PSJD News Digest – March 1, 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
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Majority Leader Schumer And Senators Sanders And Warren Statement Calling For Investigation Into Student Loan Forgiveness Mismanagement By MOHELA (Senate Democrats; 28 Feb 2024)
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MOHELA points finger at federal government in response to criticism of loan program (Missouri Independent; 1 Mar 2024)
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Non-Profit & Government Management & Hiring
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Congress passes stopgap funding bill, delaying shutdown threat by one week (Government Executive; 29 Feb 2024)
Access to Justice – Civil & Economic
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Legal Organization Workers On Strike Say NYC Tenants Deserve More (City Limits; 29 Feb 2024)
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‘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
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Indigent defense case returns to court as Maine on precipice of ‘constitutional crisis’ (News from the States; 28 Feb 2024)
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With limited options in upstate New York, legal services group looks to expand to help with record sealing (Spectrum Local News; 29 Feb 2024)
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Public defender services in [San Benito CA] county are inadequate, report says (Benito Link; 29 Feb 2024)
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[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
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Democratic US senators say judiciary to blame for public defenders' budget woes (Reuters; 1 Mar 2024)
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WA's public defender system is breaking down, communities reeling (The Seattle Times; 29 Feb 2024)
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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
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Northwest [US] to get federal prosecutor dedicated to missing and slain Indigenous people (The Spokesman-Review; 28 Feb 2024)
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Bill passes to eliminate [Louisiana] State Public Defender Board, replace with single appointee (Fox 8 Local; 29 Feb 2024)