Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives

Hello, interested public!

As the federal government continues to duke it out over the debt ceiling, a default on U.S. debt looms imminently. The House also made a drastic move to overturn Biden’s student loan cancellation plan, while we continue to await the Supreme Court’s ruling on the same issue. Also in the news this week: more state laws regarding transgender rights and the impending immigration crisis now that Title 42 has expired.

As always, these stories and more are in the links below.

Happy reading,

Brittany

Editor’s Choice

• In Florida, “Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) cleared his own path to keep his current position while running for president, signing a bill that will allow him to remain as governor while being a presidential candidate.”

• In Montana, “Gov. Greg Gianforte has signed legislation giving Native American families preference in fostering and adopting Native children involved with child protective services, a proactive move to protect such rights as the U.S. Supreme Court considers a case that could undercut them nationally.”

Supreme Court Ethics Concerns

• In the United States, “[a]pproval of the Supreme Court is declining, according to a poll by Marquette Law School. The poll found approval of the high court stands at 41%, with 59% disapproving. That is a 6% decline since January.”

• According to Axios, “U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts said Tuesday night he wanted to assure people that he's ‘committed to making certain that we as a court adhere to the highest standards of conduct.’…Roberts did not outline in his speech at the American Law Institute's annual dinner what measures he was looking into and nor did he address the potential ethical issues surrounding the court or calls for an ethics code.”

  • However, according to Bloomberg Law, “Justice Elena Kagan noted, buried in the court’s May 22 orders list denying review of hundreds of cases, that she was recusing herself from acting on a petition in a capital case, which the rest of the court denied….Kagan took what may be one small step in the road to transparency, albeit a guarded and somewhat opaque one.”

First Amendment Concerns

• In Montana, a “new law, which Gianforte signed on Monday, defines drag performers as ‘a male or female performer who adopts a flamboyant or parodic feminine persona with glamorous or exaggerated costumes and makeup.’ When it was first introduced, journalist and transgender rights activist Erin Reed pointed out that the measure could affect glam rock, wrestling, and even performances by Dolly Parton.”

• In Oklahoma, “[h]arassment lawsuits that target the free-speech activities of Oklahomans could become more common under a bill sent to the governor. The legislation would weaken an existing state law that provides significant financial sanctions for individuals or entities that file frivolous harassment lawsuits to financially harm individuals engaged in free-speech activity.”

• In Texas, “[a] push to inject religion into public schools across Texas faltered on Tuesday after the State House failed to pass a contentious bill that would have required the Ten Commandments to be displayed prominently in every classroom.”

Eye on AI & Other Legal Technology

• In the European Union, “OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said on Wednesday the ChatGPT maker might consider leaving Europe if it could not comply with the upcoming artificial intelligence (AI) regulations by the European Union. The EU is working on what could be the first set of rules globally to govern AI. As part of the draft, companies deploying generative AI tools, such as ChatGPT, will have to disclose any copyrighted material used to develop their systems.”

  • Relatedly, “Tech companies have grown secretive about what they feed the AI. So The Washington Post set out to analyze one of these data sets to fully reveal the types of proprietary, personal, and often offensive websites that go into an AI’s training data….Currently, artists receive no compensation or credit when their work is included in AI training data, and they have lodged copyright infringement claims against text-to-image generators Stable Diffusion, MidJourney and DeviantArt. The Post’s analysis suggests more legal challenges may be on the way: The copyright symbol — which denotes a work registered as intellectual property — appears more than 200 million times in the C4 data set.”

• The National Law Review reports that “the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued two guidance documents addressing AI in the HR context, specifically tackling the issues of adverse impact and disability accommodations.”

  • Relatedly, “[a]s AI is more common in our day-to-day lives, we have seen it make mistakes and replicate human shortcomings. For many it came as a surprise when AI hiring algorithms appeared to replicate human biases as well. If you are an employer using AI hiring algorithms, you may be at risk of liability under federal law.”

• In Florida, “[a] new first-of-its-kind app and companion website, called FosterPower, provide foster youth with comprehensive but easy-to-understand information about their rights to mental health care, education and legal protections.”

Student Loans & Student Debt

• In Washington, D.C., “House Republicans passed a resolution on Wednesday that would overturn President Joe Biden’s student loan cancellation plan, but the White House has vowed to veto it and the plan remains on hold as the Supreme Court considers its fate.”

  • Relatedly, “[a]lthough Republicans were responsible for the bill, two Democrats, Jared Golden of Maine and Marie Gluesenkamp Pérez of Washington State, joined Republicans in voting for it. According to a letter signed by 260 organizations, the bill, should it become law, would also retroactively add interest onto the student loan repayments that were paused during the Covid pandemic.”

• Also in Washington, D.C., “[s]ome conservative lawmakers don't want Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy to make any compromises with President Joe Biden on the debt ceiling — even with a default potentially eight days away.”

  • Relatedly, “[a] U.S. default on its debt would have a significantly broader impact on federal operations, financial markets and the global economy than recent government shutdowns that have left ordinary Americans largely untouched….A default would potentially reduce payments that keep millions of households afloat, as well as payments to states and providers for health care for elderly and low-income Americans.”

Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity

• In the United States, “[a]t least 17 states have enacted laws restricting or banning gender-affirming care for transgender minors, though judges have temporarily blocked their enforcement in some, including Arkansas. An Associated Press analysis found that often those bills sprang not from grassroots or constituent demand, but from the pens of a handful of conservative interest groups.”

• In Arizona, “[l]ess than a dozen trans students in the entire state have asked to play on girl’s sports teams’ in the past decade, but Republican Superintendent Tom Horne said that girls across the state are facing unfair competition, which is why he is vehemently defending Arizona’s trans athlete ban.”

• In Florida, “[t]he parents of three transgender children in Florida are trying to get a federal judge to block a new law that bans gender-affirming care for minors….”

• In Minnesota, “[a] new law establishes Minnesota as a ‘trans refuge state,’ and as other states pass bans on gender-affirming care, Minneapolis nonprofit Avenues for Youth says it's fielding more calls from transgender youth who are coming to Minnesota for care and need a place to stay. It’s asking Minnesotans to help by hosting them.”

• In Montana, “Gov. Greg Gianforte’s office announced Saturday that the Republican governor has signed into law Senate Bill 458, legislation that inserts binary, reproduction-based definitions of ‘male,’ ‘female’ and ‘sex’ into dozens of parts of state code.”

• In North Carolina, “[a] Catholic school teacher fired due to his same-gender marriage will have his discrimination lawsuit heard by a U.S. Court of Appeals soon.”

Reproductive Rights

• In Connecticut, “[m]edical providers in Connecticut who face disciplinary action in other states for performing abortions could not be denied a license, have their license revoked, or be denied privileges here based solely on their out-of-state sanctions under a bill that cleared the General Assembly’s House last week.”

• In Nebraska, “[t]he governor of Nebraska joined a number of conservative US states in limiting women's rights to choose by signing a 12-week abortion ban into law.”

Environmental Crisis

• In the United States, “[a]s part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced that applications are open for the Renew America’s Nonprofits grant, a funding opportunity that will support projects to reduce energy use in buildings owned and operated by 501(c)(3) nonprofits.”

• In Florida, “Florida’s environment will suffer ‘irreparable damage’ under a new law Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed on Wednesday that opponents say will financially discourage regular folks from challenging proposals to change local rules that limit the size and scope of new developments.”

• In New York, “[the] State Assembly unanimously passed a bill aimed at increasing protections for the state’s community gardens. The bill, which has already unanimously passed the Senate, now awaits Governor Hochul’s signature.”

• In Washington, D.C., “[t]he Supreme Court sided against the Environmental Protection Agency in a case over what constitutes a wetland. In doing so, the court reduced the EPA's authority to regulate water pollution under the Clean Water Act, passed more than 50 years ago. The decision could impact what happens to wetlands across the country.”

Immigration & Refugee Issues

• In California, following up on our previous coverage, “[t]he University of California on Thursday took a first step toward allowing the hiring of undocumented students for jobs across the 10-campus system, a move that follows months of pleas from those students. The action by the system’s board of regents Thursday does not immediately authorize the employment of undocumented students. Instead, UC plans to create a working group, proposed by President Michael V. Drake, that will spend the next six months considering the proposal.”

• In Florida, “[a] group of Chinese citizens is suing Florida over a new law that bans them from buying property in parts of the state….The law prohibits citizens of the specified countries from owning property within 10 miles of military installations. Those that already own property as restricted by the new law must register with the state or face fines.”

• In Boston, MA, “Mayor Michelle Wu and the Mayor’s Office for Immigrant Advancement (MOIA) today announced that the City is awarding $711,000 in grants to 15 nonprofits to expand access to immigration services.”

• In Nevada, “[a] federal appeals court has ruled that a U.S. deportation law that fueled family separations at the southern border is ‘neutral as to race,’ striking down an unprecedented Nevada ruling that had determined it was racist and unconstitutional.”

• In New York, “Onondaga County and the Town of Salina continue to insist they have the legal grounds to prevent a large number of migrants from settling in the community. But it’s still not clear if, when, or how many asylum seekers are being sent here from New York City.”

Disability Rights

• In Wisconsin, “[t]he state Department of Public Instruction says it has no legal authority to force private taxpayer-funded schools to accommodate students with disabilities[.]”

Non-Profit & Government Management & Hiring

• In Canada, “[o]ver 100,000 federal public servants who belong to the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) exercised their right to strike in April. The federal government responded to this pressure tactic by offering its employees the option of continuing to do their jobs by teleworking.”

• In the United States, “[t]he imminent resumption of the requirement for employers to physically inspect the I-9s of remote employees is causing whiplash among some employers. They worry about the revived mandate's cost and inconvenience, despite the possibility of using a third-party representative to examine work authorization documents.”

• In Massachusetts, “[a] federal judge will next week hear a case, brought by a federal employee union, on the constitutionality of the debt ceiling structure and the impact it could have on civil servants, potentially providing a last-minute opening to avoid a catastrophic default.”

• In Nebraska, “The United States Attorney’s Office will add three additional federal prosecutors, with one focusing on violent crime, another handling government fraud, and the third leading the office’s eLitigation program.”

Access to Justice – Civil & Economic

• In Indiana, “[t]he Indiana State Bar Association has launched an online Indiana Pro Bono Academy to provide an entry point for Hoosier attorneys who want to do pro bono work.”

• In Montana, “[t]he Montana Legal Services Association has started…[t]he Rural Incubator Program for Lawyers creates a way for new attorneys to start their careers by helping connect them to rural clients with pro-bono and reduced-rate services.”

• In Jersey City, NJ, following up on our previous reports, “[t]he Jersey City Council passed two amended ordinances for right to counsel on first reading at last night’s meeting, which saw a few dozen residents speak in favor of the proposal.”

• In Oklahoma City, OK, “[a] new Right to Counsel Eviction Help pilot program has been launched in Oklahoma City, aimed at providing legal information, assistance and representation to tenants as soon as they are at risk of eviction.”

Access to Justice – Criminal

• In Contra Costa, CA, following up on our past coverage, “[t]he Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a $5.515 billion budget for fiscal year 2023-24, including more money for the district attorney's and public defender's offices to handle cases related to the Antioch police scandal.”

  • Relatedly, a Superior Court “judge found proof of racial bias and racism in the charging decisions by the D.A.'s office.”

• In Lake County, CA, “[t]he Board of Supervisors is continuing to move to create a public defender program and will consider a draft proposal on the process from a consultant this week.”

• In Colorado, “[t]wo men incarcerated for sex offenses, who have been moved around to various facilities where they were unable to participate in legally required treatment, may sue Colorado corrections officials for violating their constitutional rights, a federal judge ruled this week.”

• In Indiana, “Youth and their families can be charged for costs such as having a public defender, being placed in residential treatment or being detained in a Department of Correction facility. Costs vary for each child, but the payments can be significant – totaling hundreds or even thousands of dollars. Under current Indiana law, the court presumes that parents are able to pay these costs. Now, HEA 1493 will place the burden on the courts to prove that families are able to pay the fees. It also removes the obligation to pay for a public defender.”

• In Massachusetts, “Rachael Rollins, the George Soros-backed rogue U.S. attorney for the District of Massachusetts, announced earlier this week that she is resigning as the chief federal prosecutor for the Bay State.”

  • Relatedly, “Biden's DOJ has decided not to charge Rachael Rollins after evidence found her guilty of election interference, raising concerns about a double standard in the criminal justice system.”

• In St. Louis County, Missouri, following up on our previous coverage, “Republican Missouri Gov. Mike Parson on Friday named Gabe Gore, a former assistant U.S. attorney, as the new chief prosecutor in St. Louis, three days after Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner's sudden departure.”

• In Queens, NY, grand jurors received “substantive instructions” from court officers, “a duty reserved only for prosecutors and the judges who are supposed to oversee them[,]” which “could have tainted the grand jury’s decisions in roughly three dozen cases they heard over four weeks in January.”

• In Marion County, OR, “[a]…deputy district attorney referred to a criminal defendant as a ‘drunk Hispanic guy’ in a discussion with the man’s lawyer, leading the county’s top prosecutor to dismiss the case later that day, according to the defense lawyer and public records.”

Prosecutor & Public Defender Office Hiring Crises

• In DeSoto County, MS, “[j]oined by Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, DeSoto County District Attorney Bob Morris highlighted recent passage of legislation that has added three assistant district attorneys….House Bill 834 adds one additional permanent prosecutor in each of 14 judicial districts, including DeSoto County. Another bill, House Bill 603, provided DeSoto County with $275,000 to fund two more ADAs.”

• In Oregon, “Gov. Tina Kotek is asking a state legislative panel for changes to a Senate bill that would address a constitutional crisis that has left thousands of people accused of crimes without attorneys. Kotek’s letter comes after lawmakers and policy experts have spent over than a year crafting the legislation, Oregon Public Broadcasting reported. Some public defense leaders say Kotek’s request for the changes would force them to oppose a bill they otherwise support.”

• In Wisconsin, “Brown County leaders want the state of Wisconsin to reimburse the county for $256,585 it paid to hire public defenders and to provide other legal help for dozens of criminal defendants in 2022.”

Criminal Justice Reform and Counter-Reform

• In the United States, “[t]here were a record 238 exonerations in 2022, according to a database maintained by the National Registry of Exonerations.”

• Also in the United States, “[t]he Homeland Security Department released on Tuesday its first-ever policy on body worn cameras, which will apply across the department’s 80,000 law enforcement officers. The new policy comes in accordance with an executive order President Biden issued last May to increase accountability in policing on the two-year anniversary of George Floyd’s murder by a police officer and subsequent protests for racial justice.”

• In Allegheny County, PA, “[o]n May 17, Chief Public Defender Matt Dugan defeated long-term Allegheny County District Attorney Steve Zappala in the Democratic primary for top prosecutor, winning 56 percent of the vote on a decarceration platform.”

Public Safety

• In the United States, Tech Policy Press reports that “144 different bills, spanning 43 states,…were introduced in 2023 and specifically attempt to protect children from various harms on the Internet.”

• In Colorado, a weapons startup “launched its so-called ‘smart gun’ last month…The weapon will fire normally as long as the user's fingerprint or face is stored in its memory banks. For anyone else, the company says, the gun is little more than a paperweight.”

• In Kentucky, “[h]igh-end weapons detection systems that use AI technology are gaining popularity with school boards wanting to protect their students, but they come at a high cost and a lack of transparency.”

• In Michigan, “Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Monday signed ‘red flag’ legislation into law, making Michigan the 21st state to enact a law designed to prevent people posing a risk to themselves or others from possessing a gun.”

• In Minnesota, “Gov. Tim Walz (D) signed two gun safety initiatives into law on Friday that will establish universal background checks and a process for temporarily removing firearms from those who imminently pose a threat to themselves or others.”

• In Ohio, “[s]tate lawmakers are considering a bill its Republican sponsors say will protect Ohio gun owners from federal laws and policies that they think go too far. The bill would declare Ohio a ‘Second Amendment sanctuary state’ to encourage police not to enforce federal gun control measures.”

  • Relatedly, “[o]pponents throughout the law enforcement community contend those changes would be disastrous. Not only would it threaten participation in federal task forces, it would also hamper investigations by closing off access to federal databases like one tracking ballistics….Easily the biggest sticking point is a provision that seemingly restricts local agencies from hiring former federal employees.”

Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives

Hello, interested public!

Lots of moves have been made to either promote or hinder criminal justice reform. And we’ve added a new section for First Amendment Concerns as new issues continue to pop up, mostly related to free speech on the internet. We’ve also expanded our section on AI to include other emerging technologies.

As always, these stories and more are in the links below.

Happy reading,

Brittany

Editor’s Choice

• In New York City, NY, “Bronx Defenders and Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP filed two lawsuits Thursday against New York City's Administration for Children's Services, accusing the agency of discriminating against parents of color in its child removal decisions.”

Supreme Court Ethics Concerns

• According to Business Insider, “Jane Sullivan Roberts, the wife of Chief Justice John G. Roberts, played a key role in helping her husband secure a spot on the Supreme Court nearly twenty years before the court overturned Roe v. Wade thanks to conservative power players who heralded her anti-abortion advocacy as evidence that the now top justice was the right man for the job.”

First Amendment Concerns

• In the United States, “Internal emails show that the U.S. Marshals Service received regular alerts from Dataminr, a company that persistently monitors social media for corporate and government clients, about the precise time and location of both ongoing and planned abortion rights demonstrations.”

• In Montana, “[a] diverse group of Montana TikTok creators with hundreds of thousands of followers sued to challenge the first statewide ban of the popular app, arguing the law violates free-speech rights and will disrupt their livelihoods.”

• In Washington, D.C., “during oral arguments last month before the U.S. Supreme Court in the true-threats case of Counterman v. Colorado, several conservative justices…voiced skepticism about letting jurors use a reasonable-person standard to decide when statements constitute threats of violence unprotected by the First Amendment. As The Hill reported, they fretted that today’s reasonable person, as envisioned by jurors, may be ‘too hypersensitive’ and thus might wrongly find threats where none exist.”

Eye on AI & Other Legal Technology

• In the United States, “Employers using or thinking about using artificial intelligence (AI) to aid with workplace tasks received another reminder from the federal government that their actions will be closely scrutinized by the EEOC for possible employment discrimination violations.”

• Also in the United States, “According to research conducted by North Carolina State University, American law enforcement agencies who use AI for predictive policing, facial recognition, and gunshot detection have insufficient understanding of AI and its limitations when employing AI technology in their line of work.”

• In Virginia, “William and Mary Law School’s McGlothlin Courtroom is equipped with a hologram machine that is being tested for its use in virtual witness testimony.”

• In Washington, D.C., “OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has sounded his fears about AI-powered election interference, telling a congressional hearing on Tuesday that the technology needs to be regulated to protect voting integrity.”

  • Likewise, “‘GPT-4 is more likely to respond helpfully and truthfully, and refuse harmful requests, than any other widely deployed model of similar capability,’ Altman said on Tuesday. ‘However, we think that regulatory intervention by governments will be critical to mitigate the risks of increasingly powerful models,’ he added, suggesting the adoption of licenses or safety requirements necessary for the operation of AI models.”

• Also in Washington, D.C., “Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., introduced a bill Thursday requiring certain federal agencies to assign a senior official to oversee the use of emerging technology.”

Student Loans & Student Debt

• In the United States, “the U.S. Department of Education (Department) released proposed regulations to establish the strongest set of safeguards ever to protect students from unaffordable debt or insufficient earnings from career training programs, along with new measures to increase transparency across all postsecondary programs.”

• A new study from the National Bureau of Economic Research revealed that “[t]he decision to freeze student loan payments in 2020 as part of the response to COVID-19 may have actually led some households to take on more debt.”

• In California, “[p]art of a slate of budget bills signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom earlier this week is legislation exempting Californians from paying income taxes on forgiven federal student loans and some pandemic-era emergency grants.”

Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity

• In the United States, LGBTA+ students face institutional barriers to receiving financial aid if their “parents still have no intention of signing the [FAFSA] paperwork or helping them pay for college.”

• In Florida, “Governor Ron DeSantis signed a horrifying bill Wednesday that will let the state take transgender minors away from their families if they are receiving gender-affirming care.”

• In Jackson County, MO, “Officials in Missouri's largest city approved a resolution Thursday to declare it a sanctuary for people seeking or providing gender-affirming care, defying state lawmakers who voted a day earlier to ban such care for minors and restrict it for some adults.”

Reproductive Rights

• In the United States, “[a] daily oral contraceptive called Opill might soon be available over the counter, which would mark a huge move in making birth control accessible during a time of legal battles over reproductive health.”

• In Florida, “…Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill requiring public lactation spaces in Florida courthouses.”

• In Michigan, “…residents can’t be fired or otherwise discriminated against by employers for getting an abortion under legislation signed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer Wednesday.”

• In Washington, D.C., “[a] federal employee group within the Justice Department on Wednesday called on House Democrats to fight to eliminate a long-running ban on federal funds being spent on abortion services, citing the negative impact the policy has on federal workers.”

Environmental Crisis

• In Canada, “…the Honourable Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, launched the Conservation Exchange Pilot, an innovative, science-based initiative designed to enable more conservation work in Canada.”

• In Montana, “…Gov. Greg Gianforte has signed into law a bill that bars the state from considering climate impacts in its analysis of large projects such as coal mines and power plants.”

Immigration & Refugee Issues

• In California, following up on last week’s coverage, “[t]he University of California regents, saying they support an equitable education for all, unanimously agreed Thursday to find a pathway to enact a bold policy to hire students who lack legal status and work permits.”

Disability Rights

• In California, “four law school graduates with disabilities have filed a group complaint with the United States Department of Justice against the State Bar of California for consistently violating the Americans with Disabilities Act by failing to provide accommodations on the California bar exam.”

• In Chicago, IL, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois “granted summary judgment on claims that the City of Chicago discriminated against blind and low vision pedestrians under federal disability rights laws by failing to install accessible pedestrian signals (APS) at signalized intersections.”

• In Texas, “Obesity may in itself be considered a disability by Texas courts under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Texas Commission on Human Rights Act even absent evidence of an underlying health condition.”

Employment Rights

• In Nunavut, Canada, “[a]n arbitrator has ruled that the Government of Nunavut’s and federal government’s plans to increase Inuit employment in the public sector don’t comply with the Nunavut Agreement.”

• In Illinois, the “legislature passed Senate Bill 1515 (the “Amendment”), which would amend the Illinois Right to Privacy in the Workplace Act (820 ILCS § 55) to mandate a specified process employers would need to follow if they choose to take an adverse employment action against an employee after receiving notice from any Employment Eligibility Verification Systems, including E-Verify, of a discrepancy between an employee’s name or social security number. The Amendment would also grant employees certain rights and protections if any such discrepancies arise.”

Non-Profit & Government Management & Hiring

• In the United States, “[f]ederal agencies would not be able to consider a job applicant’s salary history when setting pay for certain offers of employment under new regulations proposed by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.”

Access to Justice – Civil & Economic

• In Georgia, “[t]he State Bar of Georgia’s Access to Justice Committee has launched a new technology platform to help connect Georgia lawyers to more pro bono opportunities, the bar announced May 15.”

• In Iowa, “[t]he Iowa Supreme Court has approved $681,345 in grants to non-profit programs that provide legal assistance to low-income Iowans with civil legal problems.”

• In Jefferson County, KY, Gerina Whethers has been appointed as the commonwealth’s attorney for Jackson County. “She is the first Black woman to serve in this post in Jefferson County.”

• In Baltimore County, MD, “Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski announced that Baltimore County will receive an additional $1.1 million in rental assistance funding to prevent evictions and further support residents.”

• In Westchester, NY, “…the county Board of Legislators unanimously passed an ‘Access to Counsel’ bill to guarantee legal representation to low-income households facing eviction.”

• In Multnomah County, OR, following up on last week’s coverage, “Multnomah County residents on Tuesday night voted down a measure that would have levied a capital gains tax to fund lawyers for tenants facing eviction.”

• In Washington, D.C., “Brad Garcia, a former O’Melveny & Myers partner, was confirmed as the first Latino to serve on the US Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.”

Access to Justice – Criminal

• In Contra Costa County, CA, following up on previous coverage, “Antioch police last Wednesday pledged to support the state attorney general's civil investigation into their department, following allegations that officers there shared bigoted text messages and engaged in other misconduct.”

• In Georgia, according to District Attorney Alena Cook Jones, the Prosecutorial Oversight Bill “is designed to keep reform-minded prosecutors in line by constraining their prosecutorial discretion. Moreover, it is another tool certain politicians use to silence voters, keep them out of decisions about our criminal legal system, and undermine our democracy.”

• In Chatham County, GA, “[t]he Chatham County jail changed its rules on attorneys visiting clients who are locked up after the public defender’s office cried foul that they couldn’t get reasonable access to their indigent clients.”

• In Michigan, “[s]tate lawmakers are considering bills that would stop anyone under the age of 19 from receiving a sentence of life without parole when convicted of first-degree murder.”

• In Macomb County, “[a]n assistant Macomb County prosecutor has asked the state Supreme Court last week to set 100 miles as the standard of a released prisoner to reside away from their victim.”

• In Washington State, a “bill set to aid in the protection of victims of domestic violence will be signed into law by Washington Gov. Jay Inslee Monday.”

Prosecutor & Public Defender Office Hiring Crises

• In Colorado, “[m]ore than 500 employees in the Office of the Colorado State Public Defender signed a petition this spring raising concerns about how a $16 million wage increase will be divvied up among workers. The 546 petitioners worry that some employees will remain underpaid even while managers and administrators receive raises….”

• In Dacano, CO, “[i]mmediately after the Dacono City Council voted 4 -1 to hire Rick Samson as interim city attorney this week, the Longmont-based lawyer turned down the offer….’What we are not willing to do is to work for a divided council,’ Samson said during Wednesday’s council meeting. ‘I’m too old to deal with that.’”

• In Florida, “[t]he First Judicial Circuit's state attorney and public defender asked the Florida legislature for a $15,000 increase in attorney salaries to prevent high turnover and growing caseloads, but the new state appropriations for the next fiscal year won't provide for that.”

• In Georgia, following up on our previous coverage, “[a]n attorney who’s serving as a public defender in the YSL trial has received a pay raise….The low wages shed light on the issues faced by public defenders and low-income defendants who seek a fair trial….The GPDC has since agreed to increase their pay from a measly $15K salary to $55K.”

• In Chatham County, GA, Former Assistant District Attorney Anthony Burton has filed a civil lawsuit against former Assistant District Attorney Michael Edwards claiming “he was terminated, in part, because of his sexual preference and in retaliation for sending a text message to colleagues about staffing shortages in the DA's office.”

• In Hancock County, IN, “Prosecutor Brent Eaton reiterated to the Hancock County Council this week that his department is in a bit of predicament. Using state records to support his point, Eaton said that not only does his department need more than standard raises, but it is also in need of more employees. That’s something county officials say cannot be addressed all at once or as fast as Eaton would like.”

• In St. Louis County, MO, following up on our previous coverage, “[e]mbattled St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner, who this month announced she would resign effective June 1, said Tuesday she is leaving office immediately, ending a turbulent tenure marked by frequent criticism, especially from Missouri’s Republican leaders.”

• In Grand Forks County, ND, “[a]s an integral part of the system, the Grand Forks County public defender’s office handles roughly 800 cases per year, according to Ogren. Caseloads are ‘always an issue,’ Ogren said. There are only three full-time attorneys employed at the agency.”

• In New York City, NY, “Adams administration officials dodged questions over potential raises and staffing shortages for public defenders during a budget hearing on Wednesday. Advocates say the status quo could be disastrous for low-income New Yorkers embroiled in the city’s criminal justice system.”

• In Franklin County, OH, “[s]taff attorneys in the Franklin County Public Defender’s office announced Thursday they are forming a union to address stagnant wages and high caseloads.”

• In Allegheny County, PA, “[f]or nearly two decades, Allegheny County courts have capped pay to appointed defense lawyers at levels most local attorneys consider unjust. Rates may be rising, but will it be enough to give the accused fair representation?”

• In Chesterfield County, VA, “[a]s public defenders in Chesterfield County grapple with overwhelming caseloads, staffing challenges and pay gaps, the office has requested relief from the court in order to work through a backlog of cases.”

• In Wisconsin, “[l]awmakers on the Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee advanced a proposal Tuesday to include significant pay raises for county prosecutors and public defenders in the state’s next budget to bolster Wisconsin’s criminal justice system.”

Criminal Justice Reform and Counter-Reform

• In Canada, “[a] Saskatchewan legal aid lawyer says the federal government’s proposed bail reform is a knee-jerk reaction that fails to address the real underlying problems related to why people are re-offending while out on bail.”

• In Arkansas, “[a]n overhaul of Arkansas' parole system is expected by some defense attorneys to lead to more criminal cases going to trial, an outcome that would increase workloads for court-appointed attorneys already managing caseloads above national standards.”

• In California, “[t]he California Workforce Development Board (CWDB) is pleased to announce the Helping Justice-Involved Reenter Employment (HIRE) initiative. HIRE is a new funding opportunity for community-based organizations (CBOs) and other nonprofit organizations to provide employment services to justice-involved individuals.”

• Also in California, “[a]n appellate court has revived a lawsuit challenging the Orange County district attorney’s unregulated DNA program, which offers leniency to low-level defendants who ‘volunteer’ to give their genetic material.”

• Also also in California, “Senate Bill 731, passed last fall, makes California the first state in the nation to allow people to permanently expunge old convictions on their criminal records.”

• In Los Angeles, CA, “Los Angeles’ Neighborhood Prosecutor program may not be the most well-known arm of city government, but it has for many years been one of the most popular at the grass roots level, where it has helped neighbors all across the city deal with ‘the most destructive community crimes like drug sales, illegal dumping, graffiti and more.’ For the last few weeks, however, the Buzz has been hearing from people in several areas that our Neighborhood Prosecutors are being reassigned by City Attorney Heidi Feldstein Soto to other duties…and many are not happy about the news.”

• In Yolo County, CA, “…the California Board of Community Corrections approved a grant of $2,145,000 over the course of three years that will go toward the Yolo County District Attorney’s Restorative Justice Partnership (RJP).”

• In New York, “[a]dvocates recently promoted legislation to clear a controversial New York Police Department of Investigation (DOI) database that they argue keeps tabs on predominately Black and Brown residents in New York.”

• In Ohio, “[i]n April, changes went into effect in Ohio to the record sealing and expungement law. This allows even more people to be eligible than before.”

• In Harris County, TX, “[t]he Harris County District Attorney's Office believes its six youth crime diversion offices are succeeding, though, a disturbing trend is also coming into play.”

• In Virginia, “Central Virginia Community Justice (CVCJ) grew out of a pilot program and is now providing people with an alternative to the courtroom.”

• In Washington, D.C., “The Senate cast a symbolic vote Tuesday to overturn a District of Columbia policing bill, setting up a promised veto by President Joe Biden….Supporters of the local policing measure say it increases public safety by strengthening training requirements and prohibiting the hiring of officers who have a history of misconduct. Meanwhile, Republicans have argued the local measure undermines officer retention and restricts officers from doing their jobs.”

Public Safety

• In Washington, D.C, following up on last week’s coverage, “[a] group of seven Republican senators last week introduced the Senate companion to a piece of House-passed legislation that would require federal agencies to revert to their pre-pandemic telework policies….”

• In Minnesota, “[t]he Minnesota House passed the Judiciary and Public Safety budget bill, which included two gun control measures, early Tuesday morning….Proponents of the bill say the gun control measures will ‘keep guns out of the hands of those who are prohibited from having them’ by implementing criminal background checks for all firearm sales.”

• In Ohio, “[t]he Columbus City Attorney's office filed a new lawsuit Thursday against the state of Ohio in a renewed attempt to put in place and enforce local gun safety laws.”

• In Texas, “[s]tate lawmakers passed a bill requiring courts to report involuntary mental health hospitalizations of juveniles for inclusion in the federal gun background check system.”

• In Virginia, “[a] U.S. judge’s ruling striking down a federal law that bans licensed federal firearms dealers from selling handguns to young adults under 21 is the latest example of how a landmark Supreme Court decision is transforming the legal landscape around firearms.”

• In Washington, D.C., “[t]he House voted 232 -198 Wednesday evening to pass a bill that would allow federal law enforcement officers to buy retired weapons from their agencies.”

Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives

Hello, interested public!

A little less news this week, but big concerns still plague us. First off, discussions about the debt ceiling between the President and Congress are having big impacts on employment rights and student debt (but PSLF has been approved for hundreds of thousands of people!!). Second, more ethics concerns about Justice Thomas have come to light. And finally, as a win for public servants, more and more jurisdictions are increasing budgets to allow for the additional hire of public defenders and prosecutors.

As always, these stories and more are in the links below.

Happy reading,

Brittany

Editor’s Choice

• As bar prep looms, the ABA Law Student Podcast discusses “the services and support available to help law students and professionals cope with stress, anxiety, depression, and substance abuse.”

• In Georgia, “[o]f the 16 fake electors under investigation in Georgia for taking part in a scheme to keep President Donald Trump in office in 2020, eight have accepted immunity deals from Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, according to a brief filed on Friday by the electors’ lawyer, Kimberly Debrow.”

• In Washington D.C., “[a] union that represents federal employees filed suit for an injunction Monday against the federal law that gives the White House unilateral authority to cut government spending if Congress can’t compromise on stalled debt ceiling negotiations.”

• In Washington D.C., “[h]ere are seven things to watch as the Supreme Court heads into its final weeks this session.”

Supreme Court Ethics Concerns

• Continuing with our coverage of the ethical concerns surrounding Justice Thomas’s actions:

  • “More than a decade ago, a member of the US court system’s leadership body raised red flags about its handling of public allegations of wrongdoing against Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Those concerns spurred internal process changes, but no additional probe of the justice’s conduct.”

  • “Senate Finance Chair Ron Wyden on Tuesday accused billionaire Harlan Crow of ‘stonewalling’ for refusing to comply with a request for a complete accounting of Crow’s gifts to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.”

    • Relatedly, ProPublica uncovered that Crow paid for the private school tuition for Justice Thomas’s grandnephew.

  • “Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas changed his position on one of America’s most significant regulatory doctrines after his wife reportedly accepted secret payments from a shadowy conservative network pushing for the change. Thomas’ shift also came while he was receiving lavish gifts from a billionaire linked to other groups criticizing the same doctrine — which is now headed back to the high court.”

    • Relatedly, “On May 1, the US Supreme Court granted certiorari in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, which is sure to send shockwaves through the administrative state. At issue is the doctrine known as Chevron deference, which requires that courts defer to federal agency interpretation of statutes. It sounds like legalese, but in practice, Chevron deference serves as a superhighway for administrative abuse.”

Student Loans & Student Debt

• In the United States, “[t]he Education Department on Monday said over 615,000 student-loan borrowers have had debts forgiven through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program since October 2021 due to policy changes made by the Biden administration.”

• In the United States, “[t]he cost of borrowing money from the federal government to pay for college is set to jump to the highest level in at least a decade.”

• Also in the United States, “[t]he Federal Trade Commission said that it has stopped a student debt relief scheme that has allegedly stolen $12 million from borrowers. The FTC accused the companies of ‘deceptive claims about repayment programs and loan forgiveness that did not exist.’”

• In Washington D.C., “GOP lawmakers on the Committee on Education and the Workforce argued that the Department of Education's student loan relief plan would add billions to the federal debt while doing nothing to address the rising cost of college.”

  • Contrastingly, “[a] sizable portion of students who exited their university programs would be likely to return if some or all of their student loans are nixed, according to a poll from Gallup….”

  • Relatedly (and contrastingly), “NBC News reviewed student loan forgiveness policies in states where a Republican governor has called for an end to Biden’s plan or a Republican attorney general has sued to stop it. The research found that the vast majority of these states do indeed offer their own taxpayer-funded student loan forgiveness programs. Almost as many have seen Republican-backed bills to expand these programs or create new ones in the current term.”

• Also in Washington D.C., “[a] nonprofit conservative group asked a federal court last month to end the student-loan payment pause. It's asking again — and it wants borrowers to be thrown back into repayment immediately.”

Eye on AI

• The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled that “the Patent Act supports the conclusion that ‘individuals’ are human beings, and non-humans, such as artificial intelligence programs, cannot be considered individuals, and thus cannot be deemed inventors.”

• In Washington D.C., “OpenAI CEO Sam Altman will make his first appearance before a Senate panel next week as the U.S. Congress grapples with how best to regulate artificial intelligence as the technology becomes more powerful and widespread.”

  • Relatedly, long-time technology attorney Ralph Losey wrote for JDSupra that “ChatGPT has too small a memory to be of much use to judges, lawyer and complex case litigators, at least for purposes of assisting in full-case legal analysis.”

Reproductive Rights

• In the United States, "Mifepristone was approved in 2000 for early abortions but it is often used “off label” to treat early pregnancy loss or to speed up delivery when a fetus dies later in pregnancy….[L]egal experts say if it’s taken off the market for its approved use, it wouldn’t be available for pregnancy loss. Dr. Kristyn Brandi said that would take away “the gold standard of miscarriage management,” the two-drug combination of mifepristone and misoprostol that helps empty the uterus and reduce the chance of infection.”

• In Idaho, a new “law creates a crime of ‘abortion trafficking’ and criminalizes the ‘recruiting, harboring, or transporting’ of minors without parental consent.”

• In Vermont, the state’s “new abortion protections would keep mifepristone available even if FDA approval is later withdrawn.”

• In Wisconsin, “[a]ttorneys for a Republican prosecutor urged a judge Thursday to toss out a lawsuit seeking to repeal Wisconsin’s 174-year-old abortion ban, arguing that a newer state law permitting pre-viability abortions complements the ban rather than supersedes it, as Democrats maintain.”

Marriage Rights Issues

• In Michigan, “[m]embers from Unchained at Last re-introduced several House Bills Wednesday…that would ban future child marriages, and void existing marriages if the individual is under the age of 18. As of right now, Michigan law does not have a minimum age for marriage, which means infants could potentially be trapped in marriage.”

• In New Hampshire, “[t]he right to interracial marriage is now enshrined in New Hampshire state law.”

Disability Rights

• In Delaware, “[t]he Delaware Community Legal Aid Society has released a report that finds accessibility violations for those with disabilities at voting centers across the state.”

• In Ontario, Canada, “[t]he Court of Appeal made it clear a Ford government law can't block the claims of vulnerable people who've been ‘harmed by the government's stupidity[.]’”

Environmental Crisis

• In California, “[t]he Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a California animal welfare law passed by voters that requires all pork sold in the state meet certain humane standards.”

• In Colorado, “the state passed the country’s most comprehensive legislation to prevent utilities from using customer funds to support political activities.”

• In Indiana, “[s]mall nuclear reactors could be the solution Purdue University needs to reach net-zero carbon emissions, according to a study by the Indiana school and Duke Energy Corp.”

• In Mississippi, “[a] complaint by the Southern Poverty Law Center asks the U.S. Department of Treasury to investigate alleged discriminatory funding of water infrastructure in Jackson through the state’s distribution of federal relief funds.”

• In Wyoming, “a coalition of wild horse advocates, environmentalists, and academics filed suit in the US District Court for the District of Wyoming against the US Department of the Interior over a federal plan that would result in the largest-ever eradication of federally protected wild horses and elimination of 43% of designated wild horse habitat in the Red Desert area of Wyoming.”

Immigration & Refugee Issues

• In California, “[f]ollowing months of urging by undocumented students, the University of California next week will consider a proposal to allow the hiring of those students for jobs across the 10-campus university system. If the UC board of regents takes that step, UC would become the first known institution to argue that a federal statute’s ban on the hiring of undocumented persons does not apply to states.”

• In Chicago, IL, “[t]he city is short hundreds of lawyers and has a backlog of tens of thousands of cases as migrants wait months to apply for asylum to legally stay and work.”

• In New York City, NY, “[c]ity lawmakers want Mayor Eric Adams to add an extra $70 million into the city budget to fund legal help for migrants seeking asylum and applying for working papers….”

  • Relatedly, “Mayor Eric Adams issued an executive order Wednesday evening allowing city officials to bypass certain portions of New York City’s decades old right-to-shelter law, which obligates the city to provide a bed to anyone who asks for one.”

• Also in New York City, NY, “Elected officials, including State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal, last Tuesday joined the CARE for Immigrant Families coalition at the Million Dollar Staircase in Albany in calling for the passage of the Access to Representation Act (ARA). The first-in-the-nation bill would establish a right to counsel in immigration court proceedings.”

Employment Rights

• In New York, “New York City lawmakers passed a bill Thursday that would prohibit employment discrimination based on someone's height or weight….”

• In Washington D.C., in the name of “securing the border,” “[a] Republican immigration bill facing a House vote will expand the federal government’s power over individuals seeking jobs, employers hiring workers and Americans who want to protect victims of war and persecution….The House bill (Section 801) mandates nearly all Americans who change or start a job would need to gain permission to work through the federal government E-Verify system or a potential follow-on employment verification system.”

• In Washington State, employers will be prohibited “from making hiring decisions based on off-duty use of cannabis or positive pre-employment drug test results that find an applicant to have nonpsychoactive cannabis metabolites in their hair, blood, urine or other bodily fluids.”

Non-Profit & Government Management & Hiring

• In Washington D.C., “…the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) published a proposed rule in the Federal Register on ‘Advancing Pay Equity in Governmentwide Pay Systems’ proposing revisions to the criteria for making salary determinations based on salary history to advance pay equity in jobs for the United States government.”

• Also in Washington D.C., “[a] group of 14 conservative lawmakers in both chambers of Congress last week reintroduced legislation that would make the federal government an at-will employer and abolish the Merit Systems Protection Board, effectively eviscerating federal workers’ civil service protections and chilling whistleblowing.”

• In Virginia, “[t]he Virginia State Bar is seeking attorneys to serve as guardians ad litem for attorneys appearing before the VSB Disciplinary Board in impairment proceedings.”

Access to Justice – Civil & Economic

• In Ontario, Canada, “[t]he Federation of Ontario Law Associations (FOLA) is raising concerns over access to justice as the number of practising law professionals in rural and remote areas of the province dwindles.”

• In Multnomah County, OR, “Multnomah County Measure 26-238 would institute a new capital gains tax in order to fund free legal aid for renters facing eviction.”

Access to Justice – Criminal

• In the United States, “Providing defendants with legal counsel during their initial bail hearing decreases use of monetary bail and pretrial detention, without increasing the likelihood that defendants fail to appear at the subsequent preliminary hearing, according to a new RAND Corporation study.”

• In Newfoundland, Canada, “A medical examination which is often critical evidence in sexual assault trials is not available in two of the four regional health authorities in Newfoundland and Labrador. ‘In February, we were told that the sexual assault nurse examiner (SANE) program could not be expanded into Labrador and Central Health regions until a provincial co-ordinator was hired,’ Torngat Mountains MHA Lela Evans said in the House of Assembly on May 4, 2023. ‘According to the then minister of health, the work to fill this position was active and underway. That was in 2021, two years ago.’”

• In Florida, “State Attorney Andrew Warren is fighting to be reinstated in his position as the lead prosecutor in Hillsborough County, Florida, following his suspension by Governor Ron DeSantis. The ongoing dispute between Warren and DeSantis stems from Warren’s refusal to prosecute criminal cases related to abortion.”

• In Georgia, “[a] motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed against Western Circuit District Attorney Deborah Gonzalez is under consideration by a judge who said Monday that he will issue an order and send it to the Clerk of Court in Clarke County….[The] basis for the suit is a policy Gonzalez announced before her election that she would not prosecute misdemeanor marijuana possession and truancy cases where children could be taken from their parents.”

  • Relatedly, “Gov. Brian Kemp signed a bill into law Friday creating a commission with the power to remove what Kemp termed ‘rogue or incompetent prosecutors’ like Western Circuit District Attorney Deborah Gonzalez.”

• In Illinois, “The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office (CCSAO) has routinely hidden evidence from defendants that was obtained from ShotSpotter, a gunshot-detection system, according to Brendan Max, the chief of the Forensic Science Division at the Cook County Public Defender’s Office (PDO)….In 2021, Chicago’s Inspector General found that ShotSpotter alerts ‘rarely produce evidence of a gun-related crime’ and that CPD uses the frequency of alerts in a given area to rationalize disproportionately stopping and frisking people who live there.”

  • Relatedly, in Escambia County, FL, “…Sheriff Chip Simmons said he plans to expand the Real Time Crime Center and integrate a gunshot detection system known as ShotSpotter into the RTCC to increase intelligence, efficiency and safety in law enforcement response and public safety.”

• In Maine, the District Attorney for three counties seeks to clear “a backlog of more than 5,200 criminal cases” with a plan “to offer defendants things they normally wouldn't get, like possible dismissals, making donations that would go to charity or a conviction that would go on their record, without penalty.”

  • Relatedly, “A group of lawmakers want to set limits on the length of time it takes to bring a criminal defendant to trial as Maine’s court system continues to grapple with a massive backlog of cases.”

• In Pennsylvania, “A national public interest law firm and two Pennsylvania-based law professors have filed an ethics complaint asking a state disciplinary board to investigate allegations of improper conduct by Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala. The complaint…cites media reports regarding two separate incidents in which Zappala allegedly made decisions about bringing charges based on personal or political motivations.”

Prosecutor & Public Defender Office Hiring Crises

• To address hiring shortages, some jurisdictions have raised or called for raises in budgets to hire more public defenders and prosecutors:

  • In Liberty County, GA, “[c]ommissioners approved an additional $65,000 to the public defender’s office for its budget.”

  • In Minnesota, “[h]undreds of public defenders in Minnesota would get significant pay raises if a provision in public safety bills continues on its way to Gov. Tim Walz's desk.”

  • In New York, “[w]ith passage of Gov. Kathy Hochul’s 2023-24 budget, the rate paid to such lawyers, known as assigned counsel, jumps from $60 an hour to represent misdemeanor defendants and $75 for felony cases to $158 for felony or misdemeanor cases.”

  • In Montgomery County, TX, “[t]he Montgomery County Commissioners Court voted to approve district and county attorney staff pay increases May 9. District Attorney Brett Ligon said the county had difficulties retaining prosecutors due to higher federal and private salaries elsewhere in the state and nationwide.”

• In St. Louis, MO, even with the announcement of St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner’s resignation, “[m]ost reports indicate there are fewer than 10 assistant circuit attorneys handling serious criminal cases in the city. Regardless of what’s causing it, the staffing crisis in the office has continued serious implications across the criminal justice system.”

• In Marion County, OR, “Shannon Wilson, a public defender in Marion County, filed an unusual request this week with the Oregon Supreme Court. They asked the state’s high court to remove some new clients and block lower court judges from assigning more.”

• In Lubbock County, TX, “[t]he…District Attorney’s Office is dealing with a severe shortage of prosecutors, causing a backlog in un-reviewed cases. Lubbock County District Attorney Sunshine Stanek’s temporary fix may involve attorneys working overtime to keep cases from piling up.”

• In Franklin County, WA, the county “is facing a lawyer shortage as newly booked inmates are not being assigned defense attorneys for the last two months….”

Criminal Justice Reform and Counter-Reform

• In the United States, “[t]he White House has recently unveiled an ambitious plan to promote the rehabilitation and successful reentry of incarcerated individuals into society….On the same day as the plan’s release, President Biden exercised his executive power by commuting the sentences of 31 individuals serving time for nonviolent drug offenses. These individuals will now continue serving their sentences in home confinement.”

• In Illinois, “In January 2022, Illinois joined 48 other states in adopting a medical release law. Incarcerated people with terminal illnesses and serious disabilities have a pathway to reunite with their families and access the life-saving care they have been deprived of for years or decades. Illinois must put this new law to use.”

• In Utah, “[t]he Utah Department of Corrections (UDC) agreed to enter a consent order…ensuring Islamic inmates’ right to participate in Jumu’ah prayer on Fridays. The UDC also agreed to make multiple changes to its policy on religious congregate services.”

Public Safety

• In Washington D.C., “[t]he Supreme Court could hand down a decision any day now in National Association for Gun Rights v. City of Naperville, a case that could legalize assault weapons and high-capacity magazines in all 50 states.”

• In California, “Coalition for Family Harmony (Coalition), [which] supports survivors of family violence in Ventura County with the means to help escape from abuse, provides gun restraining order under the California Partnership to End Domestic Violence grant. The restraining order allows victims of domestic violence households to request the removal of a gun from a house if it creates an unsafe and threatening environment.”

• In the United States, Government Executive analyzes “what’s ahead for federal agencies and workers now that the pandemic emergency is over.”

  • Relatedly, Government Executive cautions the federal government against rushing employees back to work citing their most recent “quarterly workforce pulse survey[]” which shows that “more than 40% of respondents stated they would seek alternative employment if current telework flexibilities were changed.”

  • Another related change, “President Biden…officially revoked the COVID-19 vaccine mandates for federal employees and contractors that had already been mired in lawsuits that prevented them from being enforced.”

Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives

Hello, interested public!

Unfortunately, we’ve had to add a new category to cover all of the new ethics concerns about the actions of our Supreme Court Justices–our first article under the Student Loans category ties in with these ethics concerns. Additionally, the news surrounding St. Louis County Attorney Kim Gardner comes to a close as she resigns in the wake of efforts to oust her from office. Finally, we’ve expanded our public defender hiring crisis category to include prosecutor offices as more and more news is shared.

As always, these stories and more are in the links below.

Happy reading,

Brittany

Editor’s Choice

• In the United States, “[a]round 200 legal department leaders have urged Congress to increase funding for the Legal Services Corporation as lower and middle income Americans search for help dealing with the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.”

Supreme Court Ethics Concerns

• In Washington, DC, “…the Senate Judiciary Committee will today hold a hearing on Supreme Court ethics reform. The hearing will proceed without the participation of Chief Justice Roberts, who refused an invitation to testify from Judiciary Chair Dick Durbin.”

• Excluding previously covered news about Justice Thomas, here is a list of recent articles discussing potentially unethical actions taken by Supreme Court Justices,

  • New coverage about Justice Thomas includes a report that “a conservative judicial activist helped Ginni Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, secure consulting work that yielded her nearly $100,000 — all the while asking that her name was left off the financial paperwork….”

  • Regarding Justice Gorsuch, “…[t]he chief executive of Greenberg Traurig, one of the nation’s biggest law firms with a robust practice before the high court[,]” purchased a property partially owned by Justice Gorsuch. Justice Gorsuch reported on the sale of the property, but he “did not disclose the identity of the purchaser. That box was left blank.”

  • “Justice Samuel Alito owns individual stock in ConocoPhillips and Phillips 66, both named in several” lawsuits up for review by the Supreme Court.

  • Regarding Justice Roberts, “[t]he chief justice’s wife, Jane Sullivan Roberts, has made millions in her career recruiting lawyers to prominent law firms, some of which have business before the court. Now, a letter sent to Congress claims that may present a conflict of interest.”

  • “Liberal Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor declined to recuse herself from multiple copyright infringement cases involving book publisher Penguin Random House despite having been paid millions by the firm for her books, making it by far her largest source of income, records show.”

  • Regarding Justice Kavanaugh, “[a] 2018 Senate investigation that found there was ‘no evidence’ to substantiate any of the claims of sexual assault against the US supreme court justice Brett Kavanaugh contained serious omissions, according to new information obtained by the Guardian.”

• As you’ve probably seen, the New York Times reported on the controversial relationship between George Mason’s Scalia Law School and some sitting Supreme Court Justices. On this topic, Mother Jones reports, “The cozy ties of Justices Neil Gorsuch, Clarence Thomas, and Brett Kavanaugh to George Mason’s Scalia Law School appear to be legal. But the report is the latest revelation into how conservatives who control the court have regularly received money and lavish perks from ideological backers and people with interests before the court.”

Student Loans & Student Debt

• In the United States, “[t]he Roosevelt Institute and the Debt Collective’s bombshell report on the Supreme Court case over student debt cancellation, first reported by The New Republic, reveals that…the Court is poised to deny relief to 40 million student borrowers based on a claim of standing from a phantom plaintiff, which despite claims that it will be injured by the debt cancellation program, will in fact be enriched by it.”

• Also in the United States, “House Republicans' debt ceiling proposal would slash President Biden's student loan relief plan and undercut potential future student debt relief programs.”

• Also also in the United States, “[s]ome student loan servicers have recently cut back on customer service hours, adding to the fear that borrowers won't have sufficient support when transitioning back into repayment after a more than three-year pandemic pause.”

• In Washington, DC, “U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Waterford Twp.) last week introduced legislation she says will expand financial aid opportunities for students whose parents are still chipping away at their own student debt.”

• Also in Washington, DC, “U.S. Senators Mike Braun (R-Ind.) and Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) introduced on Thursday a bipartisan bill that would change a technicality in federal law that unnecessarily requires that PSLF applicants be employed in a public service role at the time of forgiveness, even if they have already made 120 qualifying payments.”

Eye on AI

• “Since ChatGPT is the most adopted of the generative AIs for lawyer usage, it was distressing that it presented cybersecurity and ethical concerns. Protecting the confidentiality of client data is an ethical mandate that made many lawyers and firms shy away from using ChatGPT. Happily, you can now turn off Chat History for ChatGPT.”

  • Relatedly, “OpenAI’s decision to allow people to opt out comes as the firm is under increasing pressure from European data protection regulators over how it uses and collects data.”

• “LexisNexis is announcing the launch of Lexis+ AI, a new product that uses large language models (LLMs), including GPT-4, to answer legal research questions, summarize legal issues, and generate drafts of documents such as demand letters or client emails.”

• In Washington, DC, “[t]he White House's Office of Science and Technology Policy wants information about automated systems being used in workplaces ‘to surveil, monitor, evaluate, and manage workers,’ it says in a request for information released Monday.”

• Also in Washington, DC, “…US Senator Edward Markey (D-Mass.) and Representatives Ted Lieu (D-Calif.), Don Beyer (D-Va.), and Ken Buck (R-Colo.) announced bipartisan legislation that seeks to prevent an artificial intelligence system from making nuclear launch decisions.”

Immigration & Refugee Issues

• In the United States, “[a]s President Biden prepares to send 1,500 military personnel to the Southwest border in advance of an expected significant increase in migrant arrivals, House Republicans are coalescing around a sweeping bill that would revamp immigration laws and require more staffing at federal law enforcement agencies.”

  • Relatedly, “[t]he Biden administration failed to ensure individuals responsible for caring for migrant children in U.S. custody did not have criminal records, according to a new report, which found the failure could have placed the minors at risk.”

• Also in the United States, “[t]he number of applications for visas used in the technology industry soared for a second straight year, raising ‘serious concerns’ that some are manipulating the system to gain an unfair advantage….”

• In Florida, “…Governor Ron DeSantis is poised to sign tough penalties and restrictions that aims to obstruct the flow of illegal immigration to the state….”

• In Utah, “[t]he University of Utah’s S.J. Quinney College of Law’s new refugee law clinic [has] provided critical, just-in-time legal advice and support.”

Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity

• In Kansas, Montana, and Tennessee, “[l]awmakers…voted in the past few weeks to narrowly define who is ‘female’ and who is ‘male’ in state law using such terms as ‘gametes,’ ‘ova,’ ‘sex chromosomes,’ ‘genitalia’ and ‘immutable biological sex.’”

  • Relatedly, in Kansas, “[t]ransgender Kansans and people who need to get their gender markers changed on their birth certificates and IDs should act quickly before the state’s new anti-trans laws go into effect, according to an attorney who is a subject matter expert.”

    • On an exciting note, Ellen Bertels, the attorney interviewed in the above article, is one of the 2020-2021 PSJD Pro Bono Publico Award winners!

• In Michigan, “[l]ast month, Michigan joined [the twenty-two states and the District of Columbia] by expanding its civil rights statute (known as the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act) to expressly cover sexual orientation and gender identity and expression.”

Reproductive Rights

• In the United States, “[t]he Homeland Security Department has allegedly discriminated against certain pregnant women for years by forcing them to forfeit some of their duties, according to a lawsuit filed by a group of employees who were recently certified to bring their case as a class action.”

• Also in the United States, “[t]he U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a challenge to the legality of an Indiana requirement that abortion providers bury or cremate embryonic or fetal remains following the procedure, sidestepping another dispute involving a contentious Republican-backed state policy concerning abortion.”

• In California, “[State Attorney General Rob Bonta] has joined with law firms and advocacy groups to create a hotline that provides access to information and pro bono services for people who need legal help related to abortion, as the state seeks to become a safe haven for reproductive rights since Roe v. Wade was overturned.”

• In Kansas, “[t]wo hospitals that refused to provide an emergency abortion to a woman with life-threatening pregnancy complications are under investigation by the Department of Health and Human Services for violating federal law.”

• In Montana, “…the Montana Republican Party on Wednesday celebrated a stack of new laws restricting abortion and reproductive health care, setting up a likely clash with the state’s nearly 25-year-old court ruling that broadly permits abortion as a private medical choice.”

• In Utah, “[a] law to ban abortion clinics in Utah will be temporarily halted after a judge in the state ruled that the law, which was set to go into effect on Wednesday, will have to be held as the court considers a lawsuit by Planned Parenthood.”

• In Wisconsin, “[a]ttorneys for a Republican prosecutor urged a judge Thursday to toss out a lawsuit seeking to repeal Wisconsin’s 174-year-old abortion ban, arguing that a newer state law permitting pre-viability abortions complements the ban rather than supersedes it, as Democrats maintain.”

Disability Rights

• In Pennsylvania, “[a]n anonymous woman with vision impairment has alleged that a Pennsylvania group tasked with overseeing the Law School Admission Test has violated her rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, by not providing her with an accommodation for screen-reading software to take the test.”

Environmental Crisis

• In the United States, following up on our previous coverage, “…the Environmental Protection Agency is set to unveil power plant rules that would rely on so-called ‘carbon capture’ technology to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. There are substantial problems with this approach that should provoke serious reservations.”

• In Indiana, “[t]he state is allowing AES Indiana to dump more than 1 million gallons of water contaminated with harmful coal ash pollutants directly into the White River every day, according to Indiana environmental groups who call the approval process a ‘contradictory shell game.’”

• In New York, “[the state] is about to become the nation’s first state to pass a law banning natural gas in most new buildings, Gov. Kathy Hochul said in an April 27 announcement of agreements reached with legislators for the fiscal year 2024 budget.”

• “In Texas, an energy company is building a power plant that can run on hydrogen, a fuel that is gaining steam because of new tax credits and upcoming federal regulations.”

Non-Profit & Government Management & Hiring

• In North Carolina, “[the] Senate is advancing a bill that would prohibit applicants for state employee positions to affirm their support for the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) agenda….The measure ensures that prospective state employees are not required to ‘endorse or opine on’ any belief as a condition of employment.”

Access to Justice – Civil & Economic

• In the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, “…Jenner & Block and co-counsel MacArthur Justice Center won a pro bono appeal for client Kevin Pitts in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit which held that the district court lacked authority to ‘prospectively adjudicate a strike’ under the Prison Litigation Reform Act's (PLRA) ‘three-strikes rule.’”

• In the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, “[a] lawyer for a Florida prosecutor on Tuesday urged a federal appeals court to reinstate his client after the state’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, indefinitely suspended him over his pledge not to prosecute people seeking or providing abortions.”

• Expanding on our coverage of right-to-counsel in eviction cases:

  • In St. Pete, Florida, “…[the] City Council’s Youth and Family Services (YFS) committee voted 3-1 to draft a resolution recommending that the administration create a citywide right to counsel for tenants facing eviction.”

  • In New Hampshire, “…[state] senators are considering a bill that would require landlords to give information on legal aid to tenants who are being evicted.”

  • In New York, “[m]unicipalities are gradually adopting so-called right to counsel programs, but most are struggling to find enough lawyers willing or able to do the work….”

  • In Multnomah County, OR, “[a] proposal for a local capital gains tax that would support tenants facing eviction will be decided by Multnomah County voters in the May 16 election….Money raised by the ballot measure's proposed tax on all Multnomah County residents would pay for lawyers for any tenant in the county facing eviction.”

• In Brownwood, TX, “[t]he…public library has introduced a legal services kiosk….Last week, a library in Austin reported a similar kiosk.”

Access to Justice – Criminal

• In Alameda County, CA, following up on our previous coverage, “Danielle Hilton, who had been with the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office for nearly three decades, told embattled DA Pamela Price that she could no longer perform her duties in good conscience last week.”

• In Contra Costa County, CA, following up on our previous coverage, “[t]he Contra Costa County Public Defender's Office estimates that 40 percent of the police department may have been involved in the texting scandal. Currently, 38 of the department's 99 officers are on leave.”

  • Relatedly, “the county Board of Supervisors unanimously agreed to help by spending $2.2 million for the hiring of 10 attorneys, five” each for the Contra Costa District Attorney and Public Defender’s offices to address the extreme number of cases up for review as a result of the “racist text messaging scandal.”

• In San Francisco, CA, “[a] national nonprofit – Civil Rights Corps – known for fighting for systemic injustice in the U.S. legal system said this week its filed an Amicus Brief and joined the San Francisco’s Public Defender Office in its call for the California State Supreme Court to weigh in on San Francisco Superior Court’s trial backlog.”

• In Fremont County, CO, “‘The 11th Judicial District Attorney’s Office has an established pattern and practice of violating and neglecting its discovery requirements,’ states a motion filed by defense attorney Adam Tunink on March 6. ‘Discovery violations have plagued individuals prosecuted by the 11th Judicial District Attorney’s Office.’”

• In Florida, “[a]nother state attorney in Florida, who is backed by Democrat megadonor George Soros, appears to be on the verge of being removed from office by Governor Ron DeSantis.”

• Also in Florida, “[t]he Board of Governors will consider a proposed rule amendment later this month that would facilitate greater use of remote technology in certain criminal proceedings.”

• In Georgia, “Georgia Republicans are pushing through legislation that threatens to remove from office locally-elected prosecutors who won’t charge certain types of cases, such as abortion or marijuana.”

• In St. Louis County, MO, “[e]mbattled St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner, the city’s first Black prosecutor and a Democrat, announced Thursday that she will resign, following allegations of negligence and calls for her ouster by Republican leaders.”

  • Related to Gardner’s decision to resign, a bill before the Missouri legislature “would give the governor the power to appoint a special prosecutor for five years along with a police board….”

  • Prior to this decision, “Missouri State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick threatened Monday to file a lawsuit against Gardner, warning she's not handing over the information he needs to complete an audit to see if her office is wasting taxpayers' money.”

  • As previously covered, the St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office has been experiencing multiple attorney resignations in the past few weeks:

    • “‘More recent departures from the Circuit Attorney’s Office — leaving fewer attorneys to prosecute hundreds of serious cases on the trial docket — are deeply concerning to the judges of the 22nd Judicial Circuit Court,’ court system spokesperson Joel Currier said in a statement.”

    • “For the third time in as many weekdays, an assistant circuit attorney parted ways with Kim Gardner's office yesterday.”

  • Following up on other previous coverage, “[t]he effort [to combine St. Louis County Prosecutor and St. Louis County Circuit Attorney offices] appears to have support from others neighboring St. Louis County.”

• In Texas, “[l]ocally elected prosecutors who do not enforce certain laws could be removed from office under a bill approved by the Texas House of Representatives on Friday [April 30th].”

• Also in Texas, “[t]he Senate confirmed career Dallas prosecutor Damien Diggs as the U.S. attorney for East Texas on Thursday, making him the first Black lawyer to lead the office responsible for federal law enforcement from Plano to Beaumont, including Jasper, where a notorious racial murder took place.”

Prosecutor & Public Defender Office Hiring Crises

• In Fulton County, GA, “[t]he defense attorneys in the YSL RICO trial don’t think they’re getting paid enough to represent their clients, which has led them to consider other forms of income” and has made it difficult for them to work on their other cases.

• In Hawai’i, “Hawai‘i County Prosecuting Attorney Kelden Waltjen said he started seeing more public defenders withdrawing from cases in the past couple of months because ‘they didn’t have the bandwidth to handle the influx of those class A felony cases.’”

• In Illinois, “State’s Attorney Erika Reynolds advised the McLean County Board’s Justice Committee of the difficulty she is having hiring attorneys at a meeting on Tuesday.”

• In Iowa, “[the state] legislature is poised to raise the pay for attorneys who represent indigent defendants by five dollars an hour” to address the shortage of indigent defense attorneys and trial delays.

• In Adams County, NE, “…officials are bringing in a former district court judge to provide guidance on the future of the county Public Defender’s Office.”

• In Jackson County, OR, “[l]ast week, a Jackson County Circuit Court heard nearly 20 motions from defendants asking to have their cases dismissed. The reasoning? A lack of court-appointed counsel.”

• In Wisconsin, “[a] new report from the Wisconsin Policy Forum found public attorneys across the state are being paid significantly less than private attorneys. That’s led to a shortage of public defenders.”

• In Gregg County, TX, “…District Attorney John Moore said the county has been going through a criminal prosecutor shortage since before the COVID-19 pandemic.”

• In multiple counties in Texas, “…members of the Commissioners Court authorized Victoria County to submit a grant application for a regional public defender office. Office staff would serve Victoria, Jackson, Lavaca and Refugio counties.”

Criminal Justice Reform and Counter-Reform

• In the United States, “[t]he Black population in U.S. prisons increased [during the COVID-19 pandemic] while the overall population decreased by record numbers, according to a recently published study by researchers at Yale University and Northeastern University.”

• In Clay and Dickinson Counties, IA, a new drug court is now available as “[a] new route for those arrested for drug offenses….”

• In Missouri, “[state] Senate Bill 189 establishes expungement clinics– pro bono organizations that would assist those in need with the process of seeking expungement for applicable criminal charges and convictions involving cannabis.”

• In New York, “Gov. Kathy Hochul stood shoulder to shoulder with New York City prosecutors Wednesday to celebrate reining in the state’s controversial 2019 cash bail reforms and boosting funding for gun-violence prevention….Under the latest changes, judges will have more discretion to set bail in violent cases by no longer being required to impose the ‘least restrictive’ means at arraignment.”

• In Franklin County, OH, “[i]n an attempt to curb [the rising number of domestic violence-related homocides], Klein announced Thursday his office will begin asking judges for at least a $500,000 cash surety bond for domestic violence offenses involving a gun or significant injury.”

• In Travis County, TX, “[n]ew data from the Travis County Attorney’s Office shows Black and Latino people have been disproportionately arrested by state police in the last few weeks. The data provides a look into the first few weeks of the Austin Police Department’s partnership with the Texas Department of Public Safety – and raises concerns about racial profiling.”

• In Wisconsin, “[t]he [state l]egislature is considering a bipartisan bill that would make it easier for a judge to order that a criminal conviction be completely erased from a person’s record.”

Public Safety

• In San Diego, CA, “[g]un violence restraining orders, approved by Superior Court judges, are intended to be used as a tool for crisis intervention; critics decry them as overreach[.]”

• In Colorado, “…Governor Polis signed four bills into law Friday morning, surrounded by the bills’ sponsors and activists who advocated for the policies aiming to curb gun violence. Minutes after those four bills were signed into law, the nonprofit gun rights advocacy group Rocky Mountain Gun Owners said they were already challenging two of them in the court.”

• In Florida, “[the state] legislator recently enacted House Bill 543, which authorized concealed carry of weapons or firearms (with or without a license to carry). The law becomes effective on July 1, 2023.”