June 30, 2023 at 12:56 pm
· Filed under Public Interest Law News Bulletin
Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives
Photo: Harris and Ewing Collection, Library of Congress
Hello, interested public!
Sam has returned from his time well spent with his newest family member, so this is my last week curating the Digest. The Supreme Court decisions we have all been waiting for are now here–some victories and some major losses. We also highlight two reports of deplorable conditions in Guantanamo Bay and a Los Angeles jail. And finally the “Cop City” news continues as a district attorney removed herself from the case.
As always, these stories and more are in the links below. Thanks for being such a wonderful audience!
Happy reading,
Brittany
Editor’s Choice
Supreme Court Ethics Concerns
Student Loans & Student Debt
In Washington DC, “the Supreme Court…released its official opinion [about the legality of student loan forgiveness:]…[a]s of June 30 2023, the promise of $10,000 to $20,000 in student loan forgiveness promised per eligible borrower is dead. Like it or not, but blanket loan forgiveness is not going to happen — at least not in the way it was promised and definitely not right now…With student loan debt forgiveness off the table, the majority of borrowers with federal student loans need to begin making plans to pick up with payments where they left off. ”
Also in Washington, D.C., “[t]he Education Department in recent weeks finalized a three-month grace period for missed payments once student loans come due in October and directed loan services to be ‘prepared’ to extend that flexibility for subsequent 90-day periods, according to two people familiar with the discussions. Once interest accrual resumes on Sept. 1, under the department’s current plans, it would continue to pile up even if borrowers miss payments. ”
Eye on AI
Across the world, “a slow drip of fund-raising emails and promotional images composed by A.I. for political campaigns has turned into a steady stream of campaign materials created by the technology, rewriting the political playbook for democratic elections around the world. Increasingly, political consultants, election researchers and lawmakers say setting up new guardrails, such as legislation reining in synthetically generated ads, should be an urgent priority. Existing defenses, such as social media rules and services that claim to detect A.I. content, have failed to do much to slow the tide. ”
In Bloomberg Law , Prof. Schultz of Hamline University speculated that “[a]s ChatGPT and and other forms of artificial intelligence take on more humanlike qualities, we need to ask two questions. When and how could ChatGPT be indicted for a crime? And at what point would pulling the plug on ChatGPT be murder? When does an entity powered by AI acquire constitutional status as a person with rights? ”
First Amendment Issues
Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity
In the United States, “Colorado can’t force a Christian web designer to create gay wedding websites under the First Amendment, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled[]— a sweeping defeat of Colorado’s public accommodations laws that sought to ban discrimination against customers based on sexual orientation. ”
In dissent, “Justice Sonia Sotomayor [wrote,] ‘[t]oday is a sad day in American constitutional law and in the lives of LGBT people. The Supreme Court of the United States declares that a particular kind of business, though open to the public, has a constitutional right to refuse to serve members of a protected class. The Court does so for the first time in its history[.]’ ”
Relatedly, after interviewing one of the men named in the plaintiff’s court filings, The New Republic revealed that “it looks like Smith [(the plaintiff)] and her attorneys have, perhaps unwittingly, invented a gay couple in need of a wedding website in a case in which they argue that same-sex marriages are ‘false.’ ”
Also relatedly, “[t]he Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a registered nonprofit behind the ongoing 303 Creative supreme court case which could chip away at LGBTQ+ rights, saw its revenue surge by more than $25m between 2020 and 2021[.]…It has handed over hundreds of thousands of dollars of that newfound wealth to fringe organizations which have sought to diminish the rights of trans students in schools and the right for trans people to participate in sports, an investigation by the watchdog group Accountable.US has found. ”
Also in the United States, “The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a North Carolina public charter school's defense of its blocked requirement that girls wear skirts – a student uniform policy that its founder explained is aimed at treating women like ‘fragile vessels.’ Turning away an appeal by Charter Day School Inc, the justices left in place a lower court's decision that the dress code discriminated against students based on gender in violation the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment promise of equal protection under the law. ”
Also also in the United States, “[w]hen North Dakota restricted what bathrooms transgender students can use in public schools and universities this year, the school district in the state's largest city promised to ignore the new rules. A Republican legislator then called for confiscating its state funding, but the law doesn't include that possibility. The defiance in Fargo shows that it's not exactly clear how bathroom laws will play out in local communities after being enacted in at least 10 states with Republican-controlled legislatures. ”
In Florida, “The Walt Disney Co. has fired a shot across the bow of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis's campaign against the House of Mouse with a significant victory in a ‘Don't Say Gay’ law investor lawsuit. ”
In Georgia, “[o]n Saturday, Georgia’s new law banning gender-affirming surgeries and hormone replacement therapies for those under 18 takes effect. Part of a nationwide effort by conservatives to restrict transgender athletes, gender-affirming care and drag shows, Senate Bill 140 is perhaps the most high-profile of the state’s new laws. ”
In Kansas, “Attorney General Kris Kobach filed a request in federal court asking a judge to end a requirement for Kansas to allow transgender people to change their birth certificates. ”
In Texas, “[t]he Texas Supreme Court will review a case involving a Waco justice of the peace’s refusal to perform same-sex weddings. ”
Also in Texas, “The Religious Freedom Restoration Act entitles a Texas company to an exemption from a federal mandate that bars discrimination against LGBTQ employees, a federal appeals court has ruled. ”
Reproductive Rights
Environmental Crisis
Immigration & Refugee Issues
Voting Rights
Non-Profit & Government Management & Hiring
Access to Justice – Civil & Economic
In Los Angeles, CA, “[p]rompted by the release of information about thousands of Los Angeles police officers that activists posted to a public online database, City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto is trying to convince California lawmakers to weaken the state's public records law. While Feldstein Soto describes her proposal as a minor tweak to the California Public Records Act, civil rights advocates say it would severely diminish the power of the bedrock state law that allows access to information held by local governments and state agencies. ”
In Minnesota, “[a] Minneapolis man claims in a federal civil rights lawsuit filed Wednesday that authorities wrongfully jailed and charged him based on faulty facial recognition technology. ”
In Nevada, “[a] Las Vegas non-profit claims there will be ‘disastrous' consequences after Governor Lombardo vetoed Senate Bill 335. The bill would have given tenants a 60-day grace period, allowing their rental assistance application to be processed before they face eviction. It was meant to extend protections for people facing evictions after COVID-era state protections expired on June 5. Now that SB 335 is vetoed, the Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada fears thousands could become homeless. ”
In Texas, “…unprecedented legislation, which was signed by Governor Greg Abbott, prohibits cities from enforcing or creating regulations that are stronger than the state’s in broad policy areas including labor, finance, agriculture, occupations, property and natural resources. ”
Access to Justice – Criminal
In Manhattan Beach, CA, “[c]ontinually frustrated by L.A. District Attorney George Gascon's unwillingness to prosecute most state misdemeanor cases, the Manhattan Beach City Council has agreed to look into other ways to pursue those crimes. ”
In Atlanta, GA, following up on previous coverage of the “Cop City” protests, “Dekalb County’s top prosecutor announced Friday that she is stepping away from every case involving Atlanta’s Public Safety Training Center….Her statement Friday said in she will ‘withdraw her office from the prosecution of all current cases related to the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center.’ ”
In Chicago, IL, “[w]hile in town for a speech Wednesday, President Biden announced that he’s nominating April Perry as the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. If confirmed, she would be the district’s first woman in the position. ”
In New Jersey, “[t]he Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee released legislation sponsored by Senator Nellie Pou that would bring major reforms concerning public defender representation in New Jersey. One bill would eliminate fees, liens and warrants issued for Public Defender services, while the other would direct the Office of the Public Defender (OPD) to provide representation at parole revocation hearings. ”
Prosecutorial and Public Defense Office Hiring Crises
Criminal Justice Reform and Counter-Reform
In Los Angeles, CA, “[a] few dozen graphic videos from the past six years were saved to a thumb drive picked out of the trash by one inmate, and secreted out of [an LA] jail by another. Together, the videos paint a picture of a jail system awash in far more violence and disarray than previously revealed to the public. ”
In Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, “[a] United Nations investigator who was given unfettered access to the detention center at the U.S. naval station in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, reports prisoners face ‘ongoing cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment’ and says the infamous site should be shuttered. ”
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