Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives

Hello, interested public!

Lots of news this week: the student loan servicer in charge of managing public-service-related loans will be appearing in front of a Congressional hearing, while Biden outlined new forgiveness strategies for public service workers. New York State is considering multiple right-to-counsel bills (related to immigration services and tenants’ rights). Pay for public defenders adn court appointed attorneys looks likely to improve in multiple states, but in Louisiana public defenders are are worried that controversial new changes to the state’s system for managing their work may result in pay reductions. As always, these stories and more are in the links below.

Take care,

Sam

Editor’s Choice

Student Debt and Student Loans

• Biden to cancel nearly $6B in student loans for public service workers (AP; 21 Mar 2024)

• John Oliver on student loans: ‘It’s hard to feel like this system isn’t rigged’ (The Guardian; 18 Mar 2024)

• Student Loan Trusts Subject to Consumer Protection Laws, Court Rules (US News & World Report; 19 Mar 2024)

• Student loan company MOHELA will face lawmakers on loan 'mishandling.' Here's what to know (USA Today; 18 Mar 2024)

Non-Profit & Government Management & Hiring

• Congress Unveils $1.2 Trillion Plan to Fund Agencies to Sept. 30 (Bloomberg News; 21 Mar 2024)

• Once Ignored by Investors, Justice Tech Market Sees New Opportunity (LegalTech News; 15 Mar 2024)

• Striking [NY NY] Legal Services Staff ‘Hopeful’ as Contract Talks Resume (The City; 19 Mar 2024)

• Anti-DEI Lawsuits Threaten Nonprofits, Philanthropies (Nonprofit Quarterly; 19 Mar 2024)

• Unfamiliar Territory: Lawsuit Calls Mandatory Pro Bono Assignments Unconstitutional (New Jersey Law Journal; 19 Mar 2024)

Access to Justice – Civil & Economic

• NYS Tenants And Legal Workers Rally At Capitol For Right To Counsel, Seeking $260M In Budget (Harlem World; 16 Mar 2024)

• Phoenix [AZ] discusses right to counsel program for renters facing eviction (12 News; 20 Mar 2024)

• NY advocates want immigrant legal services bill passed (Public News Service; 22 Mar 2024)

  • New Report: Legal Aid For NY Immigrants Could Generate Billions In Economic Gains (Harlem World; 18 Mar 2024)

• US congressional funding fights take toll on housing aid programs (Thomson Reuters; 17 Mar 2024)

• New [Los Angeles CA] legal services program to help homeless people navigate court system (City News Service; 21 Mar 2024)

• How Gen AI Tools Could Help Close The Justice Gap (Law360; 20 Mar 2024)

• Access to Innovation series: Access to innovation and justice through technology (Law Society of Ontario Gazette; 19 Mar 2024)

• Legal advocates oppose $234M funding cut from public defense [ed: actually indigent legal services fund] (Brooklyn Eagle; 22 Mar 2024)

• New York City won't offer 'right to shelter' to some immigrants after 30 days in deal with advocates (AP; 15 Mar 2024)

  • NYC Public Advocate Responds To ‘Right To Shelter’ Settlement (NYC Advocate; 15 Mar 2024)

Access to Justice – Criminal

• State [of Maine] urges judge to not add governor, attorney general to indigent defense lawsuit (Portland Press Herald; 15 Mar 2024)

• Pennsylvania Makes Historic Move Towards Equal Justice with Indigent Defense Funding (My Ches Co; 17 Mar 2024)

• Notable South Dakota jurists to help standup state-run public defenders office (The Daktoa Scout; 21 Mar 2024)

• Defense by court-appointed attorneys is a constitutional right: Iowa should pay for it [Editorial] (Des Moines Register; 21 Mar 2024)

• Kent County [MI] could replace public defender nonprofit (WoodTV; 19 Mar 2024)

Prosecutorial and Public Defense Office Hiring Crises

• More work for less pay: Spokane County [WA] prosecutors, public defender’s office struggling to recruit, retain attorneys (The Spokesman-Review; 21 Mar 2024)

  • Plan to ease caseloads for Washington public defenders could 'bankrupt' some counties (King 5; 15 Mar 2024)

• Judge orders Kanawha County [WV] Public Defender's Office off city cases due to staffing (WCHS 8; 22 Mar 2024)

• Gov. Mills signs bill to fund more public defenders in Maine (News from the States; 21 Mar 2024)

• Federal Defenders Lift Hiring Freeze After Budget Raised (Bloomberg Law; 21 Mar 2024)

• Alabama House OKs pay increase for attorneys representing indigent clients (Alabama Reflector; 19 Mar 2024)

• Virginia’s court appointed attorneys could see first raise in 20 years (Radio IQ; 19 Mar 2024)

• Louisiana’s chief public defenders fear salary cut comes with Landry’s overhaul (Louisiana Illuminator; 19 Mar 2024)

  • Landry’s public defender board scheduled to meet, but all members haven’t been picked (Louisiana Illuminator; 21 Mar 2024)

Criminal Justice Reform & Counter-Reform

• Oakland’s Progressive DA Just Wants to Do Her Job. In an Age of Recalls, That Job Is Changing. (Mother Jones; 18 Mar 2024)

• County Special Public Defender retires after investigation into anti-police culture (Las Vegas Review Journal; 21 Mar 2024)

• U.S. Public Defenders Promise, at Press Briefing, to ‘Push Back’ against ‘Misleading Crime Narratives’ (The Davis Vanguard; 19 Mar 2024)

• [NY NY] Legal Aid Society analysis reveals alarming trend in NYPD misconduct payouts (Brooklyn News; 21 Mar 2024)

Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives

Hello, interested public! The biggest story this week is that Bloomberg Law found that 1 in 4 law students surveyed said they expect to work as a practicing attorney in public service. That should keep us all busy for the foreseeable future! In other news, a major deadline for income-driving repayment plans is looming and the Washington State Bar Association set new, lower caseload limits for public defenders in an attempt to address the state’s ongoing crisis providing indigent defense (as previously covered on the Digest). As always, these stories and more are in the links below.

Take care,

Sam

Editor’s Choice

• 24% of law students expect to work in public service, survey says (ABA Journal; 13 Mar 2024)

Student Debt and Student Loans

• Major Student Loan Forgiveness Opportunity ‘Ends Soon,’ Warns Agency (Forbes; 13 Mar 2024)

• NY DAs, Public Defenders Urge Student Loan Aid Expansion (Law 360; 12 Mar 2024)

Non-Profit & Government Management & Hiring

• Nonprofit Boards Remain Predominantly White. Do Funders Care? (Inside Philanthropy; 13 Mar 2024)

• 30 Civil and Human Rights Organizations Urge Congress to Oppose Anti-DEIA Funding Cuts (NAACP LDF; 11 Mar 2024)

• U.S. Courts of Appeals Block Two Legal Efforts to Curb DEI Initiatives (JDSupra; 14 Mar 2024)

• Judge rules against Texas AG in battle with nonprofit serving migrants (CNN; 12 Mar 2024)

• Employee groups air their disappointment with Biden’s 2% raise proposal (Government Executive; 13 Mar 2024)

Access to Justice – Civil & Economic

• [Massachusetts] District Court standing order seeks to provide pro bono representation in debt collection cases (Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly; 13 Mar 2024)

• [New York] Immigration Advocates Say Hike in Legal Services Budget Is Needed to Fix 'Completely Broken' System (New York Law Journal; 13 Mar 2024)

• [New York] Gov. Hochul faces backlash over attempt to divert $120m from legal aid fund (Brooklyn Daily Eagle; 14 Mar 2024)

• [Maryland:] Supporting Civil Legal Aid is a Good Investment [Editorial] (The Daily Record; 15 Mar 2024)

Access to Justice – Criminal

• Defending the System: Public Defenders on Tech in the Legal System (Industry Insider; 13 Mar 2024)

• Lawsuit claims San Mateo County’s unusual public defender program is ‘defective and unlawful’ (San Francisco Chronicle; 13 Mar 2024)

• Funding for Indigenous-led projects address flaws in [Canadian federal] justice system (Two Row Times; 14 Mar 2024)

  • Access to Indigenous led justice services important way to achieve systemic change: lawyer (APTN National News; 14 Mar 2024)

• Johnston County [NC] to get its first public defender this summer (News from the States; 14 Mar 2024)

• California's REP Act: Legal Aid for Convicted Immigrants Sparks Debate (BBN Breaking; 11 Mar 2024)

• Florida’s indigency fees pose financial challenges to the legally poor (WLRN; 12 Mar 2024)

• Approved ordinance defines ‘needy person’ in relation to public defender eligibility for Cheyenne [WY] Municipal Court (Cap City News; 12 Mar 2024)

• ACLU’s updated lawsuit challenges legality of holding unrepresented, jailed Mainers (Portland Press Herald; 8 Mar 2024)

Prosecutorial and Public Defense Office Hiring Crises

• Judge orders state to produce data on indigent defendants in Wisconsin as lawyers seek class-action lawsuit (Wasau Daily Herald; 15 Mar 2024)

• Public defenders underpaid, overworked, North Dakota report says (The Dickinson Press; 15 Mar 2024)

• [Michigan] Prosecutors say low salaries, staff shortages, contribute to delays, backlogs (Midland Daily News; 13 Mar 2024)

• Washington State Bar Association OKs far lower caseloads for public defenders (Washington Post; 13 Mar 2024)

  • New Caseload Standards Aim to Improve Ailing Public Defense System, But Could Take a Bite Out of County Budget (Publicola; 13 Mar 2024)

• Spokane [WA] prosecuting attorney's union to receive 10% pay bump after contract negotiations (The Spokesman-Review; 13 Mar 2024)

• [Rhode Island] Public defender seeks $600K to narrow salary divide (The Providence Journal; 12 Mar 2024)

Criminal Justice Reform & Counter-Reform

• [Georgia] Gov. signs law creating prosecutor oversight commission that could threaten Fani Willis’ job (WSB-TV; 13 Mar 2024)

• Hennepin County [MN] Attorney calls out Minneapolis PD for lack of collaboration (Fox9 KMSP; 13 Mar 2024)

• Advocates ask [Gov.] Moore to veto changes to Maryland juvenile justice system (The Daily Record; 14 Mar 2024)

Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives

Hello, interested public! We’re back with another week of news from the world of public service law. Major stories this week from Hawaii, where the entire staff of a domestic violence nonprofit simultaneously quit, and Washington, where the DOJ has informed the immigration judges’ union it can no longer issue public statements without prior agency approval. As always, these stories and more are in the links below.

Sam

Non-Profit & Government Management & Hiring

• American Bar Association issues new ethics guidance for public lawyers (Canadian Lawyer Magazine; 3 Mar 2024)

• Surveys reveal key challenges for law firms and government lawyers in Canada (CBA National; 6 Mar 2024)

• White House Pushes Pay Equity for Federal Employees and Contractors (ClearanceJobs; 8 Mar 2024)

• Justice Department beefs up focus on artificial intelligence enforcement, warns of harsher sentences (Associated Press; 7 Mar 2024)

• DOJ issues 'gag order' on immigration judges (Government Executive; 5 Mar 2024)

• Lowering Barriers to Entry to Public Service (There’s a reason fewer than 1% of lawyers in the U.S. are focusing on public-interest law) [opinion] (Wall St. Journal; 5 Mar 2024)

• NY Legal Services Org Votes To Unionize With Supermajority (Law360; 6 Mar 2024)

Access to Justice – Civil & Economic

• Gov. Hochul's Budget Plan Risks Legal Aid: $234M Shift Sparks Outcry (BNN; 6 Mar 2024)

• [IL] Access to Justice Commission Seeks Comment on New Form Sets (ISBA; 7 Mar 2024)

• Nonprofits in rural Oregon worry that victims of domestic abuse, human trafficking will lose vital legal resources (KGW8; 4 Mar 2024)

• 'Access To Justice Means Language Justice,' DOJ Official Says (Law360; 4 Mar 2024)

• [Cambridge MA] City Council Seeks to Increase Legal Representation for Tenants (Harvard Crimson; 4 Mar 2024)

• Efforts to expand access to free legal services for people facing eviction in Nashville (WKRN; 4 Mar 2024)

• Many Detroiters facing eviction have the right to free legal help. That doesn’t mean they know it (Outlier Media; 5 Mar 2024)

• Illinois Legal Aid Milestone: Boosting Justice in Domestic Violence and Housing Cases (BBN; 5 Mar 2024)

• Entire attorney staff at key [HI] domestic violence nonprofit leave, citing internal conflict (Hawaii News Now; 4 Mar 2024)

• NYC Council Immigration Committee demands Adams spend more on migrant legal services, education (NY Daily News; 5 Mar 2024)

• Ottawa boosts legal support for racialized newcomers in New Brunswick (Canadian Lawyer; 5 Mar 2024)

• Illinois embraces virtual court appearances offering greater access to justice (News Channel 20; 7 Mar 2024)

• Advocates to Push for NY Office Setting up Lawyers with Tenants Facing Evictions (Law.com; 7 Mar 2024)

Access to Justice – Criminal

• Police take aim at Ulster [NY] Public Defender’s office (Mid-Hudson News; 4 Mar 2024)

• Senate Dems urge judiciary to fully fund federal public defense services (Courthouse News; 5 Mar 2024)

• Funding to increase access to justice for racialized inmates in Nova Scotia (DOJ Canada; 6 Mar 2024)

Prosecutorial and Public Defense Office Hiring Crises

• Prosecutors are critical to public safety. Florida lawmakers should pay them more [opinion] (Miami Herald; 2 Mar 2024)

• New York public defenders, DAs push for more student loan repayment help (Spectrum Local News; 1 Mar 2024)

• WA to train public defenders, prosecutors for rural, underserved areas (The Seattle Times; 6 Mar 2024)

• [AL] House committee approves bills increasing pay for attorneys representing indigent clients (Alabama Reflector; 6 Mar 2024)

Criminal Justice Reform & Counter-Reform

• Revolutionizing Justice: Delaware County’s Advocates Boost Diversion Program Success Rates (BNN; 4 Mar 2024)

• Public Defenders Running for Judge Want to Reduce Mass Incarceration in Los Angeles (The Appeal; 4 Mar 2024)

• How LA's District Attorney Went From Criminal Justice Reform Warrior to Endangered Incumbent (KQED; 4 Mar 2024)

• Organizers of recall against Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price turn in signatures (The Mercury News; 4 Mar 2024)

• Georgia House GOP advances prosecutor oversight bill as Dems complain of political score-settling (Georgia Recorder; 5 Mar 2024)

• Will [LA] state public defender overhaul affect Caddo Parish Public Defender's Office? (Shreveport Times; 6 Mar 2024)

Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives

Hello, interested public! We’re back with another week of news from the world of public service law. The biggest story this week concerns a controversy surrounding the new contractor placed in charge of student loans likely to be subject to public service loan forgiveness. This story and others are in the links below.

Sam

Student Loans & Student Debt

• Majority Leader Schumer And Senators Sanders And Warren Statement Calling For Investigation Into Student Loan Forgiveness Mismanagement By MOHELA (Senate Democrats; 28 Feb 2024)

  • MOHELA points finger at federal government in response to criticism of loan program (Missouri Independent; 1 Mar 2024)

Non-Profit & Government Management & Hiring

• Congress passes stopgap funding bill, delaying shutdown threat by one week (Government Executive; 29 Feb 2024)

Access to Justice – Civil & Economic

• Legal Organization Workers On Strike Say NYC Tenants Deserve More (City Limits; 29 Feb 2024)

• ‘Not a fair fight.’ Advocates, officials push to provide free legal aid to low-income tenants fighting eviction (Boston Globe; 1 Mar 2024)

Access to Justice – Criminal

• Indigent defense case returns to court as Maine on precipice of ‘constitutional crisis’ (News from the States; 28 Feb 2024)

• With limited options in upstate New York, legal services group looks to expand to help with record sealing (Spectrum Local News; 29 Feb 2024)

• Public defender services in [San Benito CA] county are inadequate, report says (Benito Link; 29 Feb 2024)

• [SD] Senate adds $3 million to statewide public defender bill to reimburse counties (Black Hills Pioneer; 1 Mar 2024)

Prosecutorial and Public Defense Office Hiring Crises

• Democratic US senators say judiciary to blame for public defenders' budget woes (Reuters; 1 Mar 2024)

• WA's public defender system is breaking down, communities reeling (The Seattle Times; 29 Feb 2024)

• Sim Gill wants more prosecutors for case backlog. Legislature tells Salt Lake County [UT] D.A. to be more efficient (The Salt Lake Tribune; 28 Feb 2024)

Criminal Justice Reform

• Northwest [US] to get federal prosecutor dedicated to missing and slain Indigenous people (The Spokesman-Review; 28 Feb 2024)

• Bill passes to eliminate [Louisiana] State Public Defender Board, replace with single appointee (Fox 8 Local; 29 Feb 2024)