there, interested public!
Major news this week includes regulatory changes concerning student loans, with a new MOU between the Department of Education and the CFPB, as well as a streamlined application process for Public Service Loan Forgiveness. Additionally, the ABA received pushback about its proposal to encourage state bars to explore “new approaches” in the practice of law. And in the top story below, Mother Jones spoke with immigration judges and attorneys about the logistical challenges they face implementing the Trump administration’s “Migrant Protection Protocols”.
As always, these stories and more are in the links below.
See you around,
Sam
Immigration, Refugee & Citizenship Issues
- Mother Jones published a piece examining the impact of the Trump administration’s “Migrant Protection Protocols” on immigration courts:
According to immigration judge Ashley Tabaddor, who spoke to me in her capacity as union president of the National Association of Immigration Judges, MPP has constituted a fundamental change to the way courts are run. DHS, she says, is “creating a situation where they’re physically, logistically, and systematically creating all the obstacles and holding all the cards.” The MPP program has left the court powerless, “speeding up the process of dehumanizing the individuals who are before the court and deterring anyone from the right to seek protection” All this while the Department of Justice is trying to decertify Tabbador’s union—the only protection judges have, and the only avenue for speaking publicly about these issues—by claiming its members are managers and no longer eligible for union membership. Tabaddor says the extreme number of cases combined with the pressure to process them quickly is making it difficult for judges to balance the DOJ’s demands with their oath of office.
Immigration attorneys in El Paso, San Antonio, and San Diego have told me they are disturbed by the courtroom disarray: the unanswered phones, unopened mail, and unprocessed filings. Some of their clients are showing up at border [sic] in the middle of the night only to find that their cases have been rescheduled. That’s not only unfair, one attorney told me, “it’s dangerous.” Central Americans who speak only indigenous languages are asked to navigate court proceedings with Spanish interpreters. One attorney in El Paso had an 800-page filing for an asylum case that she filed with plenty of time for the judge to review, but it didn’t make it to the judge in time.
- In Olympia WA, “[s]tate lawmakers are crying foul after a series of Immigration Customs Enforcement arrests outside of the Grant County Courthouse in Ephrata and Adams County District Courthouse in Othello last year [and considering] House Bill 2567[, which] ultimately could put an end to ICE courthouse arrests.”
Student Loans & Student Debt
- In Washington DC, “[t]he U.S. Department of Education and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) – essentially a cooperation agreement – to address and better manage student loan complaints. The agreement calls for the Education Department and CFPB to meet quarterly and share complaint information, data, recommendations and analytical tools. Importantly, the MOU more clearly defines role and responsibilities.”
- Also in Washington DC, “the Department [of Education] said it would create one application for both PSLF and TEPSLF [Temporary Expanded Public Service Loan Forgiveness]. This would make it much easier as [forgiveness-seekers] could apply once and no longer be denied and forced to reapply if they qualified.”
- Also also in Washington DC, “House Oversight Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney [] threatened Education Secretary Betsy DeVos with a subpoena, saying DeVos’ office “stonewalled and delayed” when the committee tried to confirm a date for her testimony…about ‘critical issues facing the Department,’ including oversight of federal student loans.”
- In Virginia, “the Virginia Senate joined the House of Delegates in passing what’s known as the ‘Student Borrower’s Bill of Rights.’”
- A new report from the Student Borrower Protection Center revealed that “[f]inancial companies often use data on borrowers’ higher education to determine access to credit and the price of consumer financial products. And those education data can lead to redlining, a form of discrimination against borrowers who attended community colleges, historically black colleges and universities, or Hispanic-serving institutions.”
- Nationwide, “a coalition of attorney generals…from [26] states as well as the District of Columbia…renewed a request that the U.S. Department of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos discharge federal student loans for people who were enrolled in now closed schools operated by Dream Center Education Holdings, LLC.”
Legal Technology
- In Memphis TN, “[t]he Memphis Bar Foundation, Community Legal Center and Memphis Area Legal Services are joining to spearhead [a] new initiative [whose] goal is to provide resources and information through an online legal portal[.]”
- In Washington DC, “the Federal Circuit heard oral argument in this case involving the $0.10 per page fee for downloading documents from PACER. The basic argument here is that ‘PACER fees must be limited to PACER costs.’”
- In Chicago IL, ChicagoInno profiled JusticeText, “a software platform that allows public defenders to quickly and efficiently sift through video footage that can be imperative in how they build a case and defend a client.”
Non-Profit & Government Management & Hiring
- In Bowling Green KY, “[a] new full-time staffed federal prosecutor’s office opened[.]”
- In Montgomery AL, “[t]he executive director of Amnesty International USA will take over as chief executive of Southern Poverty Law Center, which is trying to steady itself after months of turmoil that included the firing of its founder.”
- In Allendale MI, “[n]ew research by Teri Behrens and Tory Martin of the Grand Valley State University Dorothy A. Johnson Center for Philanthropy shows nonprofits are succeeding in changing with the times [and accommodating millenials’ new role as the largest sector of the workforce] in some areas but struggling in others.”
Access to Justice – Civil
- In Chicago IL, “[a] proposal before the American Bar Association that would encourage states to consider “new approaches” in the practice of law is facing mounting opposition by some state bar leaders who say it will lead to outside investment of law firms and nonlawyers practicing law.”
- In California, the California Commission on Access to Justice (CalATJ) published a report finding that “California’s housing crisis stems from an inadequate supply of affordable housing coupled with insufficient legal protections for renters and homeowners. The resulting access-to-justice challenge for low-income and modest-means residents is aggravated in rural areas by the underfunding of legal-aid organizations and the state’s rural lawyer shortage. …Free, high-quality Legal Aid is needed urgently.”
- In Brooklyn NY, “[a] community legal service planted a new home in a Brooklyn neighborhood in growing need of help with housing displacement, deed theft and foreclosure.”
- In New York NY, “State Supreme Court justices from Arizona and Utah…said they support considerations to open up the legal industry to greater participation from nontraditional players largely to tackle the country’s growing access to justice gap.”
- In Little Rock AR, “[a] state Supreme Court justice and a chief judge on a federal appeals court emphasized the need to increase access to civil legal aid for people with low incomes at a Legal Services Corp. board meeting[.]”
Access to Justice – Criminal
- In Seneca County OH, “County Commissioners [] approved a pay increase for attorneys who handle the defense in court matters for indigent people to $60 per hour. The increase was recommended by the judges of Seneca County.”
- In Virginia, “[b]ills to create a public defenders’ office in Prince William County and the cities of Manassas and Manassas Park were approved by the Virginia Senate and House of Delegates with bipartisan support[.]”
- In Manitoba, “criminal defence lawyers are taking job action, resulting in the halting of bail court services for Legal Aid Manitoba clients.”
- In Travis County TX, “commissioners announced [] they had hired Adeola Ogunkeyede to serve as chief of the county’s forthcoming public defender’s office. She will begin April 20.”
- In Louisiana, “[f]or the sixth consecutive year, an annual report has declared Louisiana’s public defense system is in crisis.”
Criminal Justice Reform
- In Washington DC, “Justice Department lawyers have improperly used requests for overseas evidence to buy more time to bring some fraud cases, a memo filed with the agency’s internal watchdog alleges.”
- In San Francisco CA, Chesa Boudin, the city’s new District Attorney, sat for an interview with local news to discuss his approach to criminal prosecution.
- In Dallas County TX, the county “public defender’s office plans to hire social workers to help keep its mentally ill clients out of jail.”
- In Cohoes City NY, “[a]n upstate judge set up a legal battle over the state’s new bail reform law [] with a ruling that intentionally challenged the controversial statute.”
- In Savannah GA, “[a] Georgia district attorney has taken steps to help people remove criminal charges from their records if they are qualified to do so.”
- In Billings MT, “[t]he domestic violence prosecutor for Montana’s largest city says changes to the state’s probation and parole system are coming at a cost to victims.”