PSJD News Digest – July 31, 2026

July 31, 2026 at 4:19 pm · Filed under Public Interest Law News Bulletin

Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives

Photo: Harris and Ewing Collection, Library of Congress

Interested Public,

Busy times, chronicled in the stories below. In particular, you can find a number of labor actions discussed in “Access to Justice,” and the dispute regarding legal services for unaccompanied minors discussed in both “Federal Restructuring” and “Civil Society.” Also, we are starting to see lower courts negotiate a new understanding of the President’s power to fire subordinates, post-Slaughter. Solidarity,

Sam

Editor’s Choice(s)

  • Think Immigration: Teaching in the Storm: Running an Immigration Clinic While Due Process and the Rule of Law Are Under Attack (ALIA; 29 Jul 2026)

    “Clinical professors famously love the question, “What do you think?” But these days, this question is truly a joint thought exercise as our expertise vanishes with each new policy, priority, or judicial decision. It’s no longer just a teaching technique. For students, this can be destabilizing. And for me, too. As their supervisor, I’m not teaching students what the law is, but how to hold the law loosely, to build in contingency, to learn on the fly, and then to keep re-checking whether the legal and procedural ground is still there. That's an advanced lawyering skill under any circumstances. Asking a 2L or 3L to develop it in their first client-facing semester is a real challenge. …None of this is an argument for teaching less rigorously or retreating to safer doctrinal terrain. If anything, this moment sharpens the case for clinical education. Students who learn to build a factual record under these conditions, to communicate with a frightened client sitting in detention, to collaborate with community organizations, and to keep fighting even when the outcome is bleak are learning exactly the skills the profession needs more of, not less.

    Clinics can also teach something that doesn't show up on a syllabus: what it looks like for a lawyer to keep working diligently and honestly when the system around them is under strain.”

Federal Restructuring & Funding

State & Local Restructuring & Funding

Civil Society

Student Debt & Other Student Concerns

Conflicts Over Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility

Access to Justice

  • Right-to-Counsel Fight Suggested for Florida Supreme Court (Bloomberg Law; 24 Jul 2026)

    “A Florida appellate court on Friday issued a decision urging the state’s highest court to clear up whether the state constitution has different protections fordefendants’ right to speak with their attorneys than the US constitution.”