PSJD Public Interest News Digest – July 8, 2022
Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives
Hello, interested public!
It’s been awhile. I’ll level with you about why. This digest has always taken a substantial amount of time and effort to produce–and over the last year other responsibilities of mine have taken significantly more time and effort than they used to, as we’ve all had to adapt to drastic social changes. Additionally, public interest news continues to be densely-packed difficult to absorb and synthesize. Today, for example, I delayed this newsletter in order to get the text of President Biden’s Executive Order regarding abortion rights.
But I realize that the digest also gives us a jumping-off point for shared conversations as a community. So as we begin another academic year I am going to work to bring it back as a regular feature. Even if I get it out a bit late, and you end up reading it on Monday morning rather than Friday afternoon.
Take care of one another,
Sam
Editor’s Choice
- In Washington DC, “[a]mid mounting pressure to take action in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, President Joe Biden signed an executive order Friday aimed at protecting access to abortions.” Among other mitigation efforts, “[t]he White House counsel and attorney general will…bring together a group of private attorneys to work on a pro bono basis for people providing or seeking an abortion who face legal battles.”
The relevant portion of the executive order reads:
- Meanwhile, in Kentucky, rather than working to help people navigate new restrictions, “[a]ttorneys from around the state and outside of the commonwealth are working together to provide pro bono services to providers in case they do face criminal charges for operating a procedure which had been federally protected for nearly 50 years before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last week.”
Rule of Law
- In Washington DC, “a prominent Capitol Hill religious leader was caught on a hot mic making a bombshell claim: that she prays with sitting justices inside the high court. ‘We’re the only people who do that,’ Peggy Nienaber said. This disclosure was a serious matter on its own terms, but it also suggested a major conflict of interest. Nienaber’s ministry’s umbrella organization, Liberty Counsel, frequently brings lawsuits before the Supreme Court.”
- Also in Washington DC, “[t]he US Supreme Court since August has issued more emergency orders than opinions in cases that got fully briefed and argued despite several justices expressing misgivings about the practice. The most conservative justices signaled they wanted to use what’s known as the shadow docket even more aggressively.”
- In Pennsylvania, “[a] legal advocacy group formed in hopes of disbarring and disciplining lawyers who aided Donald Trump’s push to overturn the outcome of the 2020 election filed complaints…with the Pennsylvania Supreme Court against seven lawyers in the state for their involvement in the former president’s legal efforts.”
Immigration, Refugee, and Citizenship Issues
- In Texas, “[t]he Department of Justice is investigating alleged civil rights violations under Operation Lone Star, a multibillion-dollar border initiative announced last year by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, according to state records obtained by ProPublica and The Texas Tribune.”
- Also in Texas, “Governor Greg Abbott…issued an executive order authorizing and empowering the Texas National Guard and the Texas Department of Public Safety to apprehend illegal immigrants who illegally cross the border between ports of entry and return them to the border.” The New York Times noted that the order “calls for state authorities to take on an immigration role that is typically the purview of the federal government.”
Student Loans & Student Debt
- In Washington DC, the Department of Education “unveiled a package of proposed regulations aimed at improving the process of applying for a range of programs to forgive debt from educational loans, including the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program[.]” (More coverage available from Inside HigherEd.)
- Meanwhile, a recent survey by intelligent.com suggested that “Biden’s student loan pledge encouraged 86% of recent borrowers to take on debt[.]”
- In the United States, “[a] narrow majority of Americans, 55%, said they support forgiving up to $10,000 in federal student loan debt, according to a recent poll from NPR/Ipsos.”
- The Center for Responsible Lending released a report: “Stories of the Impact of COVID-19 on Women’s Finances and Their Capacity to Repay Student Loans”.
- A new Bankrate survey found that “[r]oughly 60 percent of U.S. adults who have held student loan debt have put off making important financial decisions due to that debt, according to a new Bankrate survey. For Gen Z and millennial borrowers alone, that number rises to 70 percent. Student loans have prevented these borrowers from saving for retirement or emergencies, buying a home, or paying off other debt, like credit cards.”
Non-Profit & Gov’t Management & Hiring
- In the United States, “[t]ens of thousands of federal employees could soon receive payments for damages suffered during the 2018 shutdown after a court heard arguments on Wednesday that the government violated federal law when it failed to deliver paychecks on time to its workers.”
- In Washington DC, “Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) introduced a bill yesterday to provide the District of Columbia Courts and the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia with the same authority that federal courts and federal agencies have to offer voluntary separation incentive payments, or buyouts, to their employees.”
- Also in Washington DC, “George Washington University rejected calls to remove Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas from its law school faculty by students and others frustrated over the judge’s vote to overturn Roe v. Wade and his urging to reconsider other landmark civil rights cases.”
- In Montgomery AL, “[a]fter more than a year and a half of negotiations, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has reached a tentative collective bargaining agreement with the SPLC staff.”
- The Brookings Institute released a report finding that “[n]onprofit organizations are indispensable partners for the public sector to maximize federal dollars and leverage funds for inclusive, systemic change. Yet, to make the most of today’s historic investment opportunities, cities and nonprofits must overcome two preexisting conditions that could hinder such an approach: functionality and equity.”
Access to Justice – Civil & Economic
- In Mississippi, “[a] judge has denied a motion from Mississippi’s only abortion clinic to allow it to remain open by blocking a law that would ban most abortions in the state. The Jackson Women’s Health Organization had sought a temporary restraining order that would allow it to remain open, at least while the lawsuit remains in court.”
- In the United States, the US Postal Service announced it “will not proactively help states enforce laws prohibiting the use of abortion pills in the wake of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, despite many legislatures vowing to crack down on the practice.”
- In Canada, “[t]he federal government says it is examining whether there is a legal risk to health-care workers who provide abortions in this country for visiting Americans.”
- In New York, “[a]n amendment to the New York State Human Rights Law is set to go into effect on July 14, 2022. The new law directs the New York State Division of Human Rights (Division) to operate a toll-free confidential hotline, during regular business hours, which will provide counsel and assistance to individuals with complaints of workplace sexual harassment.”
- In Oklahoma City OK, “[e]victions in Oklahoma City are rising as rent help is running out[.]”
- In Wisconsin, “voters will no longer be allowed to cast their absentee ballots via remote drop boxes, as the state’s highest judicial body ruled Friday they are not permitted under state law.”
- In New Mexico, “[a] lawyer overseeing a slew of damage claims from the Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon fire said the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s aid process needs an overhaul.”
- In Illinois, “Governor J.B. Pritzker has signed into law the “Create a Respectful and Open Workplace for Natural Hair” Act, or CROWN Act, which prohibits hair discrimination.”
Access to Justice – Criminal
- In the United States, “[m]ost judges and lawyers seem to agree that they expect courts to continue to leverage remote technology in some capacity after the pandemic subsides. When it comes to criminal proceedings, however, that consensus starts to shatter.”
- In Oregon, “[t]he patience of Oregon Supreme Court Chief Justice Martha Walters seems to be growing thin as the state continues to violate the constitutional rights of criminal defendants charged with crimes who cannot afford an attorney. ‘Hundreds who are constitutionally entitled to counsel are being denied that right, and no end is in sight,’ Walters wrote in a letter sent July 1 to the eight commissioners who oversee the state’s public defense agency.”
- Also in Oregon, “Oregon’s federal public defender says dozens of people inside the state’s only federal prison have been on a hunger strike protesting conditions inside the facility.”
- In Santa Cruz County CA, “residents criminally charged and in need of a lawyer can now seek public defense services, as the county opened its first Public Defender’s Office[.]”
- In Branch County MI, “[t]wo new full-time positions in the Public Defenders Office which are being funded by the Michigan Indigent Defense Commission were brought forward by the Branch County Board of Commissioners[.]”
- In Baton Rouge LA, “the NAACP Baton Rouge chapter published a four-page letter speaking against East Baton Rouge Parish Chief Public Defender Lisa Parker…NAACP alleges that 30 employees have left the office since Parker was appointed in July 2021.” In response, “Parker’s spokesperson confirms that 17 attorneys have resigned since Parker took over. A statement from Parker’s office said those attorney positions have since been filled and since Parker took over no cases have been dropped, overlooked or neglected.”
- In Georgia, “Sen. Jon Ossoff is launching a new effort to strengthen public defender programs in state and local courts.”
- In the United States, “[s]hortly after the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in Shinn v. Ramirez, the ABA Death Penalty Representation Project put out a call for more pro bono attorneys to help represent people on death row.”
Criminal Justice Reform and Counter-Reform
- In San Francisco CA, “San Francisco’s Mayor London Breed has made a controversial pick to replace former progressive District Attorney Chesa Boudin, after a recall which garnered major national attention — prosecutor and critic Brooke Jenkins…those who opposed the recall of Boudin say this pick reflects a turn from progressive criminal justice policies for San Francisco. Jenkins, a Black Latina, described herself as a “progressive prosecutor” but criticized Boudin for his policies in the interest of criminal justice reform….Recall opponents like former police commissioner John Hamasaki called this ‘an unfortunate pick for San Francisco.’[:] ‘Ms. Jenkins is somebody who has consistently demonstrated poor judgment, a lack of ethics and a desire to return to unfortunately racist and tough on crime policies,’ he said in a phone interview. He said Jenkins was not Breed’s first pick but is supported by the police union and some backers of the recall.”
- In Los Angeles County CA, the “district attorney may face a vote in November — two years before his term ends — as the campaign to recall him said it submitted enough signatures to qualify for the ballot.”
- In Maricopa County AZ, “a prosecutor involved in charging 2020 protesters with gang charges, will appeal a June 28 decision by the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office to officially fire her[.]”