PSJD Public Interest News Digest – July 9, 2021
Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives
Hello, interested public! At the end of another week, a few key stories for you: Big student loan news this week in the United States, as the Biden Administration hired an outspoken proponent of student debt cancellation while a major student loan servicer announced its plans to shutter its business at the end of 2021. Meanwhile, Department of Treasury data shows almost none of the emergency rental aid funds allocated by Congress have been spent. In Canada, members of parliament called for a special prosecutor to address crimes against Indigenous people.
These stories and more are in the links below.
Take care of one another,
Sam
Editor’s Choice
Free & Fair Elections; Rule of Law
- In Atlanta GA, “[a] federal judge declined to temporarily halt a new Georgia voting law that is being challenged in the courts, ruling that doing so would risk disrupting an upcoming runoff election.”
- In Boise ID, “[t]he Idaho Supreme Court heard arguments [] over a lawsuit by the nonprofit Reclaim Idaho against a new law that creates stricter rules for passing ballot initiatives.”
- In Washington DC, “[a] panel of former judges and legal scholars convened last year by the group Project on Government Oversight (POGO) released a report on Thursday detailing recommendations for how to restore public trust in the [U.S. Supreme] court, which has been shaped by partisan battles over confirmations in recent decades as conservatives solidified a 6-3 majority.” [Report available from the Project on Government Oversight.]
Immigration, Refugee, and Citizenship Issues
- In Washington DC, “the Biden administration announced Friday that it barred Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents from detaining pregnant or nursing women, absent ‘exceptional circumstances.’”
- Also in Washington DC, “U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced the Interagency Strategy for Promoting Naturalization on Friday, following an executive order President Biden signed in February to strengthen the legal immigration system. The strategy was developed by eight federal departments and will launch new memoranda of understanding between USCIS and other agencies to promote outreach, education and awareness of pathways to citizenship.”
- In Syracuse NY, a report “from the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University [ranked] North Carolina [] last in in the country for the likelihood of having legal representation in immigration cases[.]”
- In Fort Collins CO, “[t]he Fort Collins City Council passed ordinance No. 64 on second reading with a vote of 5-2 during a meeting on July 6, appropriating $150,000 from reserved funds to finance a pilot program for immigration legal defense.”
Student Loans & Student Debt
- In Washington DC, “Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee Patty Murray and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer led 20 of their Democratic colleagues in a letter to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, urging him to prioritize reforms to the student-debt system in his regulatory agenda.” [Letter available on the Senate website.]
- Forbes reported specifically on the “5 main proposals” present in the Congressional letter.
- Also in Washington, “[t]he Biden administration has hired a vocal proponent of canceling student debt for a key post in the Education Department. The Education Department hired Toby Merrill to serve as deputy general counsel in the Office of the General Counsel, the agency said in a statement. Merrill founded and directed the Project on Predatory Student Lending at the Legal Services Center of Harvard Law School.”
- Also also in Washington, “[w]orking through a backlog of student debt relief claims, the Education Department said Friday it will cancel the loans of more than 1,800 people defrauded by defunct for-profit chains Westwood College, Marinello Schools of Beauty and the Court Reporting Institute.”
- In the United States, “[a] major student loan servicing shakeup is in the works as one of the Department of Education’s primary student loan services seeks to exit the business. The Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Authority (PHEAA), which operates FedLoan Servicing, has informed its employees that it plans to end its federal student loan servicing activities when its contract with the Department ends this December.”
- The Center for Law and Social Policy argued that “[w]hile Black borrowers overall are burdened with high rates of student loan debt, Black women, in particular, see high rates of outstanding debt. A recent report identified that Black women carry about 20 percent more debt than white women [; and p]ursuing graduate studies deepens these disparities…Research indicates that cancelling even $50,000 in student debt would alleviate the debt burden for nearly 93 percent of the lowest-income Black households and also increase wealth by a third.”
Non-Profit & Gov’t Management & Hiring
- In Ohio, “[i]n a collaborative survey with the Ohio Supreme Court, the Ohio Access to Justice Foundation reports that 3,735 Ohio lawyers replied with information about their pro bono practices during 2020. Of the respondents, 2,102, or 56%, indicated they represented clients without receiving compensation…The 2020 survey shows 98,783 pro bono hours reported. Since the 2019 report, the average number of hours reported per attorney has increased by 24%.”
- Federal Computer Week reported that after “[t]he pandemic pushed over half of the federal workforce into telework. Disability rights advocates say maintaining more access to telework could make the federal workspace more accessible.”
- In Madison WI, “[t]he University of Wisconsin Law School may pare back some of its yearlong clinics in a change the school argues could increase student participation but some students fear would threaten the quality of their education and the work they do for clients.”
- Also in Madison, “[t]he Climate Defense Project, a nonprofit legal group, recently lodged a complaint with the state Attorney General’s Office and the Department of Financial Institutions (DFI) on behalf of nearly 200 [University of Wisconsin] students, faculty, alumni and community members.” The complaint “argue[s] that the university foundation’s investments in fossil fuel companies are [in violation of] a 2009 state law that stipulated nonprofit entities have a duty to invest in line with their charitable missions.”
- In Washington DC, “[t]he Office of Management and Budget has told the chief government watchdog it will not comply with several of its recommendations aimed at improving the performance and oversight of government, arguing the changes are unnecessary or that it had already addressed the concerns.”
- Also in Washington DC, “[t]he Environmental Protection Agency is reminding employees not to engage with members of the media, sending a memorandum this week instructing them to deflect any press inquiries. The guidance came after EPA Administrator Michael Regan earlier this year sent employees a memo of his own pledging to bring transparency to the agency and reinstate a ‘fishbowl’ environment.”
Access to Justice – Civil & Economic
- In the United States, “[o]f the $25 billion [in emergency rental aid that the US Congress] appropriated in December, only $1.5 billion had been spent nationwide on rent, utilities and arrears between January and the end of May, according to figures released last week by the Treasury Department.” [Figures available from the US Dept. of the Treasury.]
- In Ohio, “[a]fter a lengthy interruption of the operations of its “Do It Yourself” (DIY) legal clinics, Southeastern Ohio Legal Services (SEOLS) will resume the monthly DIY presentation with the help of its long-time partner, Ironton-Lawrence Community Action Agency.”
- In Missouri, “[t]he Missouri Department of Labor is implementing a process for people who were overpaid federal unemployment benefits last year to apply to keep the money. During the height of the pandemic, the department mistakenly overpaid about 47,000 Missourians more than $150 million in mostly federal unemployment benefits. The move to offer waivers for about $108 million of federal money comes after months of pressure from lawmakers.”
- In Portland ME, “[a] Superior Court justice has upheld Portland’s new rent control ordinance despite a lawsuit brought by local landlords. The ordinance limits most rent increases to the rate of inflation, increases the amount of notice a landlord must provide when not renewing an at-will tenancy, and creates a Rent Board to enforce the ordinance and award additional rent increases when appropriate.”
- In Ontario, “[t]he Aboriginal Justice Strategy at Legal Aid Ontario has released the first part of its consultation report on its effectiveness in delivering legal aid services and initiatives to Indigenous clients in the province, including by offering 20 recommendations.”
- Also in Ontario, “Tribunals Ontario has launched an online tool to help empower users with “tailored information about their rights and responsibilities and the rules and processes at the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB).””
- In British Columia, “Legal Aid BC…expanded its partnership with Tyler [Technologies, Inc.]…expanding [its Family Resolution Centre] to cover child support issues, providing full support to separated parents through [Tyler’s] Modria [online dispute resolution] solution.”
- In New York NY, “[a] lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court [] alleges…Mayor de Blasio broke the law by rushing homeless, disabled New Yorkers out of hotel rooms for shelters without notice[.]”
Access to Justice – Criminal
- In Madison County IL, “[Madison County State’s Attorney] Haine asked [the County Board Judiciary Committee] for nine new attorneys while [Public Defender] Copeland requested three.”
- In Cole County MO, “the Public Defender’s Office…[has] new defenders [] coming thanks to state lawmakers earmarking $1 million to hire 15 new public defenders to eliminate some waiting lists for public defender services across the state.”
- In Alpena County MI, “A new law office[,…t]the Northeast Michigan Regional Defenders Office[,] has been busy preparing to help people in the region. The practice is led by former Presque Isle Prosecutor Rick Stieger as Chief Public Defender and Alpena native Julie Miller as Chief Deputy Defender.”
- In Camden NJ, “[t]he newly launched New Jersey Innocence Project, based at Rutgers University-Camden, will help exonerate wrongly convicted people.”
- The Ottawa Citizen published a column criticizing the Canadian Judicial Council’s decision last May to publish the Criminal Law Handbook for Self-represented Accused. The columnist, a Toronto defence lawyer, argued that “[a] growing number of accused want a lawyer but cannot afford one and do not qualify for legal aid. That is a serious problem that has to be rectified. I do not think the way to do so is by publishing a user manual that suggests an unrepresented accused can do an OK job playing lawyer.”
Criminal Justice Reform and Counter-Reform
- In Ontario, a new report from the Law Commission of Ontario found that “[s]tatutory changes, prosecutorial guidelines and training programs are among the “urgently needed reforms” necessary to regulate the use of artificial-intelligence-driven DNA-analysis technology in the criminal justice system[.]”
- In Gwinnett County GA, “[a] recent partnership between the Gwinnett County district attorney and a restorative justice program aims to save taxpayer money and help reduce the impact of the criminal justice system on some first-time offenders…The DA’s office said the program will grant ‘second chances’ by enhancing the social, financial and civic knowledge of offenders.”
- In Maricopa County AZ, “[t]he American Civil Liberties Union filed a complaint against the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, alleging that prosecutors are misusing a pre-trial court process to get thousands to plead guilty without hearings or further evidence being disclosed.”
- In Charlottesville VA, “[t]he University of Virginia School of Law is launching an ambitious new project focused on criminal justice reform that will expand the scope of the school’s Center for Criminal Justice and build upon lessons learned from the Innocence Project at UVA Law.”