Archive for May, 2020

PSJD Public Interest News Digest – May 29, 2020

Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives

Photo: Harris and Ewing Collection, Library of Congress

Interested public.

No words today,

Sam

 

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PSJD Public Interest News Digest – May 15, 2020

Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives

Photo: Harris and Ewing Collection, Library of Congress

Hello there, interested public! The news continues to pour in, shaking the windows and rattling the walls. Major stories this week include student loans, in which the Democratic caucus released a debt relief proposal as part of the HEROES Act only to amend their proposal two days later, significantly reducing their proposed forgiveness. In civil access to justice, reporting from DC highlighted the stark difference in FEMA’s efforts to provide legal services during the pandemic, compared with its approach to other disasters. In the legislative branch, a bipartisan group of Representatives proposed a civil Gideon bill. Meanwhile, on the criminal side, legal authorities in Colorado and Massachusetts highlighted a vacuum of authority when considering decarceration as a public health measure. And the Michigan legislature cancelled its session in the face of armed opposition.

As always, these stories and more are in the links below.

Stay well,

Sam

Bar Exam Changes

Remote Court Practice & Lawmaking

Rule of Law

Pro Bono Response

Student Loans & Student Debt

Non-Profit & Gov’t Management & Hiring

Immigration, Refugee & Citizenship Issues

Access to Justice – Criminal & Decarceration

Access to Justice – Civil & Economic

Criminal Justice Reform

  • In Sangamon County IL, “[i]n a scathing resignation letter, an assistant Sangamon County public defender has blasted the local judiciary as being a politically influenced body that seeks to manage the public defender’s office.
  • In Nevada, “[a]t least nine public defenders running for judicial seats in Southern Nevada think any meaningful solution [to over-incarceration] has to include balancing the benches.
  • In Nova Scotia, “Nova Scotia Legal Aid wants to help the hundreds of people in the province who’ve been ticketed for walking in a park or failing to physically distance during COVID-19. It’s encouraging people to call for free legal advice if they’ve received a summary offence ticket under the province’s health protection and emergency management acts.
  • In New Jersey, the state legislature is “among the first states to consider making it a crime to issue a ‘credible threat to infect another with COVID-19 or similar infectious disease that triggered public emergency,’ said a spokesman for the National Conference of State Legislatures…Advocates for HIV-positive people said states drafting such laws should be careful not to make them so broad that they punish poor and minority communities, as studies show HIV criminalization has[.]

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    2019-2020 PSJD Pro Bono Publico Award Winner & Merit Distinction Finalist Announced

    We are pleased to announce that the 2019-2020 PSJD Pro Bono Publico Award Winner is Leslie Alvarez, a 3L at St. Mary’s University School of Law. NALP confers this honor each year to a law student whose extraordinary commitment to law-related public service work contributes to the overall growth of pro bono culture within their law school and their broader community.

    Last fall, after much deliberation, we selected five finalists from among the students nominated for this award. In addition to our winner, we have also selected one student to honor as a Merit Distinction finalist. Leslie Alvarez received her award at a meeting of NALP’s Public Service Section held via videoconference last week.

    Our winner, Merit Distinction finalist, and other finalists are highlighted below. Thank you to our impressive pool of nominees for the valuable work each of you do for your communities.

    You can read more about each of these outstanding students by following the links below to individual blog posts from earlier this year highlighting their achievements.

    WINNER: Leslie Alvarez | St. Mary’s University School of Law

    Ultimately, we selected Alvarez as our 2019-2020 PSJD Pro Bono Publico Award winner for her work fostering pro bono opportunities for her classmates at St. Mary’s — to the benefit of the San Antonio community broadly. In the words of one of Alvarez’ supervising attorneys:

    In my 20 years of practice I have never worked with a law student who is such a doer….Leslie approached my law firm to partner with St. Mary’s Law School on a clinic for young people with disabilities. That by itself was exciting but more so was her follow through: she immediately set up a meeting of interested stakeholders, took charge of recruiting fellow law students, identified community partners to hose the clinic, coordinated multiple trainings, and conducted outreach to parents and students with disabilities. When the first clinic had low turnout, she immediately started brainstorming on solutions and realized we needed a broader outreach network. The second clinic was the most successful my law firm has hosted in our history of doing guardianship alternative work and it is because of Leslie’s dedication.

    Statement of Support for the Nomination of Leslie Alvarez;
    2019-2020 PSJD Pro Bono Publico Award

    Congratulations Leslie!

    Merit Distinction Finalist: Ming Tanigawa-Lau | UCLA Law

    Although the award ultimately went to another student, the Award Committee wanted to take time additionally to call attention to the exemplary work of Ming Tanigawa-Lau, a 2L at UCLA Law. Tanigawa-Lau has played an instrumental role organizing students’ pro bono efforts to assist asylum seekers in Tijuana. In the words of a postgraduate fellow who worked with Tanigawa-Lau:

    As a 1L board member, Ming was an amazing asset to the student group, Law Students for Immigrant Justice (LSIJ) last year. She spent her school breaks volunteering with detained asylum-seeking women and children in Dilly Texas, as well as migrants in Tijuana, Mexico…Ming also created opportunities for other law students to get involved in immigrant justice work[.]

    Statement of Support for the Nomination of Ming Tanigawa-Lau;
    2019-2020 PSJD Pro Bono Publico Award

    Congratulations Ming!

    Other Finalists

    Finally, the Award Committee wants to recognize one more time the achievement of the other finalists for the 2019-2020 PSJD Pro Bono Publico Award:

    • Ashley De La Garza | St. Mary’s University School of Law
      Outstanding dedication to criminal justice reform.
    • Chelsea Reese | University of Georgia School of Law
      Pro bono work on behalf of children and vicitms of domestic violence.
    • Emily Holland | Pepperdine Caruso School of Law
      Human rights work, internationally and domestically.

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    PSJD Public Interest News Digest – May 8, 2020

    Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives

    Photo: Harris and Ewing Collection, Library of Congress

    Hello there, interested public! The days remain packed, even as we all stay at home. Some major stories include a decision to restrict the New York bar exam to people who graduated from law school in New York, a judicial opinion out of Ontario suggesting that courts may not want to return to in-person appearances under some circumstances, a decision in New Jersey to allow out-of-state-licensed lawyers to provide temporary, supervised pro bono assistance, and a lawsuit alleging that Secretary DeVos has illegally continued to garnish the wages of student debtholders after the CARES Act suspended this practice.

    As always, these stories and more are in the links below.

    Stay well,

    Sam

    State Bar Exams

    Remote Court Practice & Lawmaking

    Voting Rights

    Rule of Law

    Pro Bono Response

    Student Loans & Student Debt

    Non-Profit & Gov’t Management & Hiring

    Immigration, Refugee & Citizenship Issues

    Access to Justice – Criminal & Decarceration

    Access to Justice – Civil & Economic

    Criminal Justice Reform

  • LawAtlas.org released new data “show[ing] that some states were slow in their initial legal responses to the COVID-19 outbreak in the United States, but have since issued numerous state orders to mitigate the spread of the virus nationwide.
  • In New York NY, “[d]espite mounting pressure to stop using police to enforce social distancing and data showing that such arrests disproportionately affect people of colour, Mayor Bill de Blasio stood by the practice[.]
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