PSJD Public Interest News Digest – April 24, 2020
Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives
Hello there, interested public! News continues to be big, keeping pace with world events. Major stories come from the ABA, which is recommending state bars develop paths to practice for graduates unable to take the bar exam because of the pandemic, Suffolk Law, which has launched a volunteer initiative to design internet-friendly court forms, and the 11th Circuit, which overturned a motion to dismiss in a case brought by student debtholders “alleging they were given false information about whether their student loans would be forgiven when they worked in public-service jobs.” Also, a coalition of states is developing to negotiate for student debtholder protections and accommodations, and the LSC briefed the legal aid community on its response to the pandemic.
As always, these stories and more are in the links below.
Stay well,
Sam
Remote Court Practice & Lawmaking
- In Ontario, MPP Doug Downey spoke about the province’s work “rapidly updating procedures and creating policies to physically shut down courthouses and allow wider use of virtual hearings”: “ ‘We’ve modernized the legal system by about 25 years in 25 days. It’s really quite phenomenal the work that’s been done‘[.]”
- In New York, “executive orders have been issued to facilitate not only remote notarization, but now also remote witnessing.”
- Also in New York, after “ the state’s judiciary…successfully implemented a statewide ‘virtual court’ system this month[, ]…representatives of poor and moderate-income communities across the state say they’re concerned for underserved clients who may have trouble getting connected.”
- In Boston MA, “a group of students and staff members at Suffolk University Law School…organize[d] an assembly line of volunteers to design mobile-friendly court forms and assist lawyerless people with their filings. Court officials are sharing relevant documents with Suffolk’s Legal Innovation & Technology Lab, which parcels out the tasks based on volunteers’ skills.”
- More information on this project is available here: https://suffolklitlab.org/doc-assembly-line/
- In Philadelphia PA, DA Larry Krasner’s office “propos[ed] that the city courts establish a Zoom court where hearings could be held virtually.”
- Relatedly, Law.com discussed how “[p]eople all over..awaiting their ‘day in court’..simply have to wait[, and in] types of matters where individual liberties are at stake or safety is at issue, delays can result in life-altering consequences.”
- In Hennepin County MN, “County District Judge Martha Holton Dimick appeared for hearings Monday via telephone, bucking mandates issued by the county’s chief judge and state Chief Justice Lorie Skjerven Gildea.”
- In Washington DC, “[d]ozens of former congressional members [hosted] a mock remote hearing Thursday to spotlight how Congress can continue its work online during the global coronavirus pandemic.”
Pro Bono Response
- In New Haven CT, three Yale law students founded The Coronavirus Stimulus Pledge, an initiative “to encourage financially stable people to donate their stimulus checks to charity.”
- In New York, “Governor Andrew Cuomo has called upon the pro bono network formed by the New York State court system and the New York State Bar Association to help jobless New Yorkers.”
Student Loans & Student Debt
- In Florida, “[a] federal appeals court [] cleared the way for a lawsuit in which two Florida women allege they were given false information about whether their student loans would be forgiven when they worked in public-service jobs.”
- In Massachusetts, New Jersey, Connecticut, Illinois, and Vermont, state governments “have announced that they are participating in a multi-state initiative to provide relief to borrowers whose student loans are not covered by the CARES Act through agreements with certain student loan servicers. Other states identified in the announcements that are also participating in the initiative are California, Colorado, Virginia, and Washington.”
- In Calfornia, Governor Newsom “said that 21 companies that service student loans will be granting [a] 90-day grace period on payments with no late fees. Newsom credited Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker for leading the effort to support borrowers who were not covered by debt forbearance in the $2.2 trillion federal…(CARES) Act.”
- In Washington DC, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) “called for any new stimulus package to include additional relief for student debt, stimulus money for high school and college students, and the creation of a federal program to give young people not bound for college the opportunity to earn a free, post-high school educational certificate.”
- Also in Washington DC, Sens. Warren (D-MA) & Brown (D-OH) proposed a consumer protection plan that included “[e]suring that private student borrowers are protected, just like federal student loan borrowers.” The plan also calls for “broad cancellation of student loan debt as a way to stimulate the economy as well as ‘ensure Americans don’t have a massive student debt load waiting for them on the other side of this emergency and help a generation of Americans who never fully recovered from our last economic crisis participate in stimulating our economy through this crisis.’ ”
Non-Profit & Gov’t Management & Hiring
- In Chicago IL, “[t]he American Bar Association is urging state licensing authorities to let 2019-20 law school graduates who can’t take the bar exam because of the coronavirus pandemic practice law under certain circumstances.”
- Relatedly, the NCBE is charting accomodations various states are making to help graduates unable to take bar exams this summer because of COVID-19 delays and cancellations.
(We link to this page and other useful materials at https://www.psjd.org/covid19)
- Relatedly, the NCBE is charting accomodations various states are making to help graduates unable to take bar exams this summer because of COVID-19 delays and cancellations.
- In Washington DC, house Democrats announced plans to “push for a number of additional protections for federal workers in future legislation aimed at combating the coronavirus pandemic, including hazard pay, expanded leave and telework, and reversing the Trump administration’s policies toward federal employee unions.”
- Also in Washington DC, “Senate Democrats announced a proposal to supplement the health care workforce through a massive outreach and training program, part of a larger effort to expand national service during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
- Also also in Washington DC, “more than 200 national nonprofit organizations [] sent a letter to congressional leadership, calling on them to include a “Nonprofit Track” in any future legislation that builds on the CARES Act.”
- In the United States, “[a] majority of federal employees say the novel coronavirus outbreak has had a “major” or “extreme” impact on their agencies’ operations, according to a new survey[.]”
Immigration, Refugee & Citizenship Issues
- In Washington DC, “President Trump [] signed a proclamation to temporarily suspend certain visas for foreigners seeking to move permanently to the U.S., decreeing that the admission of new immigrants would hurt American workers already struggling in an economy ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic.”
- In response, the ACLU stated: “There are measured and productive approaches to curbing the spread of COVID-19, namely ensuring equal access to testing and treatment; releasing individuals from ICE and CBP detention; and suspending interior enforcement. Unfortunately, President Trump seems more interested in fanning anti-immigrant flames than in saving lives. We cannot allow President Trump to exploit this pandemic to advance his racism and xenophobia.”
- Relatedly, in San Francisco CA, “[a] coalition of attorneys filed a class-action lawsuit Monday calling on Immigration and Customs Enforcement to release more than 400 immigrants from two California detention facilities amid coronavirus concerns.”
Access to Justice – Criminal & Decarceration
- In Washington DC, “[a] federal judge has ordered the DC Department of Corrections to take immediate steps to improve conditions at its jail to minimize the spread of the coronavirus among inmates and prison guards, according to a release from the ACLU of the District of Columbia.”
- Also in Washington DC, Senator Harris (D-CA) and Rep. Deutch (D-FL) “sent a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), and Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) pushing for more funding for public defenders during the COVID-19 crisis.”
- In Louisiana, “Public defenders…face uncertainty over the future of their jobs as the COVID-19 pandemic impacts a big source of their funding: traffic tickets.”
- In Ellis County TX, “[t]he Commissioners’ Court…agreed to establish a committee [that] will weigh whether a public defender’s office or a managed assigned counsel program is more appropriate for the county, and will report back to the Commissioners’ Court with recommendations before July 1.”
Access to Justice – Civil & Economic
- On the Internet, “[t]he Legal Serves Corporation held a virtual briefing on The COVID-19 Health Crisis, Civil Legal Needs, and State Courts (recording available via this link).
- Relatedly, the former Chief Justice of the Washington State Supreme Court warned that “the current crisis is generating a wave of needs that will overwhelm our legal-aid system[,]” avocating that “[s]ubstantial and sustained support for civil legal aid must be part of our government’s short- and long-term policy responses to COVID-19 at all levels. Emergency federal stimulus funding should be directed to boosting service capacity.”