News about spiking COVID-19 infection rates remind us that the pandemic is still a threat to our lives and communities. Many individuals and families continue to feel the socio-economic effects of the pandemic, so this week we’re presenting you with opportunities to provide relief to the populations most vulnerable to these effects. The legal aid organizations listed below have created programs and opportunities to address the growing needs of those affected by the pandemic.

American Civil Liberties Union (New York, NY)

The ACLU’s Criminal Law Reform Project (CLRP) is dedicated to finding a end to excessively harsh crime policies that result in mass incarceration and criminalization. CLRP also works to prevent over-incarceration through strategic litigation and advocacy that promotes reform.

The ACLU seeks a legal fellow to join the CLRP and litigate cases against correctional facilities for their mismanagement of the pandemic. The ideal candidate will be committed to criminal justice reform and have excellent communication skills.

Follow this link to learn more.

Bay Area Legal Aid (San Francisco, CA)

Bay Area Legal Aid (BayLegal) provides civil legal services to the most vulnerable populations of the Bay Area. BayLegal’s services work in many legal areas including consumer protection, health care access, domestic violence and sexual assault prevention, immigration, housing preservation, and much more.

Bay Area Legal Aid seeks an Economic Justice Staff Attorney to provide services to families facing debt and homelessness as a result of the pandemic. The ideal candidate will be passionate about serving low-income individuals and will have experience with local, state, and federal benefits programs.

Follow this link to learn more. **Remote work may be a possibility.

Bread for the City (Washington, DC)

Bread for the City helps low-income residents of D.C. to develop the power to determine the future of their own communities. Bread for the City works had to uproot racism and combat poverty through advocacy and social and legal services.

Bread for the City seeks a Public Benefits Fellow to provide support to individuals and families facing terminations of benefits as a result of COVID-19. The Fellow will advise and represent clients experiencing problems with their local and federal benefits. The ideal candidate will be flexible, have a sense of humor, and be able to work independently and with a wide variety of people.

Follow this link to learn more.

De Novo (Cambridge, MA)

De Novo provides civil legal assistance and mental health counseling to low-income people and families in the Greater Boston and Cambridge areas. With its vast network of volunteers, De Novo combats the effects of poverty and helps clients cope with the emotional impact of trauma.

De Nova seeks a Lead Attorney to joins its new COVID Eviction Legal Help Project. This project was created in response to increased evictions after the Massachusetts state government lifted the eviction moratorium. The ideal candidate will have experience in litigation and landlord-tenant law.

Follow this link to learn more.

The Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York (Albany, NY)

The Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York provides civil legal services to low-income communities and individuals. Their goal is to fight for fairness, justice, and dignity for all those living in poverty.

The Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York seeks a staff attorney to assist it’s Homelessness Prevention project as more families in the Capital Region of New York face homelessness as a result of the pandemic. The attorney will provide legal assistance, be involved in community efforts, and collaborate with government and nonprofit agencies to assist the homeless and at risk residents of the Capital Region. The ideal candidate will be dedicate to helping low-income communities overcome institutional barriers to basic needs and human rights.

Follow this link to learn more.

South Coastal Counties Legal Services, Inc. (Fall River, MA)

South Coastal Counties Legal Services, Inc. (SCCLS) provides free civil legal assistant to low-income and elderly resident of Southeastern Massachusetts. SCCLS works in housing, public benefits, elder law, domestic relations, employment and much more. SCCLS staff not only represents and assists in legal matters, but they also sponsor community legal education and build relationships with community groups and organizations to serve clients.

SCCLS seeks a temporary staff attorney to join its COVID Eviction Legal Help Project. The attorney will represent clients facing eviction who are unable to navigate the courts due to age, health, and language barriers. The ideal candidate will have experience working with vulnerable populations and be fluent in a second language that reflects the communities of Southeastern Massachusetts.

Follow this link to learn more.

Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives

Interested public. So many urgent concerns clamor for our attention these days. I hope my attempt to be focused in this space suits your needs. Here is some news.

Take care of one another,

Sam

State-Directed Violence

• In North Carolina, “Donald Trump added controversy to the September law enforcement killing of antifa activist and murder suspect Michael Reinoehl, by alleging the U.S. Marshals ‘didn’t want to arrest him’ and proudly declaring, ‘We got him.’ Trump’s remarks came during a rally Thursday in Greenville, North Carolina. ‘We sent in the U.S. Marshals. Took 15 minutes, it was over, 15 minutes it was over,’ Trump said of Reinoehl’s death to cheers from the crowd. ‘We got him. They knew who he was. They didn’t want to arrest him, and 15 minutes, that ended.’”
• The Guardian reported that “[t]hree years after Donald Trump ordered a crackdown on undocumented migrants crossing into the US, lawyers are still struggling to find the parents of 545 children separated from them under the “zero-tolerance” policy, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.”

Free and Fair Elections

• In Washington DC, “[a] 36-year veteran of the Justice Department this week accused Attorney General William P. Barr of abusing his power to sway the election for President Trump and said he was quitting, making him the third sitting prosecutor to issue a rare public rebuke of the attorney general.“
• Also in Washington DC, “[a]fter a very long delay in an emergency election case, the shorthanded United States Supreme Court came to a 4–4 tie in an election law case out of Pennsylvania on Monday evening. While a tie result that leaves the lower court ruling standing is a clear short-term win for Democrats in making it easier to vote in the Keystone State in November, Republicans could end up with a much bigger victory if there is any post-election Trump v. Biden litigation.”
  • Commentary from CNN casts the ultimate stakes in this case as particularly weighty: “Normally, a state supreme court has the last word on state laws. So the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s decision should have ended the matter. The US Supreme Court’s 4-4 decision rejected the appeal, but if the Court had accepted the Pennsylvania Republicans’ argument, we would have been in for a whole new wave of federal judicial oversight over election rules. That would spell bad news for state constitutional protection for the right to vote, which is broader than the safeguards afforded under the US Constitution.”
• In California, “[t]he California Republican Party has admitted responsibility for placing more than 50 deceptively labeled “official” drop boxes for mail-in ballots in Los Angeles, Fresno and Orange Counties — an action that state officials said was illegal and could lead to election fraud.”

The Civil Service

In Washington DC, “President Trump this week fired his biggest broadside yet against the federal bureaucracy by issuing an executive order that would remove job security from an estimated tens of thousands of civil servants and dramatically remake the government…attorneys, regulators, public health experts and many others in senior roles would lose rights to due process and in some cases, union representation, at agencies across the government. The White House declined to say how many jobs would be swept into a class of employees with fewer civil service rights, but civil service experts and union leaders estimated anywhere from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands in a workforce of 2.1 million.”

• GovExec analyzed the details of the order: “The order would create a new Schedule F within the excepted service of the federal government, to be composed of “employees in confidential, policy-determining, policy-making, or policy-advocating positions,” and instructs agency heads to determine which current employees fit this definition and move them[; …]Positions in the new Schedule F would effectively constitute at-will employment, without any of the protections against adverse personnel actions that most federal workers currently enjoy, although individual agencies are tasked with establishing “rules to prohibit the same personnel practices prohibited” by Title 5 of the U.S. Code. The order also instructs the Federal Labor Relations Authority to examine whether Schedule F employees should be removed from their bargaining units, a move that would bar them from being represented by federal employee unions.”
• The full text of the order is available at whitehouse.gov

The hearings for U.S. Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett reminded us that the future of healthcare is up for review one week after the November election. With that in mind, this week’s blog post showcases internships, fellowships, and post-grad positions working on health-related legal issues.

The positions chosen this week are only the tip of the iceberg of what the database holds. To explore more openings, follow this link for a filtered search.

Community Legal Services of Philadelphia (Philadelphia, PA)

Community Legal Services of Philadelphia (CLS) is a civil legal aid organization providing free legal services to low-income Philadelphians. CLS’s Health and Independence Unit represents individuals and families facing health and public benefits issues. CLS staff help clients navigate processes for obtaining or keeping public health care and public benefits as well as litigate on behalf of clients when organizations deny care to vulnerable populations or individuals.

CLS seeks a staff attorney to join the Health and Independence Unit. The ideal candidate will have experience working with diverse populations as well as have a commitment to helping low-income individuals and families.

Follow this link to learn more.

Compassion & Choices (Portland, OR or Washington, D.C.)

Compassion & Choices is a national nonprofit dedicated to improving care and expanding choice at the end of life. Compassion & Choices’ chapters and members help patients face the end of life with facts and choices of action during a difficult time.

Compassion & Choices seeks Legislative Counsel to help advance medical outreach and education. The ideal candidate will have experience with public policy and knowledge of healthcare-related issues.

Follow this link to learn more.

If/When/How: Lawyering for Reproductive Justice (Oakland, CA; Atlanta, GA; or Washington, D.C.)

If/When/How: Lawyering for Reproductive Justice transforms the law and policy landscape through advocacy, support, and organizing so all people have the power to determine if, when, and how to define, create, and sustain families with dignity and to actualize sexual and reproductive wellbeing on their own terms.

Each year If/When/How sponsors three fellows to work with placement organizations on HIV awareness and reproductive justice issues at the federal and state levels. Ideal candidates will have knowledge of public health and reproductive justice issues.

Follow this link to learn more. **Remote work may be a possibility.

Law Foundation of Silicon Valley (San Jose, CA)

The Law Foundation of Silicon Valley (Law Foundation) works hard to secure justice and protect human rights through legal advocacy, counseling, and access to the legal system. The Law Foundation’s Health/Mental Health Program provides free legal advice and representation to residents of Santa Clara County.

The Law Foundation seeks two staff attorneys and a directing attorney to join the Health/Mental Health Program. Ideal candidates will have experience with issues affecting individuals living with physical, mental, and development health disabilities.

Follow this link to learn more.

National Alliance of State & Territorial AIDS Directors (Washington, D.C.)

National Alliance of State & Territorial AIDS Directors (NASTAD) is a non-partisan association representing public health officials who administer HIV and hepatitis programs nationally and internationally. NASTAD’s goal is to eradicate the epidemics of HIV, viral hepatitis, and related conditions.

NASTAD seeks a legal fellow to join its Health Systems Integration team. The ideal candidate will have experience with governmental public health programs and the ability to build and strengthen partnerships outside of the organization.

Follow this link to learn more.

Planned Parenthood Federation of America (New York, NY or Washington, D.C.)

Planned Parenthood Federation of America is nation’s leading women’s health care provider, educator, and advocate, serving women, teens, and families. Planned Parenthood’s Public Policy Litigation and Law Department litigates in state and federal courts and advocates in Congress and state legislatures to promote reproductive rights.

The Law Department of Planned Parenthood seeks law students for spring externships in New York and Washington D.C. Ideal candidates will be interested in reproductive justice and health law as well as have excellent research and writing skills.

Follow this link to learn more.

Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives

Interested public. So many urgent concerns clamor for our attention these days. I hope my attempt to be focused in this space suits your needs. Here is some news.

Take care of one another,

Sam

State-Directed Violence

• In Louisville KY, after “one of the unnamed jurors filed a court motion asking for the [grand jury proceedings concerning the police killing of Breonna Taylor] to be made public and accusing [KY Atty. Gen.] Cameron of using the jurors ‘as a shield to deflect accountability and responsibility’,” the Kentucky Attorney General “agreed to release the tape [of the proceedings] this week in response to a judge’s order.”
• In Pearland TX, Vice reported they had obtained “planning records…labeled highly confidential” concerning security forces’ preparations surrounding George Floyd’s funeral in June: “at least six ‘sniper teams’ were in place on rooftops and authorized to open fire if the situation spiraled out of control…, and [] ‘overwatch units’ were sent to monitor the crowd for violent ‘agitators.’ Pearland officials also welcomed a large contingent of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents to the city, including dozens of members of the immigration agency’s militarized tactical unit. Known as BORTAC, it’s equipped with military-grade firepower and commando-style uniforms, and deploys to conflict zones ‘around the world,’ according to the agency..The records show local and federal officials were ready and willing to open fire, even as the nation was undergoing a reckoning over systemic racism and excessive use of force by police in the aftermath of Floyd’s death.”

In New York NY, Human Rights Watch released a report “provid[ing] a detailed account of the [NYPD] police response to the June 4 peaceful protest in Mott Haven, a low-income, majority Black and brown community that has long experienced high levels of police brutality and systemic racism…’The New York City police blocked people from leaving before the curfew and then used the curfew as an excuse to beat, abuse, and arrest people who were protesting peacefully’” said Ida Sawyer, acting crisis and conflict director at Human Rights Watch and co-author of the report. ‘It was a planned operation with no justification that could cost New York taxpayers millions of dollars.’”

Free and Fair Elections

In Washington DC, “Former Justice Department attorneys expressed concerns…that Attorney General William Barr is using the power of the agency to help President Donald Trump win reelection, citing statements Barr had made about mail-in ballots and the politically fraught inquiry into the Russia investigation. ‘We fear that Attorney General Barr intends to use the DOJ’s vast law enforcement powers to undermine our most fundamental democratic value: free and fair elections,’ according to an open letter signed by about 1,600 former Justice Department employees.”

Also in Washington DC, The Nation obtained an FBI intelligence report “warning of an imminent ‘violent extremist threat’ posed by a far-right militia that includes white supremacists–identifying the current election period up to the 2021 inauguration as a ‘potential flashpoint’.”

Also also in Washington DC, “[c]oncern is growing over potential confrontations at polling places due to deep partisan divides and baseless claims by President Trump that Democrats will “steal” the election…Such appeals have unnerved voting rights advocates and election officials, especially in light of civil unrest in several cities around the country that have pitted armed groups from the left and right against each other.”

In Ithaca NY, Prof. Dorf of Cornell Law discussed how, “[g]iven President Trump’s unprecedented suggestions that he would not accept the result of an election that he loses, the question has arisen whether he might attempt to subvert that result by exploiting an apparent loophole.” Prof. Dorf concluded that “[e]ven if a state legislature has the power to assign its Electors to the loser of the state’s Presidential election, it can only do so by complying with the state’s constitutional procedure for lawmaking, including gubernatorial participation.”

In San Francisco CA, “[a] federal appeals court has denied the Trump administration’s request to temporarily block a lower court order that extends the 2020 census schedule. The Census Bureau must continue counting as ordered by the lower court for now, according to the new ruling by 9th U.S. Circuit Judge Johnnie Rawlinson and Judge Morgan Christen, who were part of a three-judge panel. Circuit Judge Patrick Bumatay dissented.”

In the New Republic, a review of Judge Amy Comey Barrett’s jurisprudence focused on Kanter v. Barr, “a Second Amendment case decided last year by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.” Specifically, the author drew attention to Judge Barrett’s dissent in that case, which observed that “history does show that felons could be disqualified from exercising certain rights–like the rights to vote and serve on juries–because these rights belonged only to virtuous citizens.” As the author read Judge Barrett’s argument, “‘Civic rights’ like voting and jury service…can be denied based on whether the individual is ‘virtuous’. From where does this distinction spring? Heller discusses the ‘individual right’ component of the Second Amendment at length but makes no mention of voting rights or virtue. Barrett instead drew upon legal scholars who recast the right to vote in a communal light. ‘The right to vote is held by individuals, but they do not exercise it solely for their own sake; rather, they cast votes as part of the collective enterprise of self-governance,’ she explained.”

In Washington DC, “[t]he U.S. Supreme Court will take up a major voting-rights case after the election, agreeing to decide whether Arizona is discriminating against racial minorities with rules governing how and where ballots are cast. The clash could further weaken the Voting Rights Act, the landmark 1965 law the Supreme Court already scaled back in 2013..A federal appeals court struck down two aspects of Arizona’s voting law: its longstanding policy of rejecting ballots cast in the wrong precinct and a 2016 statute that makes it a crime for most people to collect or deliver another person’s early ballot. The 7-4 decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said each rule had a disproportionate impact on minority voters.”

Events over the past four years and recent news about Breonna Taylor’s case have made it apparent that governments and government officials are not held accountable for all of their harmful actions. That’s why some public interest organizations focus their work on government accountability to help ensure that the rights and lives of American citizens and residents are protected and respected. This week we’re highlighting positions with organizations dedicated to holding governments and individuals accountable.

American Civil Liberties Union (Southern California and Louisiana)

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is one of the premier organizations working to improve the criminal justice system through impact litigation and policy reform.

The ACLU of Southern California seeks a Staff Attorney to join its criminal Justice Project in Los Angeles. The attorney will be expected to lend litigation support, advise on policy considerations, and conduct community outreach and education. The ideal candidate will have professional or personal experience with the criminal justice system.

Follow this link to learn more.

The ACLU of Louisiana seeks a Policy Strategist to work on criminal justice reform as part of the Advocacy Department. The strategist will contribute to many campaigns including those advocating for an end to mass incarceration, racial equality in the criminal legal system, and an increase in transparency and accountability of local government officials working in the criminal justice system.

Follow this link to learn more.

Democracy Forward (Washington, D.C.)

Democracy Forward is a non-profit organization dedicated to exposing corruption within the U.S. Executive Branch and holding federal officials accountable for their harmful actions and policies. Since its launch in 2017, Democracy Forward has filed more than 100 lawsuits challenging unlawful Executive Branch actions.

Democracy Forward seeks an experienced litigator to join its team. The ideal candidate will be familiar with litigation involving the Executive Branch and will be passionate about fighting government corruption.

Follow this link to learn more. **Remote work may be a possibility.

Fair and Just Prosecution (San Francisco, CA)

Fair and Just Prosecution works toward creating a more equitable, just system by bringing together newly elected local prosecutors to share information, research, and assistance. Through the community and resources provided, these prosecutors have the tools and support necessary to build new strategies to create a fair and just criminal legal system.

Fair and Just Prosecution seeks a Research and Policy Fellow to joins its staff. The fellow will provide research on strategies to reduce incarceration, promote diversion programs and bail reform, and much more. The ideal candidate will be committed to reforming prosecution systems and reimagining the role of prosecutive leaders.

Follow this link to learn more. **Remote work may be a possibility.

NYU School of Law, Policing Project (New York, NY)

The Policing Project at New York University School of Law is an educational organization that partners with communities and police units to advance public safety. Their goal is to promote public voice in setting policing policies before the police act. The Policing Project also regulates policing technology and develops methods for communities to address social problems without police intervention.

The Policing Project seeks a Senior Staff Attorney to manage and assist in the Project’s legislative work. The ideal candidate will have experience with legislative drafting and be passionate about racial justice and criminal procedure.

Follow this link to learn more.