Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives

Hello, interested public! I wish you all the best, here on the tail end of yet another wild week. As has become the norm, there are many stories below all of which would dominate the week’s news in another era. In the US, the President rejected calls for unilateral student debt relief from Democrats in Congress and some state attorneys general and drew sharp criticism from the ACLU for a new DHS policy memo that the ACLU says reneges on his commitment to “to fully break from the harmful deportation policies of both the Trump and Obama presidencies.” At the local government level, you will find two stories related to counter-reform efforts aimed at limiting the scope of the progressive prosecution moment. In Canada, at both the national and provincial level bar associations and governments are making plans for improving the justice system, drawing on lessons learned from the pandemic.

Take care of one another,

Sam

Editor’s Choices

• In the United States, Vice.com published an article examining a developing debate around how public defenders engage with social media: “Public defenders had blogged about their work as long as a decade ago, and tweeting about arraignments wasn’t new, but [as] it’s grown, however, criminal justice reform advocates and formerly incarcerated people have started to argue that these posts can put clients at risk of retaliation from judges and prosecutors, violate their privacy, and present ethical quandaries for public defenders talking so openly about their work on Twitter. The optics of white public defenders gaining likes or retweets on stories of Black and brown suffering has also been called into question. As advocacy efforts morph from live-tweets to slick video productions, and gain traction with a public increasingly likely to support justice reform, the question has become: who should be telling the story?”
• In Canada, the CBA published a profile of Aimée Craft, of two CBA President’s Award recipients in 2021. Professor Craft, discussed her work “dismantling the colonial history of law[.]” : “Indigenous law is not simply adding a splash of ‘Indigenous flavour’ into the Canadian legal system. ‘It’s actually more profound in that it questions the foundations of how we make decisions. Indigenous peoples have been excluded from this sphere of decision-making for a very long time.’ ”

Transition of Power

• In Washington DC, “[n]early 5,000 National Guard troops will remain in Washington through March 12 due, in part, to concerns about potential violence stemming from online chatter among QAnon supporters who suggest former President Donald Trump could still be inaugurated on March 4, according to the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee.”
• Also in Washington DC, “[w]ith the NAACP as counsel, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) [] sued the former president, his lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani, the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers, accusing them of conspiring to stage the Capitol insurrection and violating a law known as the Ku Klux Klan Act. The complaint explains that the law, enacted in 1871, ‘was intended to protect against conspiracies, through violence and intimidation, that sought to prevent Members of Congress from discharging their official duties. The statute was enacted in response to violence and intimidation in which the Ku Klux Klan and other organizations were engaged during that time period.’”
• In Fulton County GA, “[a] Georgia prosecutor plans to examine a phone call between U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham and Georgia’s secretary of state as part of a criminal investigation into whether former President Donald Trump or his allies broke state law in trying to influence the results of the election, the Washington Post reported on Friday.”

Legal Ethics

• In the United States, “[w]hen President Donald Trump and his enablers began bringing that Big Lie [that the presidential election was stolen] to court, some experts warned that these lawyers may never face disciplinary proceedings. But Monday’s disbarment complaint against Sidney Powell and three additional attorneys for alleged misconduct in Michigan, as well as ethics complaints elsewhere against Rudolph W. Giuliani and others, are important steps in that direction.”

Environmental Justice & Environmental Collapse

• In Harris County TX, “County Attorney Christian D. Menefee is urging the public to report incidents of price gouging and other consumer complaints committed by those looking to take advantage of the tragedy[.]”
• In Washington DC, “As part of the grant-making associated with the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Infrastructure for Rebuilding America program, the agency will for the first time carve out some of that program’s $889 million budget for projects addressing climate change and environmental justice.”
• In Nottingham NH, “residents [this] town of less than 5,000 people, have backed an unusual law to protect the drinking water they pull from their wells. The Freedom from Chemical Trespass Rights-Based Ordinance, which voters passed in 2019, gives the streams, rivers, and tributaries that flow into Nottingham’s drinking water supply—along with all other ecosystems ‘and natural communities’—their own legal personhood. The ordinance was overturned last week, however, after a Rockingham County Superior Court judge ruled it was vague and unenforceable. But ‘rights of nature’ ordinances like this are actually part of a burgeoning trend in environmental law, and offer a relatively new way to think about protecting natural resources.”

Immigration, Refugee, and Citizenship Issues

• In Washington DC, “[t]he Department of Homeland Security issued a memo on interior enforcement [] that outlines government policy that will apply during the next 90 days and addresses the scope of who DHS considers a priority for deportation and interior immigration enforcement.” In a statement, the ACLU called the memo “a disappointing step backward from the Biden administration’s earlier commitments to fully break from the harmful deportation policies of both the Trump and Obama presidencies…it has chosen to continue giving ICE officers significant discretion to conduct operations that harm our communities and tear families apart.”
• Also in Washington DC, “[m]embers of the Congressional Black Caucus are calling on the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency to put an end to ‘mass deportations’ they say are being carried out in a flagrant breach of orders imposed by the Biden administration.”
• Again also in Washington DC, “the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) released a letter to [newly confirmed DHS Secretary Alejandro] Mayorkas concerning alarming reports that there was an uptick in deportations before his confirmation, which may mean immigrants were not afforded due process in the rush to get them out of the country.”
• In California, “[t]he ABA’s immigration project in Texas has joined a lawsuit alleging that unaccompanied children affected by the Trump administration’s remain-in-Mexico program are being denied basic legal rights…The amended lawsuit, filed in federal court in California,[] says some of the children sent to Mexico under the policy have entered the United States on their own, yet they are denied legal protections given to other unaccompanied children.”

Student Loans & Student Debt

• In Washington DC, “President Biden is facing intense backlash from progressive lawmakers after saying Tuesday he would not sign a measure to forgive up to $50,000 in federally held student debt per borrower through executive action.”
  • Relatedly, “[a] multi-state group of attorneys general on Friday sent a letter to Congress urging the adoption of two resolutions that call on President Biden to cancel up to $50,000 in federal student loan debt.”
  • Finally, “President Joe Biden will ask the Department of Justice to review his legal authority to cancel student loan debt, the White House said on Wednesday, adding the president does not favor $50,000 in student loan relief without limitation.”
• Relatedly, NBC News reported that “Black voters want student loan debt eliminated altogether. And without substantive action, a sizable chunk of Black voters may consider stay home during the next election, according to a new…national poll shared exclusively with NBC News[.]”

Non-Profit & Gov’t Management & Hiring

• In New York NY, “[a] group of public defenders and social workers seeking to unionize their nonprofit legal organization got a boost from several local elected officials who joined them for a rally Wednesday…State Sens. Michael Gianaris and Jessica Ramos, Assemblymembers Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas and Zohran Mamdani, and Councilmembers Brad Lander and Jimmy Van Bramer called on Queens Defenders administration to bring back the two terminated staffers and voluntarily recognize the union.”
• In Washington DC, “[a] task force created by President Biden to create a safer workspace for federal employees during the COVID-19 pandemic has issued its first set of guidelines, telling agencies to punish those who refuse to wear masks and provide leave for employees to get vaccinated.”
• Also in Washington DC, “[t]he agency tasked with protecting federal employees who blow the whistle on wrongdoing is faulting an appeals board for creating a new standard those workers must clear to prove their case.”
• Also also in Washington DC, Dave Uejio, the Acting Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, issued an open call for attorneys to join the agency he leads, including “Our work will be most effective when we are able to incorporate a broad range of perspectives. We are, therefore, particularly interested in hearing from a diverse set of candidates with a range of personal and professional experiences.”

Access to Justice – Civil & Economic

• In Canada, “a Canadian Bar Association task force said in a report released at its annual general meeting [that a] significant investment in technology and training in the correct use of that technology, funded by government, are both needed to improve access to justice[.]”
• In Washington DC, “Joe Biden met with a group of mayors and governors last week [and] bluntly told them to get ready for a legislative defeat: his proposed minimum wage hike was unlikely to happen, he said, at least in the near term…The comments…suggest that the president is more inclined to manage the fallout of it not being included than to pursue long-shot, political-capital consuming efforts to fight for its insertion.”
  • Relatedly, “[t]he Senate parliamentarian is expected to issue a preliminary ruling as early as next week on whether the wage hike can be included [in budget reconciliation], and Biden has notably not endorsed the calls of some Democrats who want to overrule any decision that would prevent its inclusion.”
• Also in Washington DC, “[w]ith the backing of civil rights organizations, labor unions, and economic experts, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley on Thursday morning unveiled a jobs guarantee resolution demanding that ‘meaningful, dignified work’ at a livable wage be made an enforceable legal right in the United States.”
• Georgia Public Broadcasting reported on how “[after] the pandemic struck and the SSA closed their 1,200 field offices across the country[,]…the number of monthly SSI applications and new benefit awardees has declined sharply. New data show that the number of new SSI awards given in January was the lowest on record — but it wasn’t because there were fewer people in need of the benefits.”
• In Ithaca NY, “city government, Cornell Law School and the Ithaca Tenants Union are collaborating to assist those facing eviction, as national [sic] economic crisis has left renters vulnerable. A new tenant housing hotline created by Ithaca Tenants Union, a practicum law class — where law students can provide cost-free legal advice or assistance to tenants while earning credit for their work — along with monetary assistance from a grant are being used to support renters through emergency rental assistance and legal resources.”
• In Olympia WA, the Washington State Senate debated “[a]n extension of an eviction moratorium for another two years and free attorneys for tenants who face eviction[, ] proposed in a new bill that landlords say would decimate their industry.”
• In New York NY, “[f]ewer than 2,300 New York City households have filed paperwork to delay eviction proceedings, with a Feb. 26 deadline looming.”
• In Princeton NJ, as “one study has found that evictions may have caused thousands of additional deaths because of displaced families catching or spreading COVID-19[,] The Eviction Lab at Princeton University…has tracked nearly 250,000 eviction filings since mid-March. The CDC order is preventing many of those people from losing their homes. But many others are being evicted regardless.
• In Maine, “[t]he office that oversees legal services for Maine’s poor is asking for more employees to fix a myriad of financial and constitutional problems identified by watchdog groups.”
• In British Columbia, “[t]he CBA-BC [released] Agenda for Justice 2021, a roadmap for action to improve the province’s justice system and modernize provincial legislation to ease access to justice for families, businesses and communities. It‘s been through the year-long pandemic that glaring needs for change, many of them technological, have been spotlighted.”
• In Ontario, “[t]he Ministry of the Attorney General is working with justice partners to move more justice services online and closer to communities through breakthrough modernization initiatives [via t]he proposed Accelerating Access to Justice Act, 2021.”
• Also in Ontario, the provincial government “introduced legislation Tuesday that would cement changes to how provincial judges are appointed, part of several reforms it said aim to increase access to justice.”

Access to Justice – Criminal

• In Southern CA, “[a]s courthouses across Southern California begin to resume jury trials to tackle a backlog of criminal cases, public defenders are pushing state and county health officials to move them up the priority list for coronavirus vaccines. Since December, public defenders in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino, Santa Clara and San Luis Obispo counties, among others, have banded together and sent letters to Mark Ghaly, secretary of the state Health and Human Services Agency, pleading to be included on the same priority tier as jail inmates for COVID-19 inoculation. Thus far, they say, their requests have fallen on deaf ears.”
• In Buffalo NY, “some 145 people saw their misdemeanor charges dismissed in Buffalo City Court before the evidence against them was even introduced. Prosecutors ran out of time to comply with laws guaranteeing the right to a speedy trial.”

Criminal Justice Reform and Counter-Reform

• In Los Angeles CA, “[t]he progress that newly elected Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón was elected to make is facing obstacles, including a lawsuit filed by his own prosecutors.” The piece (available as audio or a transcript) paints a vivid picture of how the progressive prosecution movement is changing the way law enforcement operates in California: “in Northern California where the DA felt that [Gascón] was not going to be appropriately punitive in his recommendations for how the charges went…she simply decided to take back jurisdiction of that case to ensure that it was prosecuted in the way that she felt comfortable with. And it’s interesting, you are seeing DAs for the first time that I’ve ever heard of in California, uh, having that conversation amongst themselves and amongst law enforcements about which jurisdiction when there is an option they want to file in[.]”
• In Okanogan County WA, former DA Arian Noma, “who [had] vowed to stop the over-prosecution of crimes and seek bail only when necessary” but resigned halfway through is term, “[spoke] publicly for the first time since his resignation [about how] he believes the online harassment campaign [which contributed to his decision to resign] had help from law enforcement and county colleagues, including people within his own office.”
• In Washington DC, “[c]ivil rights groups are pushing the Biden administration to take a stand against facial recognition technology, arguing the rapidly spreading software poses “profound and unprecedented threats” to Americans’ freedom and way of life. The American Civil Liberties Union and more than 40 other groups urged President Biden in a letter Tuesday to freeze federal use of facial recognition and block federal funds from being used by state and local governments to buy or access the artificial-intelligence tools.”
• In Oakland County MI, “[n]ew Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald said Tuesday her office has taken steps that give the chance for nearly two-dozen “juvenile lifers” to get parole. According to McDonald, the prosecutor’s office has filed motions for re-sentencing of 22 cases, after reviewing 27 county-based juvenile lifer cases.”
• In Queens NY, DA Melinda Katz gave a video interview on her efforts to tackle criminal justice reform.

Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives

Hello, interested public! I hope you’re all weathering the new year and our continuing shared challenges. The news continues to be jam-packed, but as other aspects of my work become somewhat more manageable I hope to help you sort through it again. This is a long edition, covering material related to the new administration in Washington, the ongoing pandemic and its effects on the legal system and on our social safety net more broadly, and continued reverberations from racial justice protests and challenges to the legitimacy of the recent national election. The most noteworthy story may be a recent survey indicating broad bipartisan appeal (among the populace, not necessarily politicians) for a right to counsel in eviction proceedings.

Take care of one another,

Sam

Transition of Power

• In Washington DC, “[i]n a last-minute attempt to assuage outgoing President Donald Trump’s privacy concerns, the Justice Department last month issued a legal opinion creating a situation where, upon taking office, President Joe Biden would not be able to access certain electronic records from the previous administration—even if those records are on the president’s computer hardware. The six-page memo—penned by the DOJ Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) Deputy Assistant Attorney General Devin DeBacker[]— states that under the Presidential Records Act (PRA) the U.S. Archivist, not the incoming president, assumes responsibility for the ‘custody, control, and preservation of’ all records of the previous administration…Neil Eggleston, the former White House counsel to President Barack Obama during the Trump transition period, told Business Insider he was concerned that Trump’s legal team may try and use the memo to ‘claim an overly broad exclusion from the right of the Biden administration to access documents critical for the continuity of government.’”
• Also in Washington DC, “[a] high-profile Native American activist who formerly led the National Congress of American Indians and top environmental justice leaders and experts have joined the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, signaling President Joe Biden’s continued commitment to environmental and climate justice. The 14 new EPA appointees announced Tuesday do not require Senate confirmation, and many hail from backgrounds that touch civil rights work.”
• Also also Washington DC, “[a recent judicial] recommendation this month by [Colorado’s] two Democratic U.S. senators has drawn pushback from liberals [who] say the endorsement flouts President Joe Biden’s pledge to staff the federal bench with more civil rights lawyers and public defenders, and fewer corporate attorneys and prosecutors.”

Immigration, Refugee, and Citizenship Issues

• In Houston TX, “President Joe Biden’s administration has deported hundreds of immigrants in its early days despite his campaign pledge to stop removing most people in the U.S. illegally at the beginning of his term. A federal judge last week ordered the Biden administration not to enforce a 100-day moratorium on deportations, but the ruling did not require the government to schedule them. In recent days, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has deported immigrants to at least three countries: 15 people to Jamaica on Thursday and 269 people to Guatemala and Honduras[.]”
• In Washington DC, “President Biden signed three new immigration-related executive orders Tuesday evening, including one to create a task force dedicated to reuniting migrant families that were separated at the southern border under the Trump administration.”
• Also in Washington DC, “The Biden administration is opening an overflow facility for unaccompanied migrant children apprehended at the US-Mexico border, the federal agency tasked with the children’s care told CNN in a statement. The Health and Human Services Department will reopen a facility in Carrizo Springs, Texas, that can accommodate about 700 children and can be expanded if necessary.”
• Also also in Washington DC, “[a]dvocacy groups and immigration attorneys have cheered [the administration’s] early steps [at immigration reform], but warn that Biden’s overall success could be limited if he’s unable to tackle another problem that has been growing for years: the ever-growing case backlog in federal immigration courts. Without addressing the backlog, they say, Biden’s mission of achieving a fair and equitable immigration system won’t be complete.”

Pandemic in the Legal System

• In the United States, “[t]op judges from Nevada, Texas, Michigan and California detailed how the pandemic has forced them to make courts more accessible and service-oriented.”
• In Los Angeles CA, “[d]espite massive restrictions on businesses and restaurants for fear of spreading COVID, Los Angeles Superior Court is still holding some in-person sessions for evictions and traffic trials. Just last month, three LA County Superior Court staff members died of the virus. Hundreds of court employees and several judges have tested positive, putting scores of other court attendees at potential risk of infection.”
• In Baltimore MD, “[d]espite state orders limiting courtroom operations, Baltimore County courts are still scheduling hundreds of in-person hearings for low-level, nonviolent offenses each week, and the Maryland Defenders Union says it’s putting county attorneys, judicial staff and the public at risk.”
• In Prince William County, “attorneys at the Prince William public defender office began raising concerns about the treatment of clients being held at the [Prince William-Manassas Adult Detention Center], including complaints from inmates about the lack of hygiene during the outbreak and the use of solitary confinement to slow the spread of the virus.”
  • • In BuzzFeed, a public defender described the risks the legal system is imposing on her clients.
• In New York NY, “[p]ublic defender groups from across New York City have followed through on their threat to sue Gov. Cuomo in order to force the state to vaccinate inmates.”
• In Washington DC, “[t]he U.S. Department of Homeland Security says Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection will not conduct immigration arrests at or near COVID-19 vaccine distribution sites.”

State-Sponsored Violence

• In Washington DC, Human Rights Watch issued official recommendations to key Congressional representatives concerning the Justice in Policing Act of 2020, arguing that “research by Human Rights Watch and others has shown that police violence is inextricably linked to deep and persisting racial inequities and economic class divisions, perpetuated and exacerbated by laws and policies that prioritize policing and criminalization as the primary state response to a range of societal problems. When introduced, supporters claimed the JPA was “bold,” and “comprehensive,”–something that would “change the culture of law enforcement.” But for legislation to be meaningful and effective, it needs to address these societal conditions at their root not simply by modifying the law enforcement responses to them.”

Violence Against Protesters

• In Milwaukee WI, “[a] judge [] eclined a prosecutor’s’ request to have Kyle Rittenhouse arrested until he posts another $200,000 bail and reveals where he’s living. He did order Rittenhouse’s attorney to disclose his client’s address, under seal, to the court and the sheriff’s office, but not to the District Attorney’s Office. The prosecutors say Rittenhouse,18, charged with fatally shooting two protesters and wounding a third during violent protests in August, has been in violation of his bail conditions because he never updated the address he had listed on jail records.”
• In Buffalo NY, “[a] grand jury dismissed the case against two Buffalo, NY, police officers who were charged last year after video showed an elderly protester being shoved to the ground during a demonstration. Officers Robert McCabe and Aaron Torgalski had been charged with felony second-degree assault.”

Free & Fair Elections

• The New York Times reported that, “[i]n the latest volley in the battle over disinformation in the presidential election, Rupert Murdoch’s Fox Corporation has been sued by an obscure tech company that has accused his cable networks of defamation and contributing to the fervor that led to the siege of the Capitol.”

Student Loans & Student Debt

• In the New York Daily News, Rep. Mondaire Jones argued that “President Biden must use his authority to cancel $50,000 in student debt for every person with federal loans. Today.”
• In Washington DC, “Senate Republicans have unveiled a new stimulus proposal to counter the plan offered by President Bident and congressional Democrats. And student loan borrowers are left out, again.”
• Also in Washington DC, Rep. “Ilhan Omar has suggested a new tax on stock trades that could be used to pay off student debt.”
• Also also in Washington DC, after Senators Warren and Schumer called on President Biden to unilaterally cancel student debt, Forbes opined on how “this approach raises several concerns about the possibility of Congress–which Democrats control–passing student loan cancellation.”
• Also again also in Washington DC, “Navient, a student loan company, [was] ordered to repay $22 million to the government.”
• Again also also again in Washington DC, “Democratic Senators unveiled a sweeping bankruptcy bill [] that would dramatically reform the United States bankruptcy system, and make it easier for struggling Americans to discharge student loans and medical debt through bankruptcy.”
• CNBC discussed “what you can expect [from tax season] as a student loan borrower amid the pandemic’s ongoing relief.”

Non-Profit & Gov’t Management & Hiring

• In New York NY, “Deborah Archer, daughter of Jamaican immigrants, was last weekend elected the new president of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), becoming the first person of African-American ancestry to head the 101-year-old organisation. A civil rights attorney who is a professor at New York University Law School, Archer will oversee the 60-member board and deal with operational, organisational, as well as fundraising issues.”
• In Queens NY, “[t]wo employees of the indigent defense organization Queens Defenders were fired on Monday, less than two months after staff announced a union drive with overwhelming support. Both employees, social worker Betsy Vasquez and attorney Anna Avalone, are outspoken supporters of the ongoing union drive at Queens Defenders. Pro-union employees and a union organizer said that the firings were illegal retaliation against the staffers for supporting the union…The Queens Defenders Union announced its drive for recognition as a chapter of the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys (ALAA) in December, claiming the support of 90 percent of eligible employees and multiple Queens elected officials.”
• In Miami FL, a federal judge ruled that “[a] former Broward County [] assistant public defender can pursue her lawsuit alleging she was fired for advocating for social justice issues during an unsuccessful campaign to unseat her boss.”
• In Canada, “[a] research team [from McMaster University] has spoken with leaders from front-line non-profit organizations, and their funding partners…to better understand how the pandemic is affecting organizations across Canada.”
• In the United States, Prof. Donald Moynihan of Georgetown University discussed his research into “how federal managers use performance data over time,” research which suggests that “[t]he current system GPRAMA had worked where GPRA and PART had failed: pushing managers to use performance data to make decisions.”
• In Washington DC, “[a] bipartisan, bicameral group of lawmakers is once again pushing to remove mandatory payments toward the health benefits for future U.S. Postal Service retirees, aiming to eliminate a controversial requirement upon which the cash-strapped mailing agency has defaulted for years.”
• Also in Washington DC, “[a] newly formed non-profit says it is reimagining philanthropy by supporting people, organizations, businesses and non-profits making a difference in communities of color in Virginia, Maryland and DC.”

Expanding Legal Practice

• In Arizona, “[a]nyone can now become a legal paraprofessional and represent clients in Arizona courts [after t]he Arizona Supreme Court earlier this year sanctioned paraprofessionals who could provide more affordable legal representation. Paraprofessionals can act for clients in misdemeanor cases with no possibility of jail time, or in family and small claims courts.”

Access to Justice – Civil & Economic

• In the United States, “[a]ccording to a new poll from Data for Progress and The Lab, a policy vertical of The Appeal, voters overwhelmingly want a fairer process in eviction cases…64% of voters—including 78% of Democrats, 61% of independents, and 51% of Republicans—believe Congress should pass a measure to fund legal services to prevent evictions. 68% of voters—including 75% of Democrats, 71% of independents, and 58% of Republicans—support a right to counsel in eviction proceedings, similar to the right that exists for criminal cases.”
  • Relatedly, in Nebraska, “[a] new bill in the Nebraska Legislature introduced by Sen. John Cavanaugh, District 9 of Omaha, would provide every tenant across the state with the right to an attorney when they walk into the courtroom.”
  • Relatedly, in Florida, “a handful of bills filed at the State Capitol seek to keep people in their homes. Every day in Florida, 180 new eviction notices are being filed.”
  • Relatedly, in Maryland, “[a]s the Maryland General Assembly session gets into full swing, many lawmakers are pushing bills meant to protect tenants.”
• In Los Angeles CA, “[t]he Social Justice Legal Foundation (www.socialjusticelaw.org) launched today with a $10 million pledge of support from Hueston Hennigan LLP…The Foundation – funded and created by the partners of Hueston Hennigan LLP – will collaborate with Columbia, Northwestern, Stanford, UCLA and Yale law schools to identify pressing legal issues and to mentor and develop a new generation of trial lawyers in the public sector…To address evolving societal crises, the Foundation will rotate its primary areas of attention every two years from among the following initial areas: economic justice, housing/homeless discrimination, LGBTQ+ rights, immigrant justice, Native American discrimination, voting rights and criminal justice reform. The Foundation’s cases and focus areas will be informed by its executive leadership, academic partners, other social justice organizations and fellows.”
• In Wisconsin, as of February 5th the Wisconsin State Bar is organizing “Wisconsin-licensed lawyers [to] offer free consultations, by Zoom or by phone, of up to one hour to small businesses. Businesses can get an additional session at no charge if the issue is not adequately resolved.”
• In Providence RI, “[t]he American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island is suing the attorney general’s office, challenging a $225 fee charged to a law student for records regarding plea deals that could have immigration consequences. The ACLU filed the lawsuit on behalf of Roger Williams University School of Law student Lindsay Koso, who is doing research for a law review article on state immigration law. One law requires the attorney general to give the legislature an annual report listing cases in which plea agreements were vacated because judges failed to tell criminal defendants that a plea could have adverse immigration consequences…[T]he lawsuit calls that charge “per se unreasonable” because the public shouldn’t have to pay for reports that an agency is required to submit publicly. And the lawsuit says the $225 fee is so large that it would deter Koso or other members of the public from pursuing the records.”
• In New Hampshire, “[a] new study has exposed serious financial woes and gaps in legal help for New Hampshire’s neediest residents, including victims of domestic violence – justice and safety challenges that have become more pressing with the pandemic.”
• In Pennsylvania, “[u]nder a new law, people experiencing homelessness will now have the ability to receive a free identification card from PennDOT.”

Access to Justice – Criminal

• In Chesterfield County VA, “[t]he Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee approved legislation Wednesday morning that would create a public defender’s office in Chesterfield County and replace the county’s existing court-appointed attorney system, in which private attorneys are assigned by judges to represent defendants who can’t afford to hire counsel.”