PSJD Public Interest News Digest – August 28, 2020
Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives
Interested public. No words today, again.
Take care of one another,
Sam
Editor’s Choice(s)
COVID-19 and Remote Legal Practice
- In Canada, a second-year law student at McGill argued in The Lawyer’s Daily that “the COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated the challenges faced by [Self-Represented Litigants]. As the legal community scrambles to understand and adjust to the reality of many COVID-19 related changes, the impacts on SRLs must not be forgotten.”
- In Berrien County MI, the Herald Palladium described “the innovative efforts the [] County Public Defender’s Office has put in place to remain open and provide access for clients during the coronavirus pandemic.”
Rule of Law & Voting Rights
- In Washington DC, “Secretary of State Mike Pompeo broke long-standing tradition by giving a convention speech while still serving as chief diplomat. This reportedly could violate his department’s own policy in addition to the Hatch Act. Additionally, Homeland Security Department acting Secretary Chad Wolf presided over an immigration naturalization ceremony during a pre-taped event that was aired during the convention, which a top House Democrat and a government watchdog group asked OSC to investigate. The White House and the agencies maintained they took precautions to follow the law.”
- Also in Washington DC, “[f]ive non-profits, including three voter advocacy groups, filed a lawsuit [] against President Donald Trump’s social media executive order from May, arguing it hurts the rights of voters who receive information through social media about mail-in voting.”
- In Portland OR, “[f]ederal agents sent by President Donald Trump to protect federal buildings in Portland are now under an injunction barring them from assaulting journalists and legal observers. The government says it will appeal.”
- In Kenosha WI, “[a] Seattle-based nonprofit group that serves food to protesters said [] that several of its members were still in police custody in Kenosha, Wis., after law enforcement officers sprang from unmarked cars and arrested them ahead of Wednesday night’s demonstrations in the city. The arrests were recorded by a bystander and shared widely on social media, renewing concerns that unidentified officers could be shielded in crackdowns on demonstrators.”
- In Michigan, “[a] nonprofit group tied to influential conservatives who worked closely with President Donald Trump to elevate two Supreme Court justices is urging key states to clean up their voting rolls — a practice voting-rights groups and Democrats argue seeks to ‘purge’ legitimate voters.”
- In California. Washington, and Texas, several “cities and counties [] sought a preliminary injunction to stop the U.S. Census Bureau from moving forward on an expedited plan to complete the 2020 count. The filing in U.S. District Court in San Jose came a week after the same parties filed a federal lawsuit against the plan announced Aug. 3 to compress 8 1/2 months of data collection and processing into 4 1/2 months, which [LA City Attorney Mike] Feuer said would result in an alarming population undercount.”
Legal Technology
- In the United States, “according to a privacy assessment recently published by the agency[,]” Customs and Border Patrol “will now upload [data from digital devices seized from travelers at or near the country’s borders, often without charging them with a specific crime] to a searchable, agency-wide surveillance database and maintain for up to 75 years.”
- Also in the United States, “[a] coalition of 15 public interest groups states that PACER raises more than $140 million annually for the U.S. Courts, although some estimates put the cost of storing and retrieving that data at just over $225,000. They note the cost to store data has decreased 99.9% in the last two decades but the judiciary has chosen to increase PACER fees from $0.07 to $0.10 a page. The groups are urging Congress to advance legislation to eliminate PACER fees entirely.”
- Also in the United States, The Pew Charitable Trusts “created a framework that describes the four essential elements a portal should provide to help users navigate a legal issue and take informed action. Portals should enable users to ask questions about a legal issue, interactively refine their requests, learn about their options, and connect with relevant resources—such as legal aid and social services organizations or court websites—that can help.”
- In Pittsburgh PA, “[a] new proposal introduced to the Pittsburgh City Council this week would ban police use of facial recognition software and predictive policing technology, though the city’s law enforcement agency says it isn’t currently using either technology.”
- In San Francisco CA, “Rocket Lawyer…announced the release of RocketEvidence, its new mobile app feature that enables users to easily share video and other digital media documentation with attorneys for review.”
Student Loans & Student Debt
- In the United States, analysis from Student Loan Hero revealed that “[n]early half of Black borrowers regret borrowing in the first place, and it’s easy to see why: 4 in 10 survey respondents said their debt didn’t lead them to their desired career. And 7 in 10 said their repayment had delayed key financial milestones, such as saving for retirement.”
Immigration, Refugee, & Citizenship Issues
- In San Diego CA, “[a] an Diego Union-Tribune analysis of 10 years of [asylum] court outcomes uncovered many symptoms of the system’s biases — shortcomings that date to the system’s creation.” The analysis concluded that “the system has chronically fallen short of its promise of safety.”
- In Houston TX, “[t]he Trump administration has sharply increased its use of hotels to detain immigrant children as young as 1 before expelling them from the United States during the coronavirus pandemic despite facing outcry from lawmakers and human-rights advocates.”
Access to Justice – Civil & Economic
- In the United States, “[a]n increasing number of legal services programs have secured CARES Act funding to expand tenant representation. These grants come from CDBG-CV, the Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF), and Emergency Services Grants (ESG).”
- In New York NY, “[t]he Legal Aid Society will take legal action if Mayor Bill de Blasio succumbs to local pressure to move homeless shelter residents from hotel rooms across the city back to congregate housing before it is safe, the group said[.]”
- In San Francisco CA, “Mayor London Breed expressed concerns on Thursday about the city’s budget after supervisors approved changes to her proposed budget for the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 fiscal years…[In particular, t]he committee [] approved an additional $750,000 in the budget to expand the city’s Tenant Right to Counsel program…Under Breed’s budget proposal, the program would’ve faced cuts by as much as $1 million.”
- In Pennsylvania, with the state’s “moratorium on evictions and foreclosures set to expire on Monday, Gov. Tom Wolf said he prefers the legislature to take action as opposed to issuing an extension by executive order. But lawmakers won’t have time to come up with a fix before the deadline arrives.”
- In New York, “[w]hile testifying in front of the New York State Legislature on Friday, Chief Administrative Judge Lawrence Marks warned lawmakers that the courts may have no choice but to return holding eviction proceedings by Oct. 1 as the Office of Court Administration feels that it doesn’t have the authority to extend such a moratorium indefinitely. Marks added that if the State Senate believes that the moratorium should exist beyond that date, that they, along with Gov. Andrew Cuomo, have to be the ones to get it done.”
- In Oregon, “advocates say[] landlords are taking advantage of those hit hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic: undocumented Oregonians, particularly renters…[who] are ineligible for government assistance, such as unemployment and stimulus checks, and often lack savings and access to health care.”
- In Detroit MI, “Mayor Mike Duggan reminded residents Wednesday the city has about $12 million available and other services for residents who are at risk of losing their homes as an eviction crisis looms.”
- In Rochester NY, “[e]very Rochester resident facing eviction proceedings in a city court will now have access to free legal representation under a program that launched Tuesday.”
- In Hawaii, “the state’s labor department is reaching out to Hawaii’s legal community for volunteer help resolving thousands of backlogged unemployment insurance claims.”
- In the United States, “IAALS, the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System, and the Netherlands-based HiiL (The Hague Institute for Innovation of Law) recently launched the largest-ever survey of its kind as part of their US Justice Needs project. Funded by Bohemian Foundation, the US Justice Needs survey will reach 10,000 people in the United States and seek to uncover their experiences in accessing justice when they need it.”
Access to Justice – Criminal & Decarceration
- In Baltimore MD, “Marianne Lima[, who] oversees pretrial litigation for Baltimore’s public defender’s office, [] is concerned that clients whose cases are delayed because of coronavirus are forced to pay high fees for ankle monitoring services until trial.”
- In Georgia, “[t]he Georgia Public Defender Council’s executive director will restore a nearly full complement of attorneys to the council’s appellate division by the end of September.”
Criminal Justice Reform
- In New York NY, “[m]ore than 50 nonprofits, including social services organizations, advocacy groups and religious institutions, sent a letter that calls on New York City leaders to adopt an agenda featuring a slate of police reforms.”
- In Brooklyn NY, “District Attorney Eric Gonzalez announced on Monday that he is one of 42 prosecutors from across the country who have signed a pledge to reject campaign contributions from law enforcement unions, including the Police Benevolent Association in New York City.”
- The Intercept argued that “Wesley Bell’s decision not to charge the officer who killed Michael Brown exposes the limits of the movement to elect reform prosecutors.”
- In Contra Costa County CA, “District Attorney Diana Becton made a case for her ‘Reimagine Youth Justice Task Force,’ a varied group of advocates working to divert as many young offenders as possible away from incarceration and toward more progressive programs.”
- In Kansas, “Gov. Laura Kelly renominated a federal public defender for a spot on Kansas’ second-highest court despite his initial rejection by the Republican-led state Senate, saying he is undoubtedly the most qualified person for the job.”