PSJD Public Interest News Digest – July 10, 2020
Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives
Interested public. Interesting times continue to lay news on thickly–especially concerning criminal justice reform. Other blockbuster stories this week include new rules from the Trump Administration regarding the status of foreign students attending US universities (and universities’ response), mounting calls from the law class of 2020 for states to make changes to their licensure policies, and a new policy document from the Biden campaign reflecting a Biden/Sanders compromise position on student debt.
Take care of one another,
Sams
Editor’s Choice(s)
- In The Appeal, two 2020 graduates of the University of Texas School of Law argued that “Bar examiners are gatekeepers charged with protecting the public from bad lawyers. But amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the accompanying economic crisis, prioritizing this gatekeeping function means putting aspiring lawyers at risk and making it harder for nonwhite and low-income people to enter the profession.”
- In New York, Attorney General Letitia James released a preliminary report on the NYPD’s response to demonstrations following the death of George Floyd. As Courthouse News summarized, “[t]he racial disparities [] in the data analyzed between May 28 and June 7 are stark. ‘NYPD arrest data shows that 39 percent of people arrested during the protests were Black and 44 percent were white,’ the 57-page report states….[But] ‘[i]n terms of charging decisions, 16 percent of Black protesters were charged with a felony, eight percent of Latino protesters were charged with a felony, and less than four percent of white protesters and Asian protesters were charged with a felony[.]’.”
COVID-19 & Remote Legal Practice
- In New York NY, “[a] collection of New York City public defender organizations have called on the state court system to continue remote appearances in criminal cases, even as New York’s top judges move to resume in-person proceedings next week.”
- In New York, “[n]ew legislation would allow New York public defender and government law graduates who have twice failed the bar exam to continue to practice under supervision for the duration of the state’s ongoing coronavirus state of emergency.”
- After beginning on Facebook, “United for Diploma Privilege, which seeks automatic admission to the bar for qualifying law grads, became a nationwide effort, with advocacy teams in 31 states and counting.” (http://www.unitedfordiplomaprivilege.org/)
- In Greene County IA, “[t]the Iowa Supreme Court sent out supervisory notices that delayed all in person court proceedings until July 13th and no jury trials until September 14th. However, [Greene County Attorney] Laehn t[old] Raccoon Valley Radio his office has continued to prosecute criminal cases via written statements or telephone conferences. He says the court has allowed misdemeanor offenses to always be done without being in person, but the newest waiver from the Supreme Court is allowing felony cases to proceed without being in person.”
Rule of Law
- In Washington DC, “Geoffrey S. Berman, whom President Trump abruptly dismissed last month as the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, told lawmakers on Thursday that Attorney General William P. Barr tried unsuccessfully to pressure him to resign voluntarily, warning that being fired could ruin his career.”
- Also in Washington DC, “[t]he Supreme Court [] rejected President Trump’s bold claims of immunity from local law enforcement and congressional investigators [but] put a hold on the congressional subpoenas [and] also [allowed an opportunity to] challenge the specifics of [DA] Vance’s inquiry.”
Legal Technology
- In the United States, “[l]aw enforcement agencies have been buying up data originally obtained by hackers, including people’s emails, usernames, passwords, internet addresses, and phone numbers, from a cybersecurity company called SpyCloud, allowing them to bypass normal legal processes[.]”
- In New York NY, “[c]laiming the New York City Police Department has been adding DNA samples from suspects not charged with crimes to a controversial city DNA databank rather than taking steps to reduce uncharged suspect’s DNA collection, The Legal Aid Society on Monday called for lawmakers to enact legislation abolishing the databank.”
- In Washington DC, “[after] Trump appointee Michael Pack was confirmed as chief executive officer of the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which funds the Open Technology Fund (OTF). Pack promptly fired the entire OTF leadership, leaving in limbo more than $10 million it had pledged to internet freedom projects this year[.]…Digital rights activists and researchers now worry that the turmoil at the OTF could threaten people living in authoritarian countries who rely on the organization to help them navigate censorship and evade surveillance.”
Non-Profit & Gov’t Management & Hiring
- In Kansas, “[w]orkers at the nonprofit American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas have majority support for a union and have filed with the National Labor Relations Board for an election, after they say executive director Nadine Johnson did not voluntarily recognize the union.”
- In British Columbia, “[t]he B.C. government will wait until the COVID-19 pandemic subsides before investigating how to improve the province’s delay-plagued special prosecutor system, sa[id] the attorney general.”
- In Washington DC, “[f]ederal officials published a revised version of the Federal Labor Relations Authority organizational chart to its website late last month, in apparent response to a statement made by union lawyers during a hearing about the constitutionality of how members of a panel resolving collective bargaining disputes are appointed. The Federal Service Impasses Panel is the target of multiple lawsuits as it increasingly has become the flashpoint in the Trump administration’s efforts to crack down on federal employee unions.”
- Also in Washington DC, “Senator Amy Klobuchar has unveiled new legislation to support nonprofit organizations in Minnesota and across the country.”
- In NonProfitQuarterly, Dr. Danielle Moss argued that “we don’t need more statistics, research, or testimonials when it comes to the sector’s failure to uplift Black women in executive leadership roles; we need demonstrable, decisive action in support of Black women’s leadership in this sector.”
- Marketplace.org published a piece explaining “how salary history bans can raise wages for female and black workers[.]”
Immigration, Refugee, & Citizenship Issues
- In Massachusetts, “Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology sued the Trump administration in federal court on Wednesday, seeking to block a directive that would strip foreign college students of their visas if the courses they take this fall are entirely online. University leaders and immigrant advocates called the new policy cruel and reckless, with several education groups saying they planned to join the legal battle.”
- In Washington DC, “[a] federal court has ruled that the failure of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers to consider less restrictive settings before transferring unaccompanied immigrant youth to ICE detention on their 18th birthdays sviolates U.S. immigration laws.”
Student Loans & Student Debt
- In Washington DC, “Biden’s presidential campaign released a document Wednesday that took into account policy recommendations proposed by its joint task forces, including from supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders…On student debt, the Biden-Sanders team met in the middle on the idea of debt cancellation.” (This news story includes “key highlights” of the student debt proposal. The full document is available here.
- Also in Washington DC, “[t]he U.S. Department of Education has released updated data on student loan forgiveness under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program…According to the newly released data, 3,697 applications have been deemed eligible for loan forgiveness under PSLF. Borrowers working in government accounted for 74% of the applications, with the other 26% working in the non-profit sector.”
- Again also in Washington DC, “[t]he U.S. Department of Education disclosed in a recent court filing that it continues to garnish the wages of student loan borrowers in default on their federal student loans, in direct violation of the CARES Act.”
- Also again also in Washington DC, Forbes reiterated its warning that “[i]f you have student loans, don’t expect student loan forgiveness in the next stimulus.”
Access to Justice – Civil & Economic
- In Nebraska, “Legal Aid of Nebraska sa[id] its phone is consistently ringing these days [as] it’s seeing more than 80 people each week who are being sued for not paying rent.“ Moreover, “the group is worried that in the Fall we could be seeing even more evictions than we’re seeing now.”
- In Virginia, “[t]wo local judges are doing what they can to postpone evictions hearings in the face of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and confusing guidance from the state.”
Access to Justice: Criminal
- In Indiana, “a June study by the Indiana Public Defender Commission [found that c]ontract public defenders in Indiana who earn median pay make only about $5.16 per hour after covering overhead expenses[.]”
- In Hamilton County TN, “Public Defender Steve Smith is asking the County Commission to approve a new $12.50 court fee in order to provide more funding for his office…Mr. Smith said his office has already lost $400,000 in state funding due to state budget woes. He said public defender offices across the state may be cut by as much as $6 million.”
Criminal Justice Reform
- In the United States, “public defenders all across the United States recently launched a social media campaign called “Cops Lie: We Witness.” We organized this digital campaign to show that police abuse is not about a couple of bad apples or isolated incidents. For generations, police lying and abuse has been met with indifference by prosecutors, judges, and elected officials alike, with little to no consequences, despite the harms inflicted upon disproportionately black and brown working-class communities. Now, using the hashtag #CopsLie, public defenders are sharing countless stories of cops abusing the truth.”
- In Washington DC, the Washington Post published an opinion from a DC Public Defender arguing that “while police officers are finally (and rightfully) being called out, prosecutors are skating by free of blame, reputations untarnished and funding untouched. In theory, a prosecutor’s job is not to maximize convictions any more than a police officer’s job is to maximize arrests. But walk into any criminal courtroom in D.C. Superior Court, where I practice as a public defender, and you’ll see prosecution treated like a sport.”
- In Detroit MI, “[p]roposed federal legislation that would radically transform the nation’s criminal justice system through such changes as eliminating agencies like the Drug Enforcement Administration and the use of surveillance technology was unveiled Tuesday by the Movement for Black Lives.”
- In Massachusetts, “[l]engthy debate [was] expected…on a major policing and racial equity bill. More than 140 proposed amendments were filed to the bill by [the] deadline.”
- In New York NY, “NYC Mayor de Blasio is reviewing a package of police reform bills including a chokehold ban, following angry backlash from NYPD brass who said the legislation would weaken cops amid a major spike in crime.”
- In Louisiana, “[a] new round of Big Law firms and legal clinics are committing to a new ACLU project aimed at creating a wave of civil litigation in Louisiana to fight racism in policing, positioning the program to begin filing complaints in spring 2021.“
- In San Francisco CA, “a broad coalition – including the Bar Association of San Francisco’s Criminal Justice Taskforce (BASF-CJRTF), the Public Defender, the District Attorney, San Francisco Pretrial Diversion Project, and Jail Health Services – [sent] a joint letter to the San Francisco Superior Court, urging it…to restore the zero bail policy in San Francisco to help reduce the jail population during the ongoing pandemic.”
- Also in San Francisco CA, the California Policy Lab updated its evaluation of the SF Public Defender’s Pre-trial Release Unit.
- In Alameda County CA, “[a]n advocacy coalition says that Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley has agreed she will no longer accept campaign money from police unions, something she was heavily criticized for doing during her last re-election.”
- In Maricopa County AZ, “[t]hree Democratic candidates want to change the county’s harsh approach to charging and sentencing—but they vary in how significantly they want to break with the past.”