PSJD Public Interest News Digest – March 6, 2020
Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives
Hello there, interested public! Major stories this week include the 9th Circuit’s decision temporarily blocking the Trump administration’s “Remain in Mexico” policy, three Senators’ concern over racial disparities in the federal student loan system, and widespread condemnation of Montgomery County Pennsylvania’s decision to fire its Chief and Deputy Chief Public Defenders after they filed an amicus brief critical of the county’s bail practices.
As always, these stories and more are in the links below.
See you around,
Sam
Immigration, Refugee & Citizenship Issues
- In San Francisco, “[a] federal appeals court has decided to block the Trump administration’s “Remain in Mexico” plan in two states along the U.S. border, following back-and-forth rulings over the program.”
- In the US, “[t]hose who provide services to immigrants and those who advocate on their behalf say the [Trump administration’s ‘Public Charge’ rule, which took effect on Feb. 24,] has a chilling effect on the greater immigrant community, including those who have become naturalized citizens.”
- In Houston TX, “President Donald Trump’s administration is fast-tracking the legal proceedings of thousands of immigrant children in its care and unveiling a pilot program in Houston to video stream their hearings — a move advocates say will jeopardize their asylum cases and speed up deportations.”
- In San Francisco CA, “Federal immigration agents arrested a man in front of San Francisco’s Hall of Justice this week, prompting outrage from the city’s public defender and district attorney.”
Student Loans & Student Debt
Legal Technology
- In Florida, “the Florida Supreme Court will consider whether [ticket dispute app] TIKD poses a legal risk to its customers or merely represents the evolution of legal technology [after] traffic ticket attorneys complained to the Florida Bar that TIKD and its founder, Christopher Riley, were practicing law without a license.”
- In Washington State, the Seattle Times editorial board in favor of the State Senate’s version of the “groundbreaking privacy law” currently making its way through the state house, which differs from the House version in a number of respects. The board took particular care to note that “[u]nder the original Senate version, the state AG was given authority to enforce the law on behalf of Washington residents. The House version allows private parties to enforce the law, potentially creating a flood of litigation.”
- In New Jersey, “[l]awmakers…are proposing a bill to solidify data privacy guidelines and inflict tougher limits on the tech industry.”
Non-Profit Management & Hiring
- In New York NY, “the Public Interest Law Center (PILC)’s annual Public Interest Legal Career Fair marked its highest attendance ever, as 2,048 students from NYU Law and 19 other law schools met with representatives of 277 public interest employers from all over the country.”
- In Oregon, “[t]he Public Interest Environmental Law Conference that was scheduled to be held at the University of Oregon this weekend was canceled due to concerns about the coronavirus[.]”
- In Pennsylvania, “[t]he leader of Pennsylvania’s system of 14 state-owned universities told lawmakers Tuesday that it is urgent they act to help the schools in the face of sinking enrollment, rising student debt and a lagging commitment of public tax dollars to higher education.”
Rule of Law
Access to Justice – Civil
- CityLimits.org reported on the nationwide impact of New York City’s Right to Counsel law: “it created a ripple effect. So far, Washington, San Francisco, Minneapolis, Newark, San Antonio, and Philadelphia have established the right to counsel laws, programs or initiatives. Other cities, such as Cleveland, Boston, Seattle, Detroit, Los Angeles and Santa Monica are considering or pushing for right to counsel in their respective communities.”
- In Wyoming, “[a] renewed effort to create an independent Guardian Ad Litem office has recently emerged in the state Capitol, largely to address a conflict of interest regarding the office’s current location inside the Wyoming Public Defender’s Office.”
Access to Justice – Criminal
- In Montgomery County PA, “the county’s Board of Commissioners fired the two leaders of the Montgomery County Public Defender Office, Dean Beer and Keisha Hudson, shortly after they had filed an amicus brief recounting injustices in the county’s bail practices.”
- In further news, “[t]wenty-seven lawyers and support staff in the [] County Public Defender’s Office wrote a letter of support for the former chief and deputy chief who were fired last week by the county commissioners…The letter [came] as the ACLU of Pennsylvania and other advocates, including NAACP- Pennsylvania, [were] co-sponsoring a 10 a.m. rally and press conference outside the courthouse [] to demand the county commissioners reinstate Beer and Hudson.”
- Further in further news, The executive director of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and Fair and Just Prosecution wrote that “[r]ecent deeply troubling events in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, have undermined confidence in the independence that is required of public defenders.”
- In Trenton NJ, “[l]egislation…which would expand the Office of Public Defender (OPD) representation of juveniles[] cleared the Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee[.]”
- In Macomb County MI, “longtime longtime criminal defense attorney Thomas Tomko was formally introduced as the first administrator of the [county’s Public Defender] office.”
Criminal Justice Reform
- In Santa Clara County CA, “a small group of [public defenders] are…fight[ing] the routine jailing of defendants who can’t afford bail or a private attorney [through] a pilot program called Pre-Arraignment Representation and Review, a county-funded initiative in which public defense attorneys and investigators meet with select defendants within 48 hours of their arrest.”
- In San Francisco CA, “the media has declared both [Maria Evangelista and Michelle Tong, deputy public defenders] to be winners in two of the three open judge seats.”
- In New York NY, “[a] Manhattan public defender is the latest addition to a crowded field of candidates for the 2021 New York County District Attorney race.”
- Also in New York NY, “[a] decrease in the number of criminal cases city prosecutors are pursuing suggests that the crime spike recently reported by the NYPD could be a ruse to incite fear over criminal justice reforms, a coalition of public defenders said[.]”
- In Harris County TX, “Democratic primary voters in the nation’s third-largest county instead chose [DA] Ogg’s more cautious, incremental approach to reform [over that of challenger Audia Jones].”
- Meanwhile, in Travis County TX, incumbent DA Margaret Moore will likely face a runoff election against Jose Garza, “a former public defender and labor rights lawyer who has vowed to end low-level drug prosecutions as a way to curb mass incarceration.”