PSJD Public Interest News Digest – July 22, 2022
Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives
Hello, interested public!
Interesting times. Major stories centered around criminal justice this week. The ongoing effort to recall, impeach, or force the resignation of reformist prosecutors continues across the US (stories in California, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania this week), while Democrats, led by the President, join Republicans in bipartisan concern for “law & order” issues. Meanwhile, multiple states report caseload crises for public defenders–and the ACLU won class certification in Maine for a lawsuit alleging officials failed to create an effective public defender system.” The Biden administration promises a decision on student loan forgiveness will be forthcoming, and polls indicate public confidence in the Supreme Court has fallen precipitously since its decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. All this and more are in the stories below.
Take care of one another,
Sam
Reproductive Justice
- In Washington DC, “[t]he Veterans Affairs Department is ‘closely watching’ how access to abortions shakes out after the fall of Roe v. Wade, suggesting on Wednesday it could unilaterally decide to offer the service if its availability drops precipitously for veterans across the country.”
- In the United States, “pro-choice groups and abortion providers have seen a surge in membership, volunteers, and donations in recent weeks as advocates seek to protect and shore up abortion access.”
Rule of Law
- In Johnson County KS, “[t]he Johnson County Sheriff is now accusing the county attorney of breaking the law and providing a public document to reporters. The letter provided under the Kansas Open Records Act, or KORA, revealed the county attorney had concerns about the sheriff’s request to play a greater role in the upcoming election.”
- In Washington DC, public revelation of a memo in which “the [current] attorney general extended his predecessor’s requirement that investigations into presidential or vice-presidential candidates, as well as their senior staff and advisors, can’t begin without written notification to the department and his written approval [has sparked] debate since then as to whether [this deference] was justified.”
- In Milwaukee WI, “a new poll released [by Marquette Law School shows] just 38% of the country saying it approves of the nation’s highest court after it overturned Roe v. Wade–a dramatic shift in public opinion from one year ago.”
Student Loans & Student Debt
- In Washington DC, “President Biden confirmed he will decide wide-scale student loan cancellation by August.”
- Also in Washington DC, “[a] pair of New Jersey lawmakers have introduced a new bill that would make it easier for some previously ineligible public workers to qualify for loan relief under a federal program. This is the latest attempt to make changes to the 15-year-old program as Americans await a decision on widespread student loan forgiveness by the Biden administration.”
- Again also in Washington DC, “[c]ongressional Republicans slammed President Biden‘s consideration of student loan forgiveness as a “giveaway” to highly educated Americans that ignores the underlying costs of college and inflation pressures for struggling Americans.”
- Latino USA noted that “[t]he call for abolition of all student debt has never been louder,” and “div[ed] into the history of the student loan system in the U.S., as well as the stories of Black and Latino organizers that have been at the forefront of the movement for student debt cancellation.”
Non-Profit & Gov’t Management & Hiring
- In Washington DC, “Equal Justice Works, which helps law students and graduates pursue careers in public interest law, has chosen University of Cincinnati law Dean Verna Williams to replace outgoing executive director David Stern in September and to assume the new title of chief executive officer[.]”
- Also in Washington DC, “[o]fficials from the Biden administration on Thursday defended federal agencies’ approach to workplace flexibilities like telework and remote work from skeptical Republicans, who have grown more stridently against the concept of hybrid work environments in recent months.”
- In the United States, “Americans head into the 2022 midterm election season with record-setting doubts about the federal government’s faithful execution of the laws. Public demand for comprehensive government reform is at a 20-year high, while confidence in government has dropped to a historic low.”
- In California, “state employee unions representing scientists and attorneys are making the biggest demands for raises in contract negotiations this year. The attorneys want 30%.”
- In Nashville TN, “Vanderbilt Law School’s Social Justice Reporter, a new student-edited legal journal, will publish this fall and focus on social justice, civil rights and public interest lawyering by leading researchers, practitioners, policymakers and law students.”
- In New York NY, “[c]laiming that a vote in support for the Boycott Divestment Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel by faculty at the City University of New York (CUNY) School of Law “makes clear that Israeli students and faculty members are not welcome to work with, attend or work for” the school, a complaint has been filed with the city and state.”
Access to Justice – Civil & Economic
- In California, “[a] group of tenant advocates and attorneys today launched a tool they hope will change [outcomes in eviction proceedings.] More than 50 tenant advocates and attorneys from The Debt Collective, The LA Tenants Union, The Anti-Eviction Mapping Project, UCLA Luskin Institute on Inequality & Democracy and the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment worked on the “Tenant Power Toolkit” over the last two years — a mostly volunteer effort, explains Hannah Appel, an anthropology professor at UCLA who came up with the idea based on her work as a co-founder of the Debt Collective.”
- In Dallas County TX, “when lawyers from the [] Dallas Eviction Advocacy Center show up, [tenants] win 97% of the time. The pro bono team possesses no superpowers, but it’s [sic] susses out what juices the eviction process. The landlords’ longtime gamble — knowing that fewer than 3% of tenants show up with legal representation — is that the odds are in their favor to cut corners, fudge facts and pull off unlawful maneuvers.”
Access to Justice – Criminal
- In Maine, “Superior Court Justice Michaela Murphy granted the ACLU of Maine’s request for class certification [in] a lawsuit filed against Maine officials that alleges they failed to create an effective public defense system.”
- In New Hampshire, “[t]he state Supreme Court, New Hampshire Judicial Council, and New Hampshire Public Defender program say it’s critical the state increase the hourly rates and caps on payments and make permanent the temporary pay raises public defenders received.”
- In Wisconsin, “thousands of men and women across Wisconsin [wait months for representation] due to overworked and understaffed public defenders [in a] growing caseload crisis.”
- In Boundary County ID, “[p]ublic officials from both Bonner and Boundary counties met to discuss the first draft of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for a potential joint public defenders office for the two counties.”
- In Helena MT, “[t]he Montana Supreme Court has vacated a District Court contempt order against the Office of State Public Defender and ruled that OPD met the standards of Montana law when assigning public defenders. In September, Billings Judge Donald Harris held OPD Director Rhonda Lindquist and her office in contempt after learning more than 600 defendants were without assigned legal representation in Yellowstone County.”
- In Santa Cruz CA, “New Santa Cruz County Public Defender Heather Rogers is aiming to offer a legal experience to the county’s least wealthy that allows them to experience the same “boutique” legal experience as those with ample financial means.”
- In New Orleans LA, “[a]fter almost 14 years of defending the poor in the state’s busiest courthouse…the city’s chief public defender, Derwyn Bunton, is stepping down.”
Criminal Justice Reform and Counter-Reform
- In San Francisco CA, “[j]ust two weeks after replacing San Francisco’s progressive district attorney Chesa Boudin, DA Brooke Jenkins is taking heat for a mass firing which many attorneys say is throwing the office into chaos.”
- Meanwhile, “[a]mid a hiring and firing spree, San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins announced the appointment of several key leaders on Tuesday, including a new head of the bureau that investigates police shootings…replac[ing] Lateef Gray, who was fired by Jenkins. Gray was a longtime public defender and civil rights attorney known for suing police before [recalled DA] Boudin appointed him to the position.”
- The San Francisco Chronicle evaluated DA Jenkins’ approach to her new role: “[a] week into her new job, Jenkins’ public engagements, political stance, and early personnel decisions offer a glimpse of that vision and the kind of district attorney she envisions being: Someone a loan to bring back cash bail, charge minors as adults, revoke plea deals that could prevent immigrants from being deported, and support the expansion of police surveillance, all to ensure that the San Franciscans feel sure. Jenkins likes to say she’s progressive, but is she?”
- In Los Angeles CA, Politico examined the effort to recall District Attorney Gascón: “Gascón moved quickly after he was sworn in. He ended cash bail for misdemeanors and non-violent felonies. He told his deputy district attorneys not to seek the death penalty anymore, to never try juveniles as adults, to stop prosecuting people for first-time non-violent misdemeanors, and to stop using so-called sentencing enhancements, which allow prosecutors to pile on jail time. And he did all of that on his first day in office. Then came the backlash.”
- In Harrisburg PA, “Republicans and Democrats in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives announced a new committee this week devoted to examining rising crime rates in Philadelphia, hinting toward the recommended impeachment of District Attorney Larry Krasner (D-PA).”
- In Passaic County NJ, “[County P]rosecutor Camelia M. Valdes has run afoul of rank-and-file police officers, who are calling for her resignation after a new policy that requires cops to notify their departments anytime they’re involved in a motor vehicle accident in the county that causes injuries.”
- In Columbus OH, “[o]ne of the special prosecutors who had pursued criminal charges against three members of the Columbus Division of Police for their conduct in the 2020 racial justice protests has resigned, according to the Columbus City Attorney’s Office.”
- In New York, “the day that the Supreme Court struck down New York state’s strict gun control laws, a coalition of public defender organizations released a joint statement calling on the Legislature to craft new gun laws that would avoid the mistakes of the old…The Legislature and Gov. Kathy Hochul did respond with sweeping new gun control legislation that was signed into law. However, it wasn’t what some public defenders and others were hoping for, prompting private complaints that the new laws did not respond to old concerns and would fuel mass incarceration.”
- In Spokane County WA, “County Prosecutor Larry Haskell…is facing three challengers, including current and former employees who object to his leadership.”
- In Washington DC, “[p]resident Joe Biden plans to propose a steep funding increase for police, hoping to show that Democrats are serious about combating violent crime, despite the move potentially causing backlash from top members of his party’s left flank. But a scheduled trip to Pennsylvania to ask Congress to spend roughly $37 billion for fighting and preventing crime was canceled Thursday when Biden tested positive for COVID-19.”