PSJD Public Interest News Digest – February 3, 2023
Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives
Hello, interested public!
Another blockbuster news week, coming to you just under the wire (east coast time). Beyond this week’s focus, Amazon announced the end of their AmazonSmile program, leaving many nonprofits looking for additional sources of revenue. The ABA, the National Center for State Courts, and the RAND Corporation teased the results of their forthcoming study of new national public defender workload standards. Oh, and the Biden Administration’s decision to end the public health emergency in March may compromise its ability to offer student loan forgiveness. As always, these stories and more are in the links below.
Take care of one another,
Sam
Editor’s Focus
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On January 29th, 2023, “[t]he Memphis Police Department announced Saturday that it was disbanding the specialized unit whose officers stopped and beat [Tyre] Nichols on Jan. 7. Nichols died in the hospital three days later.”
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On January 26th, 2023, Memphis Mayor Jim Strictland delivered a speech praising the city’s Scorpion unit: “At the end of last year, Chief Davis created the Street Crimes Operation to Restore Peace in Our Neighborhoods Unit (SCORPION). This unit addresses violent crimes such as homicides, aggravated assaults, robberies, and carjackings that occur throughout the city. The teams will also address motor vehicle thefts, theft from motor vehicles, and other felony offenses…Since its inception last October through January 23, 2022, the Scorpion Unit has had a total of 566 arrests—390 of them felony arrests. They have seized over $103,000 in cash, 270 vehicles, and 253 weapons.”
Student Loans & Student Debt
Non-Profit & Government Management & Hiring
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Also in the United States, “[a] group of 28 foundation leaders on Monday called on their peers to make a long-lasting commitment to support Black-led racial-justice organizations following the police killing of Tyre Nichols in Memphis.”
Access to Justice – Civil & Economic
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In the Midwest, WSIU News published a comprehensive look at the eviction crisis, its collateral consequences, and potential solutions being explored by governments and nonprofits: “[w]ith the end of pandemic-era housing support like eviction moratoriums and federal rental assistance, many Midwesterners face housing insecurity…Federal and state lawmakers have proposed a variety of policy solutions to combat evictions, including new tenant protections and expanding emergency rental assistance programs.”
Access to Justice – Criminal
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In Waco TX, the Waco Tribune-Herald wrote about an “upcoming ‘watershed’ moment in public defense”: “Longtime civil rights lawyer Stephen Hanlon[‘s] law firm, Lawyer Hanlon, partnered with the American Bar Association, the National Center for State Courts and the public policy research RAND Corporation to develop new national public defender workload standards expected in February…The standards will be the first in the nation to prove with reliable data the extent to which public defenders are overworked, Hanlon said. They will be based on public defender workload studies in 17 states. Two of those studies revealed Oregon and New Mexico have about a third of the public defenders needed to provide adequate representation to everyone accused of crimes.”
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Relatedly, the Tribune-Herald also reported on how “[s]taff shortages and decades of underfunding have created public defense systems crises across the West. Public defenders say they’re unable to serve clients effectively as they grapple with crushing caseloads, few resources, burnout, student debt and low pay.”
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In Helena MT, the Independent Record published an expose of power dynamics that affect public defenders’ ability to zealously represent their clients: “[j]udges or elected officials in many counties nationwide have full oversight over public defense, a structure that can lead to “subtle pressure” on public defenders to avoid using many county resources or making motions that agitate a judge. Attorneys rarely are removed or dismissed in retaliation, though fear of that can weaken the defense…That power structure in California, Texas, Arizona and Idaho prevents attorney access to necessary resources, including investigators and expert witnesses…[One attorney] felt ‘disincentivized’ because judges have the power to not assign cases to court-appointed attorneys, though in 20 years Texas Panhandle judges never took away her cases. The structure created ‘subtle pressure’ to avoid questioning judges or filing motions that would ‘offend’ judges, she said[:] ‘If they chose to black ball you, they could[.]’”