July 21, 2023 at 1:04 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! Apologies, but the stories today are all news from /last/ week. This week’s digest is in the pipeline and I am hoping to get it to you all first thing Monday. (I’ve been dealing with some illness and am a bit behind.) Major stories include additional fallout from the Supreme Court’s recent decision regarding student loans, the continued growth of local-government-based “right to counsel in eviction programs” (and a critique of this approach to securing housing in the United States, featured as an Editor’s Choice), and news on hiring trends within private firms’ pro bono teams and across the US government sector. It’s a long one, and I’ve got more news coming at you soon. Hang in there.
As always, these stories and more are in the links below.
Take care of each other,
Sam
Editor’s Choice
At a Stanford Law Review Symposium on Access to Justice, Professor Juliet M. Brodie (Stanford) and Prof. Larisa G. Bowman (U Iowa) argued that “[m]ost low-income tenants facing eviction do not need a lawyer. They need rent money. Recent policy emphasis on right to counsel obscures the real injustice at play in our eviction courts: the monetization of residential housing, the protection of property and profit at the expense of the poor, and the exploitation of the human need for shelter as a mechanism to line the pockets of the real estate industry…If nonpayment cases were diverted to rental assistance programs and non-attorney advocates were available to facilitate the flow of the money, lawyers could devote their energy to the subset of evictions where legal training really makes a difference—those with factual disputes or novel questions of law. ”
In Washington DC, “at the EconCon conference…speakers offered..[a] recognition—sometimes explicit, sometimes less so—that even as budgets have grown, direct public provision of services has atrophied. In a word, a large share of public services during the neoliberal era of the past few decades has been outsourced. Often, the federal government distributes grants or writes checks as if it were a gigantic private foundation rather than implementing public programs directly. This outsourcing of services is a major reason for the rapid growth of the nonprofit sector. ”
In the United States, “[f]or the Am Law 200 firms that participated in The American Lawyer 2023 Pro Bono Scorecard, average pro bono hours per lawyer were flat…Even as industry demand slowed in 2022, pro bono hours, which fell off in 2021, recovered some but failed to return to 2020 levels. ”
Supreme Court Ethics Concerns
In Geneva Switzerland, the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers issued a report “present[ing] her vision for the mandate in the coming years. ” Significantly, the report includes a focus on “[e]fforts by businesses and those with economic advantages to unduly influence the judiciary,” stating that “[t]he Special Rapporteur will explore ways that businesses and individuals or groups with significant economic advantages may seek to unduly influence judges in order to obtain favourable outcomes. This could include attempts at quid pro quo corruption, but also other activities that could constitute inappropriate, sometimes systemic, efforts to unduly influence judges. ”
Braxton Brewington of the Debt Collective called attention to the fact that “myself and fellow researchers [have] revealed [in a Roosevelt Institute report of May 2023] that after Biden’s student debt relief plan would have been implemented, MOHELA would [have been] earn[ing] more revenue than ever before — a direct contradiction to the Republicans’ claim that revenue would be cut nearly in half. How did such a flawed claim squeeze by the Supreme Court’s fact finding process? Well, they didn’t have one. In granting certiorari before judgment through the shadow docket, no court ever conducted a discovery — the legal procedure in which someone at the Court reviews the evidence. ”
Relatedly, in Washington DC “[t]he Biden administration is giving student debt forgiveness another shot…[by] invoking a section of the 1965 Higher Education Act, which allows the secretary of education to ‘compromise, waive, or release loans under certain circumstances.’ …[but] Conservative justices are already signaling that Congress hasn’t delegated specific authority to the executive branch for mass debt cancellation…Any court challenges would have to wait until the rule was finalized, meaning a final decision about its legality likely wouldn’t come until after the 2024 election. ”
Also in Washington DC, “[d]ocuments obtained by The Associated Press through public records requests reveal that some all-expenses-paid [teaching] trips [ostensibly to demystify the nation’s highest courts while exposing the justices to a cross-section of the public] — to Italy, Iceland and Hawaii, among others — are light on classroom instruction, with ample time carved out for the justices’ leisure. ”
Again also in Washington DC, the Associated Press reported that “[Justice] Sotomayor’s staff has often prodded public institutions that have hosted the justice to buy her memoir or children’s books, works that have earned her at least $3.7 million since she joined the court in 2009. Details of those events, largely out of public view, were obtained by The Associated Press through more than 100 open records requests to public institutions. ”
Finally, in the New York Times, Judge Michael Ponsor of the District of Massachusetts “wrote a measured, eloquent, and absolutely scathing rebuke of the Supreme Court’s ethical cesspool. ”
Student Loans & Student Debt
Eye on AI
In New Orleans LA, “[t]he ABA recently adopted Resolution 604, which includes guidelines for the use of artificial intelligence (AI), at its 2023 Midyear Meeting. ”
In California, “Google was hit with a wide-ranging lawsuit [] alleging the tech giant scraped data from millions of users without their consent and violated copyright laws in order to train and develop its artificial intelligence products. ”
In New York NY, “New York Assembly Member Clyde Vanel has said he used AI to draft a bill that would address the housing crisis…Yet, several housing experts say the results are unclear. Linda Rosenthal, a Democrat who chairs the Assembly Housing Committee, told The New York Times that she was unimpressed by the software’s contribution to the housing debate. ‘A.I. failed to identify and to reflect back what the housing crisis is all about,’ Rosenthal told The New York Times. ‘It’s certainly not people clamoring to make their landlord, in the law, send them a copy of their lease.’ ”
In Washington DC, “[t]he Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has opened an investigation into OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, questioning its data accuracy and consumer protections. ”
Above the Law reported that “[a] lot of lawyers thought they had discovered a golden ticket when they discovered ChatGPT. They were enthused about how fast it was and how they could utilize it for legal research, drafting legal documents, case analysis, legal compliance, composing client communications and the list goes on. It was dizzying in its speed and the conversational language was irresistible – and understandable. Sadly, many lawyers did not comprehend that they were feeding confidential data to the AI, and that the history of their conversations with ChatGPT could be recalled and even used to train the AI. ”
Environmental Crisis
Immigration & Refugee Issues
Non-Profit & Government Management & Hiring
In London UK, “Aristata Capital Ltd, based in London, describes itself as the first litigation funder of its kind, as it finances lawsuits that aim to deliver systemic change and empower marginalized voices. The portfolio, anchored by money from Capricorn Investment Group, will target issues globally, including environmental protection, climate change, indigenous rights and human rights. ”
In the United States, “[m]ore Big Law firms are hiring lawyers to focus on specific areas of pro bono work, a move that makes the firms’ priorities clear and offers a roadmap for growing other social programs. ”
Also in the United States, “[s]tate and local governments continued expanding payrolls in June, adding about 59,000 jobs as the strength of the US economy bolsters tax collections and they draw on aid from Washington. ”
In Washington DC, “Republicans in Congress are proposing to cut deficits by way of steep curbs to federal employee compensation—for example, ending “automatic” annual pay boosts and increasing the price of health insurance premiums. But some experts—in public administration, labor and business—see the plan’s savings as potentially very limited, and the costs potentially high. ”
In Los Angeles CA, a federal lawsuit filed Friday against Los Angeles County by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund alleged that “[t]he Los Angeles County Public Defender’s promotion policy unlawfully discriminates against Latino attorneys[.] ”
Access to Justice – Civil & Economic
Worldwide, “[p]rivacy advocates have a stacked agenda this summer as they fight legislative proposals in three key markets that threaten the security of encrypted messaging services. ”
In Madison WI, “[r]esearch released today shows that for every dollar invested in civil legal aid in Wisconsin, the economy receives a return of $8.40. ”
In St. Louis MO, “[i]ndividuals facing eviction [] have gained the right to have an attorney during the process. ”
In Los Angeles CA, “[t]he Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously [] to create a so-called “Right to Counsel” ordinance aimed at ensuring legal representation for eligible tenants facing eviction in unincorporated areas. ”
In New York NY, “[t]his year’s city budget is adding roughly $20 million a year to the “Right to Counsel” program, which provides free legal representation to tens of thousands of renters in New York City. ”
In Colorado, “[r]ural and remote areas…are experiencing a shortage of attorneys. ”
In San Francisco CA, “homeless advocates [] say the city is still carrying out homeless encampment sweeps despite an order from a federal judge. ”
In New Jersey, the New Jersey Law Journal “call[ed] upon the New Jersey Supreme Court to set up a committee to…experiment [with a framework for ‘practicing law’ in certain circumstances by non-lawyers who nonetheless are regulated and supervised]. ”
In British Columbia, “[a]mendments to the Supreme Court Civil Rules and Supreme Court Family Rules will make it easier for people in B.C. to access court services. ”
In Tulsa OK, “[a]n Oklahoma judge has thrown out a lawsuit seeking reparations for the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, dashing an effort to obtain some measure of legal justice by survivors of the deadly racist rampage…The order comes in a case by three survivors of the attack, who are all now over 100 years old and sued in 2020 with the hope of seeing what their attorney called ‘justice in their lifetime.’ ”
In Maine, “the final piece of the FY24-25 biennial budget…signed into law [] by Governor Mills[] includes more than $4 million in investments to reduce abuse, neglect, and exploitation of older adults and adults with disabilities[.] ”
In Washington DC, “[t]he Department of Veterans Affairs awarded $11.5 million in legal services grants for veterans experiencing or at-risk of homelessness as part of its national homeless prevention efforts. These first-of-their-kind funds, available through VA’s new Legal Services for Veterans Grant Program, were awarded to 79 public or nonprofit organizations[.] ”
Access to Justice – Criminal
Prosecutorial and Public Defense Office Hiring Crises
Criminal Justice Reform and Counter-Reform
In Washington DC, “[t]he American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit on Thursday on behalf of a Washington, D.C., nonprofit alleging that the city’s reliance on police response in mental health emergencies is a violation of federal disability law. ”
Also in Washington DC, the ACLU observed that “Senator Joe Biden voted no on the FISA Amendments Act, which legalized a secret mass surveillance program that allows the government to collect Americans’ international phone calls, text messages, emails, and other digital communications — all without a warrant…stat[ing] he was voting no because Section 702 ‘would be a breathtaking and unconstitutional expansion of the President’s powers’…[w]hat Biden did not predict, however, [was] that one day he would be ordering his administration to defend this very same law. ”
In Oakland CA, “[s]ix months after Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price was sworn in, becoming the first Black woman and progressive reformer to hold that role, an effort is underway to remove her from office. ”
In Los Angeles CA, “[a] judge has granted the union representing many Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies a preliminary injunction that for now bars the county from requiring deputies to show their tattoos to investigators with the Office of Inspector General. ”
In Seattle WA, “City Attorney Ann Davison has filed an appeal of a federal judge’s injunction that is currently blocking city prosecutors from charging people under the municipal graffiti law. In a ruling last month, U.S. District Court Judge Marsha Pechman said the Seattle municipal code was too broad and posed a ‘real and substantial threat of censorship.’ ”
In Minneapolis MN, “[t]he City Attorney’s Office is challenging one of the DOJ’s findings from a two-year investigation into the Minneapolis Police Department. KSTP writes that City Attorney Kristyn Anderson filed a memo against the DOJ’s use of the word ‘regularly’ when referring to MPD violating the First Amendment rights of residents saying the word is not defined ‘nor quantifying how many of each type of violation was observed.’ ”
In Cincinnati OH, “[t]he director of Cincinnati’s police oversight board, Gabe Davis, is resigning to become the new CEO of the Ohio Justice and Policy Center. ”
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