Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives

Hello there, interested public! Lots of news this week. My “Editor’s Choice” feature returns to highlight a forthcoming article in which a professor suggests that the number of student borrowers eligible for public service loan forgiveness may be significantly higher than current DoE practice suggests. Also, NELP released a new report accusing the federal government of outsourcing its duties to for-profit contractors. Legal Aid organizations in Ohio commisioned an independent study demonstrating the long-term impact of their legal services, and the Chief Justice of Canada made comments related to (but not directly about) recent cuts to civil legal aid in Ontario. All this and more, in the links below.

See you around,

Sam

Editor’s Choice

Professor Gregory S. Crespi of SMU Dedman School of Law released “Why Are 99% of the Applications for Debt Discharge under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program Being Denied, and Will This Change?” on SSRN.

Immigration, Refugee & Citizenship Issues

• In Boston MA, “[a] federal judge…has temporarily banned Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from making arrests in or around the state’s courthouses.”
• Also in Boston, WBUR discussed how “[l]ocal law school instructors said there’s been a rise in the number of students studying immigration law in response to President Trump’s aggressive stance on immigration enforcement.”
• In New York, “[t]he New York State Bar Association’s (NYSBA) House of Delegates is urging the governor and Legislature to establish a right to counsel in immigration proceedings.”
• In Washington DC, “[c]iting the “mistreatment” of migrant children in U.S. custody, New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, a Democratic presidential candidate, [urged] her fellow lawmakers in Congress to limit funding allocated to certain shelters used by the government to house unaccompanied migrant minors.”
• Meanwhile, in New Jersey, ICE “has paid $125,000 to a Honduran mother and son as part of a settlement in a suit accusing the agency of using ‘coercive tactics’ to get them to give up their asylum claims while detained.”

Student Loans & Student Debt

• In Washington DC, a suit filed by borrowers who were defrauded by their schools “alleg[ed] that Betsy DeVos and the Department of Education are collecting on debt that isn’t legally enforceable” by garnishing money from their tax refunds despite their right to have their debt discharged.
• In Maine, “Gov. Janet Mills [] signed legislation that will provide greater regulatory oversight of student loan lenders.”
• At an “InnerCircle gathering of top CHROs and other executives…who manage HR and benefits budgets across the country,” Ayco CEO Larry Restieri named student loans as the “top trend” that CHROs have on their radar: “One of the things [HR experts] are finding is that with the student loans issue, it’s not just a recent graduate issue but it’s one that affects baby boomers greatly.”
• Inc.com profiled “6 Companies [Who] Found Unique Ways to Help Employees Pay Off their Student Loan Debt.”
• The Center for American Progress argued that “to begin solving student debt, the education department must factor in race and ethnicity.”
• Forbes continued its series on the student debt positions of various Presidential candidates with a profile of Amy Klobuchar.

Non-Profit & Government Management & Hiring

• In Washington DC, “[a Department of Labor] Administrative Law Judge told attorneys for the department’s Wage and Hour Division to be prepared to explain whether Administrator Cheryl Stanton has the authority to revoke “investigative powers at her sole discretion” that were previously delegated to her staff [after] Stanton’s decision to rescind certain authority that had been given to investigators across the country.”
• Also in Washington DC, the National Employment Law Project released a report documenting “the sharp increase in federal spending on temporary help services under the Trump administration. The data suggests that, rather than decreasing the size of government…the Trump administration and its allies in Congress are merely outsourcing government work to temporary staffing agencies, which degrades the quality of those jobs and reduces accountability over the quality of that work. It also takes the delivery of traditionally public interest services…from non-profit government agencies and places them with private for-profit entities[.]”

Legal Technology

• In New York, the state’s Office of Victim Services announced “a new online resource offering free civil legal assistance to crime victims.”
• In Cambridge MA, the Harvard Law School Library Innovation Lab released “Historical Trends,” “a new tool [that] allows the public to explore the use of language over 360 years of caselaw.”
• In Washington DC, “[a] group of House Democratic lawmakers is demanding answers about why Customs and Border Protection’s Biometric Exit Program includes data collected from U.S. citizens.”
• The ABA Journal profiled the work of Measures for Justice, a nonprofit that “travels the U.S. unearthing, collecting and publishing criminal justice data.”

Access to Justice – Civil

• In Canada, “Chief Justice Richard Wagner says legal aid is ‘essential’ to ensuring the justice system is fair and efficient for all…as Ontario Premier Doug Ford is facing sharp criticism for slashing funding for legal aid by 30 per cent.”
• Meanwhile, in Sudbury ON, MPP Jamie West held “a town hall meeting on cuts to legal aid.”
• In Cleveland OH, the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland and Community Legal Aid released an independent report commissioned from the Center for Community Solutions finding that “54 percent of clients who responded to the survey reported an improvement in at least one area of stability [improvement]” (areas include financial, family, health, housing, education, and civic involvement).
• Finding that In Louisiana, “Gov. John Bel Edwards’ office [announced] plans to sign a bill that includes $500,000 for [legal assistance for some of its most vulnerable residents]. The money will remove Louisiana from a list of only four states that don’t provide any funding for legal assistance in civil matters.”
• In Oregon, “[a] bill that would provide attorneys to Oregon’s only women’s prison has passed the House and Senate and is currently awaiting Gov. Kate Brown’s signature. The bill would provide the Oregon Justice Resource Center (OJRC) funding for three full-time attorneys to create a civil legal program inside Coffee Creek Correctional Facility.”
• In New York State, the state legislature “passed…one of the most sweeping interventions by government in the New York City real estate market in decades, establishing new rules for millions of people on everything from rent increases to security deposits to evictions.”
• In Philadelphia PA, the Philadelphia Inquirer published an op-ed arguing that “[t]he time is now for Philadelphia to have a one-stop shop for legal services.”
• In San Francisco CA, Richard Posner, formerly of the US Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit, “signed on to serve as an adviser to Legalist, a San Francisco start-up founded by two Harvard undergrads in 2016. ‘The principal motive for my retirement was the failure of the court to treat litigants without financial resources fairly.’ Posner said in a statement issued by Legalist. ‘Litigation finance patches an important hole for businesses with valid claims who lack the funds to hire an attorney.”
• In Orlando FL, local attorney Anthony Suarez launched the “Legal Services Clinic of the Puerto Rican Community…initially founded to cure a drastic need brought on by the devastation of hurricane Maria to Puerto Rico, and to serve the influx of Puerto Ricans arriving from the island who needed legal assistance.”
• In Chicago IL, “LAF, known before 2011 as the Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago, bec[ame] Legal Aid Chicago.”

Access to Justice – Criminal

• In Ottawa, “Supreme Court Chief Justice Richard Wagner told a news conference…things are on the right path almost three years after the high court set out strict timelines for completing criminal trials.”
• In Windsor ON, “a [] lawyer and a law professor predict more vulnerable people charged with crimes — whether they’re guilty or not — will be spending more time in jail, and local courts will become further clogged after the province announced cost-cutting changes to bail hearing assistance for the poor.”
• In Virginia, the Virginia Mercury profiled “a recent push by some Virginia public defenders to practice ‘holistic defense’ — a method of legal representation that goes beyond the role of a typical public defender by connecting clients with legal and social support services in an effort to reduce the likelihood that they’ll reoffend.”
• In New York NY, “[the city’s] public defenders will have their pay raised to match the salaries of the lawyers who represent the city — known as Corporation Counsel[.]”
• In Chautauqua County NY, the public defender’s office announced that it will receive a $15 million grant “from the state Office of Indigent Legal Services [resulting] from a lawsuit…brought against five New York state counties in Central New York for ineffective representation of the indigent.”
• In Richland County SC, the County Council “approved a pay raise for attorneys at the…Public Defender’s Office, one that will put them on level ground with prosecutors at the Fifth Circuit Solicitor’s Office.”
• In Morgantown WV, the state’s Public Defender Services held their 2019 Annual Indigent Defense Conference.
• In Ohio, “[t]he House Finance Committee is expected to allocate $3 million over the next two years to fund a program aimed at attracting more public defenders throughout Ohio.”
• Also in Ohio, “Trumbull County commissioners…approved a plan to provide attorneys for defendants in the Trumbull County court system who can’t afford to pay for them.”

Criminal Justice Reform

• In Washington DC, “[m]ore than four years after Congress required the Department of Justice to assemble information about those who die in police custody, the agency has yet to implement a system for collecting that data or release any new details of how and why people die under the watch of law enforcement.”
• In St. Louis MO, Circuit Attorney Kimberly M. Gardner “sent [Public Safety Director] Edwards and Police Chief John Hayden a letter…announcing that she had added 22 police officers to a growing list of those she has banned from her office. They cannot seek charges against people they arrest, apply for search warrants or serve as essential witnesses in cases.”
• In Pendleton OR, the city “has stopped jailing people unable to pay fines…following the settlement of a federal lawsuit contending city officials were running a debtors’ prison.”
• In Santa Clara County CA, the “District Attorney’s office is changing the way it treats people arrested or cited for possessing small amounts of illegal drugs.”
• In Connecticut, the ABA Journal discussed preparations in the state “to become the first state to collect statewide criminal case data from prosecutors broken down by the defendants’ race, sex, ethnicity, age and ZIP code.”

Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives

Hello there, interested public! Lots of news this week. In New York City, legal aid attorneys are unionizing, while in Saskatchewan, contract talks between Legal Aid Saskatchewan and its employees’ union have broken down. In Portland Oregon, public defenders staged a walkout to insist on staffing and pay reforms while in Detroit, Michigan is setting up an entirely new public defender’s office (and hiring!). Legal Aid Ontario provided more information about how recent budget cuts will affect its operations, while legal aid providers in the province pushed back against the government decision. And student loan debt oversight in the United States continues to be controversial. That’s all for now; back to a busy summer.

See you around,

Sam

Editor’s Choice

I mention this piece without commenting on its substance, but because I suspect that with US News’ profile many prospective students will read it: US News and World Report published “How to Find a Strong Human Rights Law Program.”

Immigration, Refugee & Citizenship Issues

• In Washington DC, “[t]he Trump administration…defend[ed] reductions to legal aid an other services for unaccompanied children, but advocates say those programs are too important to cut[.]”
• In Yolo County CA, the County Board of Supervisors “approved a recommended budget..that includes funding for a new attorney in the public defender’s office dedicated to assisting county residents facing deportation.”
• Nonprofit Quarterly published “As Immigrants Face Attacks, Where Stands Philanthropy?”, an article discussing a brief on the subject released earlier this year by the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy.

Student Loans & Student Debt

• In Texas,Gov. Abbott signed SB37, “which bans Texas agencies from denying, suspending, or revoking a borrower’s occupational license simply because they had defaulted on their student loans.”
• In Washington DC, “U.S. Senators Rick Scott [], Mike Braun [], Krysten Sinema [], and Chris Coons [] introduced the Student Loan Tax Elimination Act of 2019, which proposes to eliminate the origination fee on federal student loans beginning on July 1, 2019.”
• Also in Washington DC, “[s]everal civil rights groups [] sent a letter to [CFPB] Director Kraninger questioning whether the CFPB is engaging in the oversight of the student loan market they believe is necessary to ‘root out potentially discriminatory practices.’”

• Meanwhile, “Democratic lawmakers at a house hearing…pushed for tougher oversight of companies handling student loans.”
• Again also in Washington DC, “[t]he Education Department appointee who oversees the government’s $1.5 trillion student loan portfolio…stepped down from the board of an organization that owns some of that debt, after POLITICO asked about a potential conflict of interest.”
• LendEDU published a study concluding that “32% of consumers that file for bankruptcy also carry student loan debt that is virtually impossible to successfully discharge.”
• PaymentsJournal.com used LendEDU financial aid data “covering nearly 1,000 colleges and universities…to evaluate how the student loan debt situation across the country has changed in the past 10 years.”
• Forbes published the latest in their “series on the 2020 presidential candidates’ positions on student loan debt.” This installment focuses on Senator Kamala Harris. Last Friday’s covered Pete Buttigieg.
• In related news, “Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren…and Rep. James E. Clyburn [] announced…their plan to introduce legislation in the Senate and House to eliminate up to $50,000 in student loan debt for 42 million Americans.”
• Additionally, in response to a question from CNN’s Dana Bash “about how [Sen. Bernie] Sanders’ plans on student debt stack up against those of Senator Elizabeth Warren,…said, ‘Our plan will cancel a substantial amount of student debt and in some ways probably go further than Senator Warren’s.’ He added later, ‘I don’t have the plan in my pocket right now.”
• Textbook exchange company Chegg “announced a new benefit that will allow employees to pay off their student debt through an equity pool of the company’s existing stock….’We’re taking our best and our brightest and murdering them with a lifetime of debt,’ Chegg CEO Dan Roenweig [said], pointing to the high rates of depression and suicide on college campuses.”
• Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reported that “a proposed change to the tax code would give companies more incentive to offer assistance to their workers.”

Legal Technology

• In San Francisco CA, “[p]rosecutors in the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office will use a new artificial intelligence tool in an effort to remove any potential implicit bias when charging a suspect.”
• Law360 published an article profiling the role hackathons are playing in addressing the access to justice gap.

War Crimes

• In The Hague, “prosecutor[] Fatou Bensouda[] appealed the court’s rejection to disallow her [investigation of] alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Afghanistan since 1 May 2003. In its 12 April 2019 decision, the judges unanimously agreed that starting the investigation now would not serve justice [citing] the unlikelihood of cooperation from [the perpetrators of the alleged crimes[,] includ[ing] the United States and the Taliban Forces.”

Access to Justice – Civil

• In Toronto ON, Legal Aid Ontario “released details…on how it will function after Ontario’s Progressive Conservative government unveiled a $133-million cut[.]” The changes include “cut[s to] funding for bail hearings and chop[s to] the cash it gives to Toronto’s Parkdale legal clinic[.]”

• Meanwhile, “COPE Ontario “endors[ed] the Association for Sustainable Legal Aid’s demands that Attorney General Caroline Mulroney meet with it’s [sic] member organizations, including the Association of Community Legal Clinics of Ontario, before the legislature rises later this week.”
• Also meanwhile, the former vice president of the Defense Counsel Association of Ottawa argued in CBC News that “[u]nrepresented litigants devour justice system resources. Their cases take longer to wind their way through the bureaucratic court system and cost more to prosecute. So, a dollar saved through legal aid cuts will consume more resources at the end of the day.”
• In Saskatchewan, “Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 1949…notified the provincial labour minister that contract talks [with Legal Aid Saskatchewan] have reached an impass[,]…accusing Legal Aid Saskatchewan of using stall tactics and bargaining in bad faith.”
• In Minnesota, the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled that “[a] tenant who complained about the conditions of his apartment had the right to challenge his eviction on the basis of retaliation by the landlord”, in a case housing attorneys say “expanded the legal rights of tenants in similar cases.”
• Meanwhile, in New York, the state “Senate Majority Leader…and Assembly Speaker “expressed optimism that Governor Andrew Cuomo will sign [] legislation into law [that will] strengthen tenant protections in the state.”
• Also meanwhile, in Newark NJ “[s]ome council members…were shocked the city actually had to pay for the so-called “pro bono” attorneys in the city’s right-to-counsel program. …’I thought that these services were going to be provided pro bono by the attorneys providing the service,’ said Councilman At-Large Carlos Gonzalez, who once worked as an attorney in eviction court.”
• In Washington DC, “[m]ore than 100 law students, along with nearly 100 solo and small-firm practitioners and legal educators, are urging the U.S. Supreme Court to eliminate copyright protection for state annotated codes of law and certain other state and local legal materials.”
• The Hill published an article by an attorney from the Pacific Legal Foundation, who warned that “courts have begun awarding fees against unsuccessful plaintiffs in public interest lawsuits. This unwelcome trend threatens to deter future public interest litigation.”
• The Legal Talk Network interviewed Rebecca Sandefur about “why people rarely turn to lawyers or courts for assistance with their problems, how to properly educate civilians on obtaining legal help, and what role small and solo firm lawyers play in the solution.”

Access to Justice – Criminal

• In Portland OR, “dozens of public defenders in Oregon walked out of courthouses and into the Statehouse this week to lobby for a bill that would fix a staffing shortage and an outdated contract payment system that has some attorneys representing more than 200 clients at once.”
• In Wayne County MI, the county announced that it “will partner with Neighborhood Defender Service, a Harlem public defense practice, to open a Detroit public defender office this fall.”
• In East Baton Rouge Parish, the parish “chief public defender sought permission…to withdraw from some cases and decline future appointments, even if it results in charges being dismissed against indigent defendants[, ]…[c]iting chronic underfunding and excessive workloads.”
• The Chief Legal Officer of Verizon announced “the expansion of Verizon’s pro bono program to include criminal justice issues.”
• In Franklin County NY, county legislators “approved an increase of the starting salary for attorneys in the public defender’s office to build interest in positions that have been impossible to fill so far.”
• In Richland County SC, the “County Council gave final approval to its two-year budget…rais[ing] starting pay for lawyers who represent low-income defendants charged with crimes up to the level of junior prosecutors in the solicitor’s office.”
• In Meigs County OH, county commissioners “passed a resolution…praising the work of the Ohio Governor and House of Representatives regarding funding for indigent defense in Ohio [and] ask[ing] the Ohio Senate to adopt the House recommendation on the matter.”
• In Trumbull County OH, “[c]ounty commissioners and judges in the county’s courts are…trying to decide how to design a new system to provide attorneys to people charged with crimes who can’t afford one of their own.”

Criminal Justice Reform

• In New York NY, “[w]orkers with the New York Legal Assistance Group alerted the nonprofit indigent legal services provider of their intent to form a union with [the] Association of Legal Aid Attorneys.”
• At Columbia Law School, “on the heels of a student protest from the Black Law Students Association at Columbia,” “Elizabeth Lederer, one of the prosecutors in the conviction of the Central Park Five, has resigned as a professor[.]”
• In Arlington County VA, “incumbent Commonwealth’s Attorney Theo Stamos [was] defeated by challenger Parisa Delghani-Tafti, who ran a campaign centered on criminal justice reform.”
• In Queens NY, “Philly DA Larry Krasner Endors[ed] Tiffany Caban’s Bid to Be Queens’ Next Top Prosecutor.”
• In Wisconsin, “Gov. Tony Evers…re-created Wisconsin’s pardon board, fulfilling a campaign promise to once again consider granting pardons after Republican predecessor Scott Walker halted the process eight years ago.”
• In St. Louis MO, “officials…asked a federal judge to delay her order mandating new bond hearings for 700 jail inmates, saying a ‘rush to judgment’ could endanger the public.”
• In California, “[Democratic] lawmakers and dozens of supporters rallied in…support[ of] two Assembly-approved bills that would automatically expunge arrest and conviction records for an estimated 1 million residents who are already entitled under existing law because they have completed their sentences and supervision.”
• In Denver CO, the New Civil Liberties Alliance “filed a brief…asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit to determine that it is unlawful for a prosecutorial entity…to rewrite the law in Congress’ place.” According to a statement by an NCLA attorney, “the lawsuit raises key issues about whether agency regulations may contradict a statute passed by Congress[.]”

Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives

Hello there, interested public! The digest is squeaking out this afternoon, as the Public Service Initiatives desk is somewhat short-staffed this week. Our 2018-2019 PSJD Fellow, Awa Sowe, has left us for her next job, as a Staff Attorney with the National Veterans Legal Services Program. (Congratulations Awa!!!) I hope you’ll forgive me if, beyond noting that the Trump administration announced it is cancelling legal services for unaccompanied minors, I leave the news to speak for itself this week.

See you around,
Sam

Scholarships & Funding

• Deadline: JUNE 10 — In Chicago IL, the ABA’s Commission on Sexual Orientation & Gender identity announced “that it will provide two $5,000 scholarships to law students or recent law school graduates studying for the bar exam who are either LGBTQ or have secured an internship or job with an organization engaged in work that impacts the LGBTQ community.”

Immigration, Refugee, & Citizenship Issues

• In Washington DC, “[t]he Trump administration is cancelling English classes, recreational activities including soccer, and legal aid for unaccompanied migrant children who are staying in federally contracted migrant shelters.“

Student Loans & Student Debt

• In Washington DC, “[Sen.] Warren, …Rep. Katie Porter, …and Rep. Ayanna Pressley …cautioned against widespread adoption of income-share agreements [in letters to Secretary of Education…DeVos as well as a handful of colleges].“
• Also in Washington, “[Sen .] Thune back[ed] a student loan payment benefit bill.“
• In Ohio, “[a] proposed loan repayment program…would create the Ohio Public Defender State Loan Repayment Program and allow the state public defender to repay an attorney’s student loans if he or she agrees to be a public defender for at least three years in an area with a shortage.“
• In California, “[l]egislation aiming to create a ‘bill of rights’ for student-loan borrowers cleared a major as [sic] it passed state Assembly with bipartisan support.“

Nonprofit Management & Hiring

• In Chicago IL, a University of Chicago study found that “black and Latinx residents are three times more likely than white and Asian residents to live in communities that are at least 3 miles away from LGBTQ service providers, including those that offer health care and legal services.“
• In New York NY, the New York Times profiled Legal Aid Society attorneys working bartending and rideshare jobs to supplement their incomes, in the context of a city-wide push for pay parity between civil legal aid lawyers and city counsel (as previously discussed in this digest).
• The Building Movement Project released a Report on CEOs in Nonprofits finding that “[p]eople of color who lead nonprofits face barriers and challenges that their white counterparts do not.“

Reproductive Rights

• Nationwide, “[h]undreds of American Bar Association members are urging the organization to skip Atlanta as a possible host for the 2021 midyear convention to protest Georgia’s new law banning most abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected.“

Disaster Legal Aid

• In Washington DC, “[t]he Legal Services Corp. will receive $15 million to fund legal aid in the Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2019[, from] $19.1 billion in supplemental disaster funds for response efforts to damage caused by hurricanes, wildfires, earthquakes, tornadoes, floods and other natural disasters that occurred from 2017-2019.“

Environmental Law

• In Montreal QC, ENvironment JEUnesse “present[ed] its class action climate lawsuit…against the Canadian government…on behalf of Quebeckers aged 35 and under [alleging] the Canadian government is infringing on a generation’s fundamental rights, because its greenhouse gas reduction target is not ambitious enough to avoid dangerous climate change[.]“
• Meanwhile, “[a] three-member panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals [heard] arguments” in the U.S. cases in which “young people…asserted a constitutional right to a ‘climate system capable of sustaining human life’ and contend[ing] the government has violated that right and the public’s trust.“

Legal Technology

• In New Brunswick, “[t]he new chief justice of the Court of Queens Bench says she hopes a new wave of younger judges will be open to her push to take advantage of modern technology in the court system.“
• Meanwhile, in British Columbia, “the Court Services Branch and the Ministry of the Attorney General are inviting vendors to give their input and ideas on a new initiative called the Court Digital Transformation Strategy[.]“
• In Washington State, “[t]he Washington Supreme Court…is considering adopting new rules for online legal services. The regulations would apply to websites that offer everything from downloadable forms to advice on drawing up a will.“
• Undark.org profiled how “transparency advocates from New York to Illinois to California are pushing to open up records about police misconduct [through p]ublic websites making police records accessible[.]“

Access to Justice – Civil

• In Law.com, an opinion piece argued that “[s]tatutes creating a ‘right to counsel’ must also include language about the conditions imposed on clients to comply, cooperate and work with their appointed counsel.“
• In Manitoba, “the…Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, announced the Government of Canada is supporting the development of a common law certificate in French at the University of Manitoba[,]” with a goal of helping Canadians “access justice in the official language of their choice.“
• In Newark NJ, “[t]he city will open a new office to offer free legal advice to low-income residents facing eviction, but still needs to contract with a nonprofit group to begin providing attorneys in court at no cost to those who qualify.“
• Also in New Jersey, “the Appellate Division of the Superior Court ruled that defendants in domestic violence cases must be informed of the right to obtain counsel and of the serious consequences that could result from the entry of a Final Restraining Order.“
• In Cleveland OH, the “Cleveland City Council and the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland are is [sic] the verge of providing the kind of help to people in poverty that can be life altering: free lawyers to help people fight evictions.“
• The Children’s Advocacy Institute released its fourth iteration of “A Child’s Right to Counsel“, “the periodic national report card on counsel for children[.]“

Access to Justice – Criminal

• In Oregon, “[t]he largest public defense nonprofit in [the state] has temporarily stopped taking misdemeanor cases. …Earlier this year, a 238-page report from the nonpartisan Sixth Amendment Center outlined major issues with Oregon’s public defense system[.]“
• Meanwhile, in Wyoming “[j]udges say they were blindsided by a [state public defender] decision to not represent misdemeanor offenders.” While “[t]he Campbell County Circuit Court found [State Public Defender] Lozano and the State Public Defender’s Office in contempt for refusing to assign a public defender to two misdemeanor cases.“
• In Summit County OH, the “County Council has passed a resolution calling on the Ohio Senate to support increasing state reimbursements to counties for indigent defense in the state budget bill.“
• In Tennessee, the Washington Post reported that “the chief prosecutor in [the state] used [prosecutorial discretion] to impose his moral and religious views onto the people his office was tasked with protecting, according to a video released by Nashville television station News Channel 5.“
• In Kansas City MO, “[t]he head of the state public defender’s office in Kansas City testified…that public defenders labor under excessive caseloads and are unable to fulfill their ethical obligations to their clients…during a proceeding in Jackson County Circuit Court.“
• In Texas, “[s]ome of [the state’s] most populous counties may have made strides at reducing caseloads for lawyers representing poor children in juvenile court, data show.“

Criminal Justice Reform

• In New York NY, “Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and two city council members demanded at a press conference that the old cases of two sex crimes prosecutors be re-examined, after a new chorus of outrage erupted over the 1989 Central Park jogger case.“
• In New York State, “Gov. Cuomo threatened to pull the plug on the state’s special prosecutor tasked with investigating police killings if the office is enshrined into law.“
• In Columbus OH, “City Attorney Zach Klein has instructed city prosecutors to stop requesting cash bonds for most misdemeanor defendants charged with nonviolent crimes.“

Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives

Hello there, interested public! There’s lots to catch you up on this week. Minutes ago, the ABA President issued a statement on the Trump Administration’s Family Separation Policy. The Associated Press took a poll of district attorneys to find out which ones would go on the record for non-enforcement of their states’ new anti-abortion legislation. The CFPB gave student loan advice on Twitter that one of its founders called “negligent or worse,” while the Trump Administration followed through and hired consulting firms to evaluate the federal government’s student loan portfolio. All this and more are in the links below.

See you around,
Sam

Also worth a listen: “NPR’s Lulu Garcia-Navarro asks former federal prosecutor Paul Butler about how more than 20 Trump judicial nominees have declined to affirm a Supreme Court decision desegregating public schools.“

Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Issues

• In Chicago IL, the President of the ABA issued an official statement registering that “[t]he American Bar Association is deeply disturbed by reports that hundreds of unaccompanied children seeking refuge in the United States are being held by the U.S. Border Patrol in violation of the law and federal policies.“
  • Meanwhile, an immigration attorney with Annunciation House in El Paso TX argued in the Washington Post that “the [Trump] administration is vetting plans to revamp the [family separation policy]–euphamistically rebranding it as ‘binary choice’…either be separated from your children indefinitely or waive your child’s rights so they can be sent to jail with you.“
• In Los Angeles CA, “UCLA and the Los Angeles Unified School District will offer legal representation and advice to undocumented individuals through a new immigration law clinic at public schools in Koreatown.“
• In Boston MA, “[a] Massachusetts state judge charged with helping an immigrant escape U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody [made] a bid to reinstate her salary” in order to help her mount her defense.
• In Albuquerque NM “advocates and attorneys called on law enforcement officers and state courts to put an end to allowing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to arrest immigrants while on courthouse grounds.“
• In Dane County WI, the Vera Institute of Justice announced plans to “test a new model: a public-defender-style system aimed at providing a lawyer to every detained, indigent immigrant.” Dane County is one of 13 sites across the country the Vera Institute has selected for its “SAFE Cities Network“.

Reproductive Rights

• The Associated Press “reached out to nearly two dozen district attorneys across seven states, and several said they would not file criminal charges against doctors who violate the laws. Even a few who left open potentially charging doctors said they would not prosecute women for having an abortion[.] …The four district attorneys who said they would not enforce the laws at all cited the Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion nationwide, saying their states’ abortion laws clearly conflict with that decision.“
• In Alabama, “Hugh Culverhouse Jr.[,] the University of Alabama’s top donor in recent years after giving the school nearly $40 million[,] called for a boycott of the university until Alabama repeals a controversial new law that bans virtually all abortions…Meanwhile, in a move that the university says is unrelated to Culverhouse’s boycott push, the chancellor of the University of Alabama system is recommending that the school return $21.5 million Culverhouse has given the institution in recent years and strip his name from the law school.“
• In Mississippi, “[a] federal judge is temporarily blocking a [state] law that bans most abortions once a so-called fetal heartbeat is detected.“

Non-Profit & Gov’t Management and Hiring

• In New York NY, “[a]bout 40 New York City public defenders and legal staff members joined Public Advocate Jumanne Williams at City Hall [] to demand equal pay with other lawyers who work for the city.“

Legal Technology

• In San Mateo County CA, “[the] Superior Court has partnered with Stanford Law School to deliver text message reminders to people who have upcoming traffic court hearings…so that its law school can study whether receiving an alert will improve participants’ attendance at hearings.“

Student Loans & Student Debt

• In Washington DC, “[t]he US Department of Education has hired two consulting firms to examine and analyze the student loan portfolio as part of the Trump administration’s ongoing consideration of its sale to private investors.“
• Also in Washington DC, “[t]he Education Department released new student loan data…as part of its plan to deal with student loan debt by giving individual consumers more information about what they’re likely to get for their money.“
  • Meanwhile, “[a]ttorney generals from 47 states, the District of Columbia and three U.S. territories [] asked Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos to forgive disabled veterans’ student loans.“
• Also also in Washington DC, “[t]he Consumer Financial Protection Bureau posted a tweet…highlighting forbearance [while] consumer advocates and state watchdogs remain concerned that student-loan companies are pushing struggling borrowers towards forbearance instead of other options that could better suit their needs, like income-driven repayment…’It’s negligent or worse for the bureau to be tweeting that,’ said Dalie Jimenez…a founding staff member at the CFPB.“
  • Meanwhile, “[a] coalition of consumer and labor groups [urged] the CFPB to step up its oversight of federal student loan servicers–particularly when it comes to the public service loan forgiveness program.“
• Again also in Washington DC, “[f]ormer vice president Joe Biden…promised in an education plan…to ‘see to it’ that the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program is ‘fixed, simplified and actual helps teachers.“
• In Nevada, “[a] bill that would create the position of Student Loan Ombudsman within the treasurer’s office[] passed unanimously through the Senate Government Affairs Committee.“
• In Colorado and Maryland, state governors signed into law “legislation regulating student loan servicers.”
• Redfin.com, a real estate brokerage website, published “analysis of student loan debt data by metro area from LendingTree, income data from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, and our own home price data” concluding that “[u]nder [Sen.] Elizabeth Warren’s plan to cancel up to $50,000 of student loan debt, [a potential homebuyer with the average amount of student debt] could shrink[] the time it would take to save up the [20%] down payment [on the national median-priced home] to 9.4 years [from 12.3 years].“
  • Meanwhile, the Washington Post published a comparison of Sen. Warren’s student loan plan against that of rival presidential candidate Julian Castro.
• Benefit News publicized “new research from the American Institute of CPAs, which asked 2,000 millennials which benefits would help them achieve financial goals [and learned that] health insurance [], paid time off [], and student loan forgiveness (41%) topped the list of most desired employee benefits.”

Access to Justice – Civil

• In Toronto ON, “frontline legal clinic workers, members of OPSEU Local 5118 and community members [announced plans] to host a series of ‘pop-up legal clinics’ in front of Conservative MPP constituency offices across the Greater Ontario Area” today “to draw attention to the devastating impact of nearly $300 million in budget cuts to legal aid.“
• In Quebec, the Accessing Law and Justice Project has launched Hub23, “a new project…to develop innovative practice and billing models for legal services in the province [aiming to] ‘draw on the expertise of practitioners involved in the day-to-day practice of law and university researchers from several disciplines…to establish models of practices likely to ensure a future for legal practice and true access to professional service for middle-income households.“
• In British Columbia, “[t]he Legal Services Society is introducing a new program to provide legal aid to accused people…who wouldn’t normally qualify for assistance.“
• In Washington DC, “the U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Committee approved a large financial boost of $550 million to the [Legal Services Corporation].“
• In New Mexico, “[t]he New Mexico Supreme Court has appointed a work group to consider whether the state should allow licensed legal technicians to provide civil legal services. The court has asked the group to submit a report by 2020[.]“
• In Richmond VA, local news reported the city “is on track to be the first [] in the Commonwealth to roll out a program to stop people from getting evicted and to make sure landlords get rent money. This is happening at the same time as Virginia lawmakers are trying to start eviction diversion pilot programs in four cities.“
• In Philadelphia PA, the Philadelphia Bar Foundation announced plans to “build a nine-story nonprofit center…that will house most of the city’s free legal services. Currently, the agencies are scattered throughout Philadelphia.“
• In Laramie County WY, “Legal Aid of Wyoming is testing a pilot program…to provide military veterans access to free legal assistance, no matter their income level.“

Access to Justice – Criminal

• U.S. News profiled the “unique solutions [some states have developed] to try to attract more public defenders to certain areas and ensure the attorneys’ time is dedicated to cases involving more serious crimes.“
• In Oregon, Oregon Public Radio profiled overworked public defenders in the state, while noting that the ACLU has called on “lawmakers to enact a solution that address[es] all of [Oregon’s indigent defense system]’s existing deficiencies.“
• In Maricopa County AZ, “[t]he [ACLU] of Arizona su[ed] Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery, alleging he has failed to fulfill an abundance of public records requests…regarding ‘basic information about how that office functions, including policies, budgets, and data on individual criminal cases.“

Criminal Justice Reform

• In Florida, the state’s “first African American state attorney says she’s proud to have challenged the status quo with her opposition to the death penalty, even though she eventually lost a legal fight with Florida’s governor on the matter.“
• In San Francisco CA, “[t]he [] District Attorney’s Office [] publicly launched DA Stat, the state’s first public portal displaying prosecutorial data online.” [Check out the DA Stat portal here.]
• On Staten Island NY, “[p]rosecutors and defense lawyers [aired] sharply divergent opinions of the recently-passed criminal justice and bail-reform laws [in] dueling and tartly-worded opinion pieces.“

Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives

Hello there, interested public! Student loans remain news, with the head of the CFPB formally accusing the Department of Education of impeding its ability to oversee loan servicers and the American Federation of Teachers endorsing Senator Warren’s student debt relief plan. Additionally, multiple sources reported on students and young people’s declining interest in government jobs, especially at the federal level. And a district attorney in Utah has announced he will not enforce the state’s new abortion restrictions while they are challenged in the courts.

See you around,
Sam

Immigration, Refugee, & Citizenship Issues

• In Washington DC, “a federal judge…denied the government’s motion to dismiss [a] case [that] challenges the State Department’s discriminatory policy, which conditions the recognition of birthright citizenship on a biological link to a married U.S. citizen parent.“
• Also in Washington DC, “[a] federal judge ruled [] that a court case accusing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) of blocking migrants’ right to counsel at a facility in Louisiana and two facilities in Georgia can proceed as one case in Washington D.C., where DHS is headquartered.“
• In Brooklyn NY, “[a]n unconfirmed report of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrest inside Brooklyn Criminal Court sparked confusion and set defense lawyers and immigrants’ rights advocates on high alert Friday afternoon — but the arrest may have been executed by the NYPD, according to the Office of Court Administration.“

Student Loans & Student Debt

• In Washington DC, the head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau disclosed in a letter to Democratic senators that “the Education Department is impeding access to information that regulators need to oversee the nation’s largest student loan servicing companies.“
• Also in Washington DC, “Sen. Ron Wyden…introduced a bill [under which] companies would be able to make matching contributions to the retirement plans of employees who are making student loan payments.“
• Also also in Washington DC, presidential candidate Julian Castro “released an education policy proposal calling for free tuition at public colleges and trade schools, expanding the size and use of Pell Grants, and changing income-based student loan repayment.“
• Again also in Washington DC, “Sen. Mark R. Warner…reintroduced three pieces of legislation aimed at providing urgent relief to borrowers amid the ongoing student debt crisis.“
• Again again also in Washington DC, “[t]he White House is filling in the blanks on its promise to return astronauts to the lunar surface by 2024, requesting another $1.6 billion in funding…by repurposing unused funding earmarked for Pell grants, the government financial aid program for low-income college students.“
• In an op-ed in USA Today, “[t]he president of the American Federation of Teachers, endorsed presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s student loan forgiveness plan in a Thursday op-ed.“
• Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance “is introducing a new student loan repayment and management program for the workplace as part of a broader financial wellness initiative.“
• Business Insider provided a variety of statistical arguments making a case that “[s]tudent debt is preventing the US from having a normal housing market.“
• In Wisconsin, “the Republican majority on the Joint Committee on Finance…failed to approve [Gov. Evers’] proposals to start the process of helping state borrowers to refinance their loans…and increasing funding for financial aid for eligible students.“
• In Rhode Island, “the Senate Finance Committee heard testimony on the proposed Student Loan Borrowers Bill of Rights, which is now part of Governor Gina Raimondo’s budget plan.“
• In New York, the Governor, Senate Majority Leader, and Assembly Speaker “announced that the FY 2020 Enacted Budget includes legislation that will provide sweeping new protection for student loan borrowers.”
• In California, the State Senate is considering a bill that “would give students up to a $1,000 tax credit for yearly interest paid on their student loans.“

Reproductive Rights

• In Utah, “the chief prosecutor overseeing the county with the state’s only two [abortion] clinics has said he won’t enforce [the state’s strict new abortion ban…Gill said Tuesday the Utah ban on abortions after 18 weeks appears unconstitutional, so filing felony charges against doctors who perform them as the court challenge plays out could violate their rights.“

Non-Profit Management & Hiring

• The Hill reported that “a surprising number of [graduates] receiving masters degrees in public policy are no longer pursuing government jobs — especially at the federal level. Shutdowns, pay uncertainty and government bashing are among the reasons these graduates give for avoiding such careers.“
• Meanwhile, FedSmith reported that “[t]he most recent (September 2018) data in OPM’s Fedscope shows the number of permanent government employees under age 30 is less than 127,000. The number age 60 and older is 274,000. Those number are the result of an aging federal workforce and the government’s apparent inability to attract and hire young people[.]“
• In Cambridge MA, “[t]he Massachusetts Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers released a statement…condemning Harvard College administrators’ decision not to renew Winthrop Faculty Deans Ronald S. Sullivan, Jr. and Stephanie R. Robinson. …Since Sullivan first announced his decision to join [Harvey] Weinstein’s legal team — which he left Friday — students have called for the College to remove him from his faculty dean position through rallies, sit-ins, and open letters.“

Legal Technology

• In New York NY, “an investigation by the Georgetown Center on Privacy and Technology into police use of facial recognition across the country” charged that “[t]he New York Police Department abused its facial recognition system by editing suspects’ photos — and by uploading celebrity lookalikes — in an effort to identify people wanted for crimes.“
• In Washington DC, “WhatsApp said…that a security breach on its messaging app had signs of coming from government using surveillance technology developed by a private company, and it may have targeted human rights groups.“
• In San Francisco CA, “the birthplace of facial-recognition tech…became the first [city] in the country to vote to ban its use by law-enforcement.“
  • Meanwhile, the New York Times profiled Brian Hofer, the author of the San Francisco ordinance who “has drafted 26 privacy laws for cities and counties in California [over the past five years].“
• In Chicago IL, the Lawyers’ Committee for Better Housing published a new database of Chicago eviction records that “shows that between 2010 and 2017, on average, 79.8 percent of landlords in eviction court had a lawyer, while only 11.2 percent of tenants did…but when tenants have legal representation their changes of staying housed increase substantially[.]”
• In Austin TX, Spectrum News profiled “[t]he startup Justice For Me[, which] helps connect clients to attorneys across Austin and San Antonio, without having to pay large, up-front fees.“

Access to Justice – Civil

• In Richmond VA, “tenants who are in court for housing-related issues now have an attorney dedicated to helping them resolve their cases.“
• In Los Angeles CA, “[t]he city’s budget and finance committee last week asked the chief legislative analyst to identify $2 million to help launch a right-to-counsel initiative.“
• In Louisville KY, Law360 reported that a major takeaway from the ABA’s Equal Justice Conference was “the need to think outside the box and meet people where their needs are, especially in the rural communities that make up 20% of the U.S. population and just 2% of the U.S. population of lawyers.“
  • Relatedly, in Indiana, “[d]ata from the Indiana Supreme Court’s Roll of Attorneys indicates there are far fewer lawyers serving rural Indiana counties than those that serve urban counties.“

Access to Justice – Criminal

• In Missouri, “Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt [] filed a motion to intervene [in a] case challenging Missouri’s indigent public defense system” after “[t]he American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri and the Missouri State Public Defender reached an agreement[.] …Schmitt said in a statement that requiring public defenders to refuse cases if they exceed a 40-hour work week violates Missouri law.“
• In Lima OH, “[t]he Lima chapter of the NCAAP will file an official complaint with the Ohio Public Defenders’ Office alleging the current public defender system in Lima and Allen County is so broken and inefficient that it operates in violation of the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution.“
• In British Columbia, “[t]he Legal Services Society has launched a new province-wide criminal law service to help people who wouldn’t qualify for legal aid.“

Criminal Justice Reform

• In Bexar County TX, “District Attorney Joe Gonzales says he hopes to start a cite-and-release program this summer that would allow police to issue tickets for certain misdemeanor offenses, such as marijuana possession, instead of conducting arrests.“
• In Dallas County TX, “District Attorney John Creuzot is backing a bill that requires police officers to turn over all evidence and information that could prove someone’s innocence.“

Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives

Hello there, interested public! Lots of serious stories this week. The ACLU has spoken out against the charges filed late last week against a Massachusetts judge for obstruction of justice after she acted to frustrate the federal government’s policy of conducting immigration arrests at state courthouses. Lawmakers in congress have introduced a bipartisan-sponsored bill that would allow for student loan debt to be discharged in bankruptcy, while a new NBER report suggests that student loan forgiveness has an out-sized positive economic impact. Meanwhile, a lawyer in British Columbia is accusing the provincial government of diverting legal services taxes intended for civil legal aid into the general purpose treasury. As always, these stories and more are in the links below.

See you around,
Sam

Immigration, Refugee, and Citizenship Issues

• In Massachusetts, “ACLU Massachusetts Executive Director Carol Rose is infuriated by Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling’s decision to pursue charges against New Judge Shelley Joseph for conspiracy to obstruct justice. [See last week’s digest.]” Rose called the matter “an outrageous case, and a real political case brought by U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling[.]“
• In San Francisco CA, “[a] three-judge panel of the [9th Cir.] issued a stay of a preliminary injunction…that would have blocked the [Trump administration’s] policy [of forcing Central American asylum seekers to wait in Mexico while they pursue their asylum claims].“
• In Karnes County TX, RAICES filed a formal complaint against the Trump administration that “accuses Immigration and Customs Enforcement of creating barriers for people held at the Karnes, Texas, immigration detention facility to meet with legal teams.“

Student Loans

• “Rates on Plus loans for graduate students and parents will fall to 7%, down from 7.6% last year.” (Forbes has more on this loan rate decrease.)
• The Wall Street Journal reported that “[m]ore than 73,000 people have applied for debt forgiveness as of March 31 of this year…but just 864 have had their loans erased.“
• The National Bureau of Economic Research published a working paper on “Life Without Student Debt” that found “[w]hen roughly 10,000 borrowers had their private student loans cancelled, they were more likely than similar borrowers to move, change jobs or return to school [and t]hey also saw their incomes increase by $4,000 over a three-year period on average[.] In addition, these borrowers were less likely to rely on other forms of credit–reducing their indebtedness by 26%[.]“
• BenefitNews.com reported that “while many industry insiders point to the growing appeal of student loan benefits, just 4% of employers currently offer a student debt repayment program, according to the Society for Human Resource Management.“
• The Washington Post reported that “[o]ne in 15 borrowers has considered suicide because of their school loans, according to a survey of 829 people conducted last month by Student Loan Planner, a debt advisory group.“
• In Washington DC, “[f]ederal lawmakers…introduced a bill that would give student loan borrowers the power to leave that debt behind when they file for bankruptcy protection.” “The bill, co-sponsored by Sens. Dick Durbin, D-Ill.; Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.; and U.S. Reps. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., and John Katko, R-N.Y., was introduced amid growing concern over more than $1.5 trillion in outstanding student loan debt held by some 44 million Americans and 3,000 payment defaults a day in 2016.“
• Also in Washington DC, “[Sen.] Marco Rubio wants to ‘eliminate interest for federal student loans’ through the Leveraging Opportunities for Americans Now (LOAN) Act[.]” (See the full bill.)
• Also also in Washington DC, the President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago shared his thoughts on the risks inherent in the student debt market for people looking to finance an education.
• In Maine, “a [] lawmaker is proposing a $250 million bond to…allow Maine residents to apply to have up to $10,000 of their unpaid student loans forgiven.“
• In Atlantic IA, “[presidential candidate] O’Rourke drew a round of applause…when he called for letting Americans refinance their student loans ‘at much lower rates.’“
• A Politico/Morning Consult poll found that “56% of registered voters…support the Massachusetts senator [Warren]’s proposal to wipe out $640 billion in outstanding education loans by raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans. Just 27% of voters said they opposed the plan.“

Environmental Law

• In Cleveland OH, “[a] federal judge [ruled] that he would not allow Lake Erie…[to] participate in a lawsuit filed to challenge a law Toledo residents passed to protect the lake’s ecosystem[, calling] the request to let the lake’s ecosystem into a federal lawsuit [] ‘unusual’ and ‘meritless.’ The lawsuit filed by farmers in neighboring Wood County involves the Lake Erie Bill of Rights, which Toledoans passed in a special election in February.“

Nonprofit/Gov’t Management & Hiring

• In Florida, “[m]inimum pay for all Florida assistant public defenders and assistant state attorneys will rise to $50,000, up from $39,084, starting Oct. 1.“
• In Bradenton FL, Gulfcoast Legal Services‘ Executive Director criticized the city’s “decision to not fund the nonprofit with Community Development Block Grant Funding this year[.]“
• In Washington DC, “Democratic Sen. Kamala Harris of California is introducing legislation, including a $250 million grant program, to ease the burden on public defenders around the country…[T]he proposal would create a grant program that would establish workload limits for full-time public defenders, create pay parity between public defenders and prosecutors within five years and collect annual data on public defender workloads. The legislation also would authorize $5 million for government organizations and nonprofits to provide training for public defenders.“
• NonProfit Quarterly reported on a new report from the Council on American-Islamic Relations charging that “American philanthropic organizations, including mainstream foundations, have funneled tens of millions of tax-free dollars to anti-Muslim groups influencing public opinion and government policy all the way up to the White House.“

Access to Justice – Civil

• In Ontario, “[a] group of about 150 people descended on the provincial government building in Toronto [in protest of provincial cuts to legal aid]…with around 20 going inside and disrupting the day’s session. The demonstration, which featured many lawyers in their robes, waistcoats and tabs and doctors wearing lab coats and stethoscopes, also included paralegals, immigration consultants and various health care providers.“
• In British Columbia, “[a]ccording to documents obtained under a Freedom of Information (FOI) request, in 2018 the B.C. government collected more than $230 million in taxes from all British Columbians who sought legal services. [But] ‘The provincial government only saw fit to provide $75 million of that to the Legal Services Society to Fund Legal Aid’, said [criminal lawyer Michael] Mulligan.”
• In Philadelphia PA, “[a] bill proposed in City Council would provide tenants with income below 200% of the poverty line with free legal assistance when fighting evictions, lease terminations and similar issues in Landlord Tenant Court.“
• In Bronx NY, local news chronicled the efforts of housing groups to “spread [the] word on the city’s already established Right to Counsel law, which advocates say tenants may still be unaware of even as it’s helped many stay inside their home.“

Access to Justice – Criminal

• In Travis County TX, “in a surprising change of course, the county has reached an agreement to create a public defender’s office[.]“
• Meanwhile, in Hays County TX, “[h]ostile debate on the timing of an application meant to secure grant money for a proposed public defender’s office…led to the item’s death on the [] County Commissioners Court dais.“
• In Cheboygan County MI, “[t]he…County Board of Commissioner [sic] has approved the Cheboygan County Indigent Defense Compliance Plan and grant application to be submitted to the State of Michigan.“
• In New Orleans, “[Orleans Public Defenders] is cutting services and halting hiring over a projected $1.1 million revenue shortfall[.]” “Chief District Defender Derwyn Bunton said he is reacting to a projected $400,000 shortfall in money from court fines and fees and a $700,000 cut from the state Public Defender Board for the fiscal year that ends June 30. Bunton said in an interview that he expects the revenue bleeding to continue in the next fiscal year[.]“
• In Missouri, “[t]he…public defender’s office will be able to re-open its juvenile advocacy units in St. Louis County and Jackson County [with a] $913,786 appropriation [which will allow t]he units to hire attorneys who specialize in juvenile issues…A House-Senate conference committee approved the spending Tuesday, but the line-item must still clear the full House and Senate later this week. Gov. Mike Parson, a Republican, also could veto the spending, like he did last year[.]“

Criminal Justice Reform

• In Philadelphia PA, District Attorney Kranser said “the city is ‘very close’ to enacting a first-of-its-kind policy in the U.S. that would reduce charges–as well as associated consequences–for people caught possessing small amounts of drugs, leading them away from jail cells and a criminal record.“
• In King County WA, “police departments…are pointing the finger at the King County Prosecutor’s Office for policies that they say let felons slip through the cracks.“

Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives

Hello there, interested public! Student loans continue to create dramatic stories, with the Department of Education releasing new data for March 2019 on Public Service Loan Forgiveness (or, rather, the lack thereof) and a report from the Wall Street Journal that the Trump Administration is considering selling some or all of the federal government’s student loan portfolio. Meanwhile, Legal Aid Ontario began announcing specifically how recent dramatic funding cuts will affect its operations while Illinois considered an access-to-justice bill that would dramatically expand legal representation. Oh, and prosecutors in Massachusetts are suing the federal government to prevent immigration agents from conducting arrests within state courthouses while the federal government is prosecuting a Massachusetts judge and court official for taking actions to frustrate this federal arrest policy. These stories and more are in the links, below.

See you around,
Sam

Immigration, Refugee, and Citizenship Issues

• In Texas, “[a] 16-year-old boy who traveled to the U.S. from Guatemala has died in U.S. custody in Texas, becoming the third child since early December to die after being detained…Authorities [had] placed him in Southwest Key Casa Padre, a former Walmart that was converted into a facility to house more than 1,000 immigrant children.“
• In Boston MA, “[a] Massachusetts judge was indicted…on charges that she helped a man who was living in the U.S. illegally sneak out a back door of the courthouse to evade a waiting immigration enforcement agent.“
• Also in Boston MA, “[p]rosecutors in Massachusetts sued Monday to block federal authorities from making arrests at courthouses of people suspected of being in the country illegally, arguing the practice is making it harder for them to hold defendants accountable and get justice for victims.“
• In California, “[t]he [ACLU] Foundation of Southern California sued Immigration and Customs Enforcement…to stop transfers of detainees held in two Orange County jails that recently ended their contract with the federal agency…The ACLU is asking the court to prevent transfers of immigrants outside of Southern California if they already have attorneys or if they have immediate family in the region.“
• In Fairfax County VA, “[t]he Fairfax County Board of Supervisors voted 7 to 3 to…set aside $200,000 for a legal-aid pilot program to help immigrants facing deportation proceedings.“
• In New York NY, Governor Cuomo announced that “New York State will fund free legal services and immigrants’ rights clinics for non-citizens at consulates and religious institutions throughout the five boroughs [as] part of the state’s Liberty Defense Project[.]“
• In Virginia, “[i]mmigration enforcement agents cannot be sued over their actions, a three-judge panel of the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled[], because they are not dealing in criminal law.“
• In Washington DC, the Washington Post reported that “[t]he U.S. immigration court system is facing a backlog of 850,000 cases, and it has fewer than 450 judges nationwide to handle them. New asylum applications and other claims are piling up…[and t]he president has grown so frustrated that he has been floating the idea of doing away entirely with U.S. immigration courts, which re part of the Justice Department, not the judicial branch.“

Voting Rights

• In Tennessee, the NAACP and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, along with several pro bono firms and a solo practitioner, “filed suit…challenging Tennessee’s new third-party [voter] registration law. The complaint alleges that the law, which imposes burdensome requirements on persons and organizations who seek to help people register to vote, violates fundamental rights of free speech, free association, the right to vote, and due process.“
• In Georgia, “U.S. District Judge Steve Jones…heard arguments on a motion from state election officials to dismiss…[t]he lawsuit [] filed weeks after Republican Brian Kemp narrowly beat Democrat Stacey Abrams [that] accuses the secretary of state and election board members of mismanaging the 2018 election in ways that deprived some citizens, particularly low-income people and minorities, of their constitutional right to vote.“

Student Loans

• In Washington DC, “[t]he Trump administration has retained private consultants to estimate potential losses in the U.S. government’s $1.45 trillion student-loan portfolio, and is weighing selling all or portions of the debt to private investors[.]“
• Also in Washington, the Department of Education released its Public Service Loan Forgiveness Report for March 2019. As StudentLoanHero.com put it, “[a]s seen with the previous data, only the lucky few have so far received loan forgiveness, at only 518 out of the 73,554 unique borrowers who applied.“
• Business Insider reported that “[a] solid majority of Americans–57%–who’ve already paid off their student-loan debt support Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s ambitious new plan to cancel tens of millions of Americans’ student debt, according to a new INSIDER poll.“
• Above the Law noted that “[while] Trump’s 2020 budget proposal…envisioned an end to the Public Student [sic] Loan Forgiveness program…[m]uch more interesting…was Trump’s push to forgive undergraduate student loan debt for all borrowers after 15 years[–]five years earlier than under current income-driven repayment plans,” a proposal similar enough to Senator Warren’s recently-announced platform that, “in any rational world, a compromise would be reachable between two factions who both agree that student debt should be forgiven in a shorter period of time[.]“
• InsideHigherEd.com reported that [the] Urban Institute announced that a widely-cited statistic finding that 49% of education debt is held by those in the top quartile of income “was the result of a coding error and was discovered in discussions with a writer for Slate[;] Urban Institute…announced that the figure was incorrect and should have been 34%[.]”
• Again also in Washington, “[t]he Consumer Financial Protection Bureau fined Conduent Education Services $3.9 million for failing to provide accurate account balances on more than 200,000 student loans that resulted in many borrowers paying off the wrong amounts.“
• Again again also in Washington, the American Enterprise Institute released a report titled “Ensuring Accountability and Effectiveness at the Office of Federal Student Aid”, noting that “[t]he fifth-largest bank in the United States…[is] the Office of Federal Student Aid” and urging Congress to “consider necessary updates to the statutory goals and structure of the performance-based organization” (a “structure [] designed to be somewhat independent from political pressures” of which the FSA is one of only three in the federal government).
• In Minnesota, “[the] House of Representatives approved a new higher education budget that would freeze tuition for two years at the state’s public colleges and universities.”
• In Illinois, “State Treasurer Michael Frerichs wants to allocate up to 5% of the $13 billion in taxpayer money he manages to direct student loans.“
• In California, “2020 presidential candidate John Hickenlooper announced that ‘as president I would lower the interest rate [on student loans] down to 2.5 percent, or as low as I can get it, without taking any risk[.]“
• Bloomberg News reported the chief economist at Deutsche Bank Securities believes that “viewed next to the $104 trillion in household net work, that $1.6 trillion [in student debt] is more of an unfortunate ‘micro problem’ for individuals than a macro problem for the economy.”

#MeToo

• In New Mexico, “the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Mexico…filed a lawsuit against the Third Judicial District Attorney’s office on behalf of three former female assistant district attorneys who endured rampant sex discrimination, harassment, and retaliation, and who were suspended after refusing to remove ‘No Mansplaining’ signs from their doors.”

Non-Profit Management & Hiring

• In Washington DC, Restore Public Trust, “a group representing 40 progressive organizations focused on issues of civil rights, immigration and government accountability” announced plans to “launch an ad campaign urging major universities including Harvard to avoid hiring former members of the Trump administration.“
• Also in Washington DC, “[a] case recently appealed to the federal labor board could give it an opportunity to decide whether unpaid interns can organize for pay and other changes to their working conditions, especially in workplaces that already have a union.“
• In Illinois, LegalEvolution.org published an overview of the Lawyers Trust Fund of Illinois’ praiseworthy track record addressing the access to justice gap in their state “with an approach to funding that focused on facts and finding new ways to increase impact.” (Speaking from my own experience, Illinois Legal Aid Online is a brilliant initiative.)
• In Boulder County CO, “[the District Attorney] and his team sought out and were awarded a $7,500 grant for additional training to combat implicit bias in [their] office.”
• Benton IL, “nine current and former state workers su[ed] the AFSCME union over agency fees paid between May 2017 and June 2018. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled those fees were illegal in the Janus v. AFSCME case last June….[The Liberty Justice League…plan[s] similar lawsuits in other states.“
• In Ontario, “[m]ore than half of the lawyers elected to the Law Society of Ontario’s new board of directors are opposed to the statement of principles” which the Law Society approved in December 2016 by Convocation, “requir[ing] licensees to ‘create and abide by an individual Statement of Principles that acknowledges your obligation to promote equality, diversity and inclusion generally, and in your behaviour toward colleagues, employees, clients and the public.“

Law & Technology

• In Washington DC, “the Senate commerce committee heard from consumer advocates on how lawmakers should craft a data privacy bill…includ[ing] representatives from the American Civil Liberties Union, the Future of Privacy Forum, Common Sense Media and the Irish Data Protection Commission[.]“
• In Sacramento County CA, the “District Attorney dismissed or reduce over 5,300 cannabis convictions this month thanks to an algorithm created by Code for America, a tech-driven government watchdog group. Sacramento is one of five California counties to partner with the nonprofit for the Clear My Record pilot program.“
• In Massachusetts, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the ACLU filed papers in a federal lawsuit alleging that “U.S. government searches of travelers’ cellphones and laptops at airports and border crossings [have] nearly quadrupled since 2015 and are being conducted for reasons beyond customs and immigration enforcement.” The lawsuit “claims going through electronic devices without a warrant is unconstitutional.”

Access to Justice – Civil

• In Ontario, the CEO of Legal Aid Ontario “laid out in an email to staff…measures the organization would be taking following provincial budget cuts announced earlier this month. He said front-line services to the public would ‘continue and remain strong,’ but the agency will be slashing full-time positions, implementing a hiring freeze, and freezing management salaries, among other internal measures.“
• In Washington DC, “[g]eneral counsel from 262 companies including Amazon, Eli Lilly and Company, and the Walt Disney Company, are urging Congress to increase funding for [the] Legal Services Corporation, a little more than a month after the Trump administration proposed defunding the group.“
• In Illinois, state officials are considering “the ‘Illinois Access to Justice Program Act,” HB131/SB2249, which looks to establish a public-private partnership for community-based legal assistance [and would] provide free legal representation to both immigrants and all communities of color.“
• In California, California Rural Legal Assistance reopened its Santa Cruz office, which had “closed within the last five years when funding from the city and other sources wasn’t available.”

Access to Justice – Criminal

• In Montana, “[t]he Montana Supreme Court sa[id] a judge can’t order a public defender to represent a criminal defendant if no jail time is at stake.“
• In Louisiana, “[a]ttorneys for a man accused of killing his girlfriend, her family and his parents…have asked for a pause in the prosecution of the case until they can get funding[;] their team is completely unfunded, leaving them working for free and unable to hire needed investigators and experts.“
• In Travis County TX, the Travis County Commissioners Court prepared for its vote next week on “whether to approve and advance a grant proposal to the state-funded Texas Indigent Defense Commission that would help underwrite establishing a public defender’s office for the county.“

Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives

Hello there, interested public! Major stories this week include Senator Warren’s proposal for student debt forgiveness, continuing fallout from Premier Doug Ford’s announced 30 percent cut to Ontario Legal Aid, and pushback from various law enforcement groups against efforts by progressive prosecutors (and, in the case of immigration, judges). I’d say more, but time is short for me this week. As always, sources for these stories and more can be found below.

See you around,
Sam

Immigration, Refugee, & Citizenship Issues

• In Albany NY, “The head of the union for state court officers says New York’s administrative judges have created an unenforceable rule aimed at blocking federal immigration agents from arresting undocumented immigrants in courthouses without judicial warrants.“
• In Boston MA, “Mayor Marty Walsh said he’ll include money to help immigrants facing legal challenges in next fiscal year’s budget.“
• In Sacramento CA, “lawmakers and activists have been pushing a local and state-level campaign to kill contracts with tech companies that work with Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement.“
• In Yolo County CA, “[c]ounty officials have put on hold a plan to set aside $50,000 toward the cost of an attorney tasked with representing immigrant residents facing deportation.“
• In Ontario, aid groups condemned the Provincial Government’s recent decision to cut Legal Aid Ontario’s funding by 30 percent, with the Candian Council for Refugees stating that “[p]eople will end up being sent back to face persecution” and the Migran Workers Alliance for Change arguing that “[t]hese changes will be disastrous for many, fatal for the rest.”

Non-Profit Management & Hiring

• Weil, Gotshal & Manges announced plans to “give students entering prestigious law schools the chance to work with U.S.-based nonprofits for a year[, i]nvesting $1 million per year and providing mentorship to 10 students to work in the public interest.“
• In Rockville MD, RespectAbility released a report on “the inclusion and exclusion” of people who live with a disability in nonprofit organizations. The report found that “[e]ven among this very well-intentioned group, most are not doing enough — or anything — to provide people with disabilities the access and accommodations they need to they can participate, just like anyone else.“
• In New York NY, the Clooney Foundation for Justice launched its TrialWatch program in partnership with Columbia Law School and the ABA. “TrialWatch will train and send monitors to observe legal proceedings in nations where human rights may be at risk.“

Student Loans & Student Debt

• In Washington DC, Senator and Presidential Candidate Elizabeth Warren released a proposal for “[u]niversal free public college and cancellation of student loan debt.” Much debate has ensued about the specifics of her plan; dissecting it is left as an exercise for the reader.
• The Wall Street Journal reported that “[n]early 20 states are trying a new legislative tack to lure recent college graduates: paying off their student loans.“
• Meanwhile, StudentLoans.net published a list of “the states with a student loan tax credit.”
• In San Francisco CA, the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco released a report outlining a student loan crisis in the San Francisco Bay Area.
• In New Jersey, “Governor Murphy [] signed two pieces of legislation to assist student loan borrowers who are struggling with repayment.“
• In Mississippi, “the legislature adopted new language that will prohibit the state from pulling your [professional] license just because you couldn’t make a payment on your student loans.“

Legal Technology

• In Montreal QC, the Attorney General of Canada “announced the Government of Canada is supporting professional development in legal translation at McGill University’s School of Continuing Studies. This funding will support the development of an online program in legal translation that will allow jurists and translators across Canada to access training opportunities through distance education.“
• In Sacramento CA, “[s]tate lawmakers…advanced eight industry-backed bills aimed at limiting the reach of the California Consumer Privacy Act, signaling that in the Assembly at least the 2018 law giving customers more control over their data will likely be a ceiling for privacy changes, not a floor.“
• In South Africa, Epoq Legal announced the launch of “JusDraft, a real-time online legal document drafting tool designed for South African non-profit organizations.“

Access to Justice – Civil

• In Ontario, “[t]he union representing lawyers who ork for Legal Aid Ontario sa[id] the main justification offered by the province for its 30-per-cent funding cut for the agency is wrong–and that the government of Premier Doug Ford has been misleading the public.” See also this article in Canadian Lawyer.
  • Meanwhile, “Despite cuts to Ontario’s legal aid system announced in the 2019 Ontario budget, Premier Doug Ford says he guarantees that anyone who needs legal aid will receive it.“

Access to Justice – Criminal

• In Augusta ME, “Maine’s legislative watchdog is set to review a potential lack of financial oversight over the state’s system of providing legal services to the poor.“
• In Berrien County MI, “[c]ommisioners…approved a resolution allowing [Chief Public Defender] Renna to request $2.5 million in state funding for indigent defense, which includes an additional $1 million over this year for five additional attorneys…The hires will bring the contingent of full-time public defenders up to 17.“
• In Travis County TX, “[l]eaders of the Indigent Legal Services Working group presented parts of a proposal [to develop a public defender’s office] to Travis County leaders [] during Commissioner’s Court.“
• In Victoria County TX, a local editorial board encouraged county commissioners to adopt the idea of “partnering with Texas RioGrande Legal Aid to create a public defender’s office in Victoria County”–an idea the commissioners had been exploring in a recent meeting.
• In Dubois County IN, Circuit Judge Verkamp noted that “[t]he number of cases coming through the courts each year have [sic] steadily grown [and] we probably haven’t done a good job of each year increasing our budgets accordingly.“
• In California, a state senator has proposed a bill that would prevent counties from assessing and collecting administrative fees charged to defendants in relation to their criminal cases; “things like using a public defender ($50) or being arrested ($25).”Meanwhile, in New Jersey, “[t]he Bayonne City Council passed an ordinance [] raising the public defender fee from $50 to $200, the maximum allowed by state statute.”

Criminal Justice Reform

• In Chicago IL, the AP argued that “anyone who has followed [Cook County State’s Attorney] Kim Foxx’s work recognized in the texts the same reforms she has been implementing for years: Don’t overcharge for nonviolent crimes and, whenever possible, offer alternatives to taking a suspect to court.“
• In Dallas County TX, “A group of Dallas County Police Chief’s [sic] says that a new policy from the District Attorney aimed at reducing mass incarceration won’t stop them from arresting theft suspects.“
• In Philadelphia PA, the city’s “[p]olice union call[ed] for Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner’s removal [after] Krasner decided to drop a challenge that clears the way for [Mumia] Abu-Jamal to argue his appeal before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.“
• In New Hampshire, a superior court has ordered that “[a] list containing the names of approximately 250 New Hampshire law enforcement officers who may have credibility issues must be made public…under the state’s Right to Know laws.“
  • Meanwhile, in New York NY Gothamist published a piece on their city’s “quiet[] internal databases to track police officers who may have credibility problems as witnesses at trial,” noting that “[i]n Philadelphia, where the DA’s office released their list last year, public defenders have petitioned the DA’s office to re-examine over six thousand past convictions.”
• In Deschutes County OR, “[t]he district attorney…has a plan to stop prosecuting more than 200 misdemeanor crimes unless his department gets a mandate from the county commission in the form of more funding.“

Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives

Hello there, interested public! I’m still settling in back at NALP’s offices after last week’s Annual Education Conference in San Diego, but the news continues, so here’s the scoop. Major stories this week include a new roadmap for local governments interested in impact litigation out of San Francisco and Yale, a huge proposed cut to Ontario Legal Aid that has left many service providers scrambling, and a strike by legal aid attorneys in New York City.

Oh, and the Washington Post reported that “OPM [Office of Personnel Management employees were briefed” on Trump Administration plans “in the final stages of review” to “pull[ the agency] apart and [divide] its functions…among three other departments.” So there’s that as well.

For all this and more, read on.

See you around,
Sam

Noteworthy Miscellany

• In San Francisco CA, “[t]he San Francisco City Attorney’s Office, Yale Law School and a group of legal nonprofits have collaborated to put together a legal roadmap for cities and municipal law offices interested in going to court to protect residents’ rights.“

Immigration, Refugee, and Citizenship Issues

• In Ontario, “[t]he Progressive Conservative government is slashing the budget of Legal Aid Ontario, including eliminating funding for refugee and immigration law services–a move lawyers with the organization call a ‘horrific’ decimation.“
  • However, it was also reported that, “Legal Aid Ontario (LAO) has clarified that it will not be suspending all of its refugee and immigration services but has made interim changes to maintain ‘core’ services in the wake of funding cuts[.]“
• In New York, “[t]he New York State Office of Court Administration issued a new directive…that prevents [ICE] agents from making arrests inside courthouses without a judicial warrant or judicial order[.]“
• In California, “[t]he Ninth Circuit…temporarily lifted a California federal court’s [earlier] order that…halted the Trump administration’s policy of pushing asylum-seekers crossing the southwestern border back into Mexico.“
• In Washington DC, “President Donald Trump [said] he is strongly considering releasing ‘Illegal Immigrants’ into Democratic strongholds to punish congressional foes for inaction on the border–just hours after White House and Homeland Security officials insisted the idea had been rejected as fast as it had been proposed.“
• In Washington State, the Northwest Immigrants Rights Project “has agreed to pause its lawsuit challenging a government rule that punishes attorneys who offer limited representation to foreign citizens without formally appearing before the immigration court.” [The case is NWIRP v. Barr]

Student Debt & Loans

• JD Supra did a roundup of cases “across the country [in which] servicers are facing off against states and borrowers over the extent to which federal laws preempt state regulation of federal student loan servicers.“
  • In related news, “a whistleblower has alleged in a False Claims Act suit [that]” “[n]early a dozen private student loan collectors have defrauded the federal government of more than $100 million[.]“
• In Milwaukee WI, “Gov. Tony Evers’ budget proposal includes setting aside $50,000 to student developing a state authority to refinance student loans.“
• In Texas, “[t]he Texas Senate passed a bill…that would create a student loan repayment program for Texas peace offices [sic] who have served at least four consecutive years and commit to a career in law enforcement.“
• The Employee Benefit Research Institute reported that “[a] survey of 250 employers last year found that 32.4 percent offered or were planning to offer assistance programs in areas such as student loan debt consolidation, loan refinancing and student loan repayment subsidies[.] Among employers in this group, the most cited reason for offering help was to improve employee retention[.]“
  • In related news, “Nashville-based fintech company Advance Financial has introduced a student loan repayment program in which the company will contribute up to $12,000 over the course of six years toward repayment of any employee’s student loans.“
  • In other related news, Plan Sponsor profiled the various employer-sponsored repayment models that have become available recently.
• 401k Specialist Magazine reported that “[t]he latest Merrill Lynch/Age Wage study finds early adults[‘]…staggering levels [of student debt] have led to what the authors call ‘an evolved definition of financial success;’ 60% of early adults define financial success as being debt-free[.]“
• In Washington DC, “[t]he Department of Defense announced a change in policy this week that will allow the agency to work more closely with the Department of Education to make sure eligible service members get the student loan benefits they’re entitled to under law.” [Formal notice here.]
• The Department of Education issued a memo of “Recommendations [on] What Postsecondary Institutions Should Work to Avoid When Issuing Financial Aid Offers.“
• The Wall Street Journal reported that “[s]tudents of [historically black colleges and universities] are leaving with disproportionately high loans compared with their peers at other schools[.]“

Nonprofit Management & Hiring

• On the latest edition of the ABA Journal‘s “Legal Rebels” podcast, Luz Herrera of Texas A&M spoke about “how a low-bono practice can enable a lawyer to balance the desire to help people with making a living.”
• In North Carolina, the Governor signed Executive Order No. 93, “directing state government agencies to ban the use of salary history in the hiring process to address the gender pay gap between men and woman [sic].”

Legal Technology

• In Virginia, “[t]he legal community…is using a new online tool to better connect volunteer lawyers with low income people who need their help[:]” JusticeServer.org.
• In Washington State, “Microsoft Corp…rejected a California law enforcement agency’s request to install facial recognition technology in officers’ cars and body cameras due to human rights concerns[.]“
  • Meanwhile in New York NY “[a] Manhattan judge has ordered academics researching the NYPD’s facial recognition technology to return documents the police cops [sic] accidentally turned over…due to an ‘inadvertent error’.“

Access to Justice – Civil

• In Ontario, the Ontario Network of Injured Workers Groups (ONIWG) warned that “cuts to [] legal aid services…of this magnitude will be devastating to some of the most vulnerable people in Ontario.” (For more news about these legal aid cuts in Ontario’s proposed budget, see the Immigration, Refugee & Citizenship Issues section, above.)
  • Also in Ontario, “[a] proposed law tucked into [the proposed] Ontario budget…would fundamentally change the way government is held accountable to citizens through the courts [according to legal experts.]“
• In Washington DC, “panelists participating in the Legal Services Corp.’s Forum on Increasing Access to Justice described a massive disparity between the number of people facing evictions or home foreclosures across the U.S….But [a panelist] voiced optimism that growing bipartisan support for justice reform generally would bolster more ‘non-traditional’ housing and eviction intiatives[.]“
• In New York NY, “the legal aid attorneys and staff of CAMBA Legal Services (CLS) launched an indefinite strike. The workers of CLS won their union in May of 2018[.]“
• In New York NY, “advocates say that most low-income tenants still do not know they are entitled to a lawyer during eviction cases.” The city’s two-year-old right-to-counsel law “is currently being rolled out by zipcode [with] [c]itywide implementation [] expected by 2022.”
• In New York NY, “advocates say that most low-income tenants still do not know they are entitled to a lawyer during eviction cases.” The city’s two-year-old right-to-counsel law “is currently being rolled out by zipcode [with] [c]itywide implementation [] expected by 2022.”

Access to Justice – Criminal

• The Indiana Lawyer published a timeline of progress on the “Road to reform” as the state government has worked to improve its indigent defense system following a highly critical report from the Sixth Amendment Center in 2016.
• In Victoria County TX, the county is considering implementing a public defender program, “[r]ather than appointing individual lawyers and paying them one by one[.]“
• In Luzerne County PA, “the American Civil Liberties Union is ending a seven-year lawsuit over a lack of funding for public defense…because the quality of indigent defense in the county has improved significantly since 2012.“

Criminal Justice Reform

• In Dallas TX, “[o]ne of Texas’ largest police unions called…for the removal of Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot, who has announced plans not to prosecute certain low-level crimes.“
• In Brooklyn NY, “[i]n a memo this month to the state’s Department of Corrections and Community Supervision…[District Attorney] Gonzalez announced that his office will ‘case our previous practice of ordinarily opposing parole[, instead] consent[ing] to parole at the initial hearing for all those who entered into plea agreements–as people do in 90 percent of cases–once they have completed their minimum sentence[.]“
• In Ferguson MO, Mother Jones profiled the work of District Attorney Wesley Bell, opining that “Bell has a particularly fine line to walk in his new position. As a prosecutor in a birthplace of the Black Lives Matter movement, he’s balancing significant pressure from the activists who helped elect him while he works within the system that inspired their anger in the first place.“
• In Chicago IL, “Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx said she is still on track to begin wiping clean thousands of minor cannabis convictions in the coming months[.]“
  • Also in Chicago, “[t]wo deputies of [] Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx…will leave the office in the coming weeks.” Specifically, the office is losing its first chief ethics officer and “a veteran prosecutor and civil attorney who revamped the process the office used to review wrongful conviction claims.”

Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives

Awa Sowe, PSJD Fellow

Hello, interested public! The digest a bit late today, and a bit short, as Awa and I are at NALP’s Annual Education Conference in San Diego. (I couldn’t have completed this edition without the help of Awa Sowe, our 2018-2019 PSJD Fellow. Thanks Awa!) You may hear more about this week, next week.

As for this edition of the digest, highlights include a sweeping new proposal concerning Public Service Loan Forgiveness from Senators Gillibrand and Kaine and a law review article from David Udell summarizing last fall’s A2J Summit in New York City.

And if you’re in San Diego for the conference as well and you haven’t already tracked me down to say hi, you still have a chance. Just sayin’.

See you around,
Sam

Immigration, Refugee & Citizenship Issues

• In California, “Judge Richard Seeborg of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California granted a preliminary injuction of the Trump administration’s Migrant Protection Protocols requiring non-Mexican migrants seeking asylum in the U.S. to be deported to Mexico while their request is processed.“
• In New York NY, the Immigrant Defense Project reported that “[t]he increased presence of federal immigration officers in and around New York state courts has led to a sharp decline in equal access to litigation and the use of legal services by undocumented immigrants.” They are calling for “the Office of Court Administration to immediately promulgate a rule requiring those officers to obtain a federal judicial arrest warrant before entering state courts to make an arrest.”
• In New York NY, “[a] 2-year-old state program that provides free legal services for immigrants will expand thanks to $10 million included in the new state budget.“

Student Debts & Loans

• In Washington DC, “U.S. Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Tim Kaine (D-VA) introduced a new bill [] which would rework the current Public Service Loan Forgiveness program…to expand the number of people who can qualify for the program and receive student loan forgiveness.” You can also read the bill.
• Also in Washington DC, “Twenty-one state attorneys general are asking Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to end a recent decision to withhold student loan information from their offices and other law enforcement agencies.”

Legal Technology

• In the Fordham Law Review, David Udell of the National Center for Access to Justice summarized many ideas and outcomes from the “A2J Summit” his organization and Fordham’s A2J initiative hosted last fall.
• In California, at a meeting of the State Bar’s Task Force on Access Through Innovation of Legal Services, Rebecca Sandefur argued that “the potential for the technologies to assist Americans with their civil justice problems has largely gone unrealized.“

Access to Justice – Civil

• In Los Angeles CA, “a coalition of tenant advocates and community activists pressed for the city to move forward with a “right to counsel” ordinance and called on Mayor Eric Garcetti to allocate $10 million to assist tenants in his upcoming budget.“
• In Ontario, the provinical Law Society expressed “grave[] concern[] over the Ontario Government’s plans to cut funding to Legal Aid Ontario by over 30 per cent, as outlined today in the provincial budget [and] will address its concerns directly with the Attorney General, with the goal that she reconsider and recalibrate the depth of these funding cuts.”
  

Access to Justice- Criminal

• In New York NY, “[t]he New York City Council’s budget response to Mayor Bill de Blasio included $15 million to support parity in pay between local defender and legal services offices with the city’s Corporation Counsel, but the former group of attorneys says there should be more.”
  
• In Kansas, “a record 1 in 4 public defenders quit last fiscal year, with many blaming high caseloads and low salaries.” The Kansas Board of Indigents’ Defense Services’ executive director stated that “[t]he agency is in crisis… the resignation rate for the fiscal year that ended on June 30, 2018, is the highest her agency has seen since its creation in 1982.”

Criminal Justice Reform

• In Texas, “Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot says his office will no longer prosecute a number of cases in an attempt to end “mass incarceration” in Dallas County, fulfilling a campaign promise he made last fall.”
• In New York NY, “[t]he chief prosecutor of New York City’s most populous borough, Brooklyn, is backing an effort to decriminalize prostitution, arrests for which, according to a state senator advocating for the change, disproportionately impact black women.“
  
• In Utah, “[t]he new top prosecutor in Utah’s second-largest county is planning a program to get low-level suspects into drug treatment or community service without ever filing criminal charges against them.“
  
• Law360 reviewed the progressive prosecutor movement, commenting that: “In most cases, it is too early to measure the impact of their policies, but the prosecutors are already making waves in the criminal justice system and forcing a re-evaluation of the question: What makes an effective prosecutor?”