PSJD Public Interest News Digest – July 16, 2021
Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives
Hello, interested public! Big stories this week include a piece on how the federal hiring process may hamstring the Biden Administration’s effort to rebuild the ranks of the EPA, a new development in an ongoing class action lawsuit by hundreds of current and former Black federal employees, and an analysis of the state of the law concerning the dischargeability of student loans in bankruptcy,
These stories and more are in the links below.
Take care of one another,
Sam
Editor’s Choice
Immigration, Refugee, and Citizenship Issues
- The Brennan Center published an essay detailing “the dehumanizing work of immigration law[.]”
- Writing in Government Executive, Professors Daniel Braaten and Claire Nolasco Braaten described their research into the decisions of immigration judges, which “shows that…[p]olitical factors such as ideology, political party of the president who appointed them and who was president at the time they decided the case significantly influenced whether these children were allowed to stay in the country.”
- In the United States, “[i]mmigrant advocates, including Catholic organizations, launched a campaign [] to provide legal aid those who may need it, in case Congress, under the Biden administration, approves some type of reform. ‘Ready to Stay,’ the name of campaign by the national coalition of over 18 organizations, unveiled www.readytostay.org.”
Student Loans & Student Debt
- In Washington DC, “[s]everal prominent Democratic lawmakers are asking the Education Department (ED) about student debt collection practices in the face of a potential wave of student loan defaults when the pandemic payment pause expires[.]”
- Forbes published a piece examining how “FedLoan Servicing’s abrupt departure from the Department of Education’s sprawling federal student loan system will likely be disruptive to millions of student loan borrowers…[especially as] FedLoan Servicing has been the primary servicer tasked with administering the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program.”
- In Massachusetts, “[a] a new team within Attorney General Maura Healey’s office is preparing for any confusion and questions borrowers might face after the [student debt] relief program ends.”
- In New York, “[a]n appeals court ruled that private student loans can be discharged through bankruptcy like other consumer debts, opening the door for more borrowers to obtain relief from educational debt.”
- In California, “a [new] law that went into effect this year [] gained teeth this month, with a new ombudsman’s office empowered to review complaints about student loan providers.”
- In Boston MA, WBUR “took a look at how [tension over the policy called ‘summer contribution’] has unfolded for some area law school students.”
- Law360 published an analysis of where legal authority stands after the US Supreme Court’s recent decision to deny certiorari in a case concerning whether student loans are dischargeable during bankruptcy.
- Business Insider published a profile of Astra Taylor, co-founder of the Debt Collective.
Pandemic in the Legal System
- In New York NY, “[t]he Association of Legal Aid Attorneys condemned the Office of Court Administration and the Department of Citywide Administrative Services for unsanitary and unhealthy conditions that they say are rife throughout city courthouses.”
- In Albuquerque NM, “[t]he district attorney’s office said fewer cases are making it to trial, partly because grand juries were suspended.”
Non-Profit & Gov’t Management & Hiring
- The Chronicle of Philanthropy reported that “new estimates from the Johns Hopkins Center for Civil Society Studies…found that since June 2020, nearly 60 percent of nonprofit jobs that were eliminated due to the health and economic crisis have been restored.”
- In Washington DC, “[t]he legal team representing hundreds of current and former Black federal employees now part of a proposed multi-million-dollar class-action lawsuit against the federal government has filed a motion in federal court for the government to implement a $100-million mental health fund to address mental injuries and ongoing challenges faced by Black public service workers.”
- Also in Washington DC, “President Biden and congressional Democrats are…seek[ing] to reduce the number of law enforcement jobs at Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, where Trump had sought to add thousands of officers and agents. Instead, the fiscal 2022 DHS spending bill—approved by the House Appropriations Committee on Tuesday—would augment the rolls at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Secret Service and other components.”
- Also also in Washington DC, “[t]he EPA has hired 500 new employees since President Joe Biden took office, helping to replenish its battered ranks, which stand at a 34-year low, the agency tells Bloomberg Law. Recruiting hundreds more, however, may not be as easy.”
- In New York NY, “[a] Legal Aid Society public defender who spoke out against city schools’ “anti-bias” training has sued her employer, saying her colleagues have unfairly labeled her a racist.”
Access to Justice – Civil & Economic
- In Kansas, “[t]he Kansas Bar Foundation is awarding grants to organizations that assist low-income individuals that are at risk of losing their homes, as well as non-profits that support legal education and access to justice for those struggling financially. Applications for 2022 are now open for two of their annual programs.”
- In Washington DC, “[t]he Legal Services Corporation (LSC) launched the LSC Eviction Laws Database today in partnership with the Center for Public Health Law Research. The database is a new online tool that will aid users in better understanding the significant variation in eviction laws across the country and the effect these differences have on eviction outcomes.”
- In Alaska, the Executive Director of the Alaska Legal Services Corporation revealed that “[t]he governor’s veto of $400,000, 62% of our state appropriation, slashed it to its lowest point since 2010. This means that we will now turn away an additional 818 Alaskans who need our help.”
- In Minnesota, “, tenants, landlords, attorneys and judges are getting briefed on details of the new law [] that spells out rules for lease terminations and eviction court cases over the next 10 ½ months.”
- In Cleveland OH, “Right to Counsel shows promising early results for tenants, and some landlords[.]”
Access to Justice – Criminal
Criminal Justice Reform and Counter-Reform
- In Tuscon AZ, “Arizona residents can now file to have marijuana convictions removed from their records.”
- In Washington State, Crosscut explored “[t]he strange, failed fight to rein in civil forfeiture in Washington[.]”
- Also in Washington State, “[m]ore state and county prosecutors are reaching the [conclusion] that they need the power to request resentencing from judges to correct past injustices, end mass incarceration, give people second chances and divert money spent on incarceration to more effective crime prevention methods.”
- In Washington DC, “[f]ederal regulators are giving state prisons across the country more technological options to combat contraband cellphones, which prison officials have long said represent the greatest security threat behind bars.”
- Also in Washington DC, “[a] Senate panel [] advanced President Joe Biden’s nominees to the Second and Tenth circuits and Washington state’s federal bench as Republicans questioned the philosophy and experience that public defenders would bring to appellate courts.”
- In Fairfax County VA, the county’s “top prosecutor will begin publishing data on prosecutions in an effort to identify and root out any racial and socioeconomic disparities in the local criminal justice system[.]”