Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives

Hello, interested public! We’re back with another week of news from the world of public service law. The biggest story this week concerns student loans. This story and others are in the links below.

Sam

Editor’s Choice

• Navient Outsources Servicing Of 2.7 Million Student Loans To Its Rival MOHELA—Is Your Loan Affected? (Forbes; 6 Feb 2024)

  • MOHELA slow to process Public Service Loan Forgiveness applications, class action alleges (Top Class Actions; 1 Feb 2024)

Student Loans & Student Debt

• Employers can now match student loan payments as 401(k) contributions. Here’s what that means (PBS; 8 Feb 2024)

• Graduate and professional students advocate for continued access to federal student loans amid debates over proposed Pell changes (Yale Daily News; 9 Feb 2024)

• Rural Attorney Program Repays Student Loans (Court News Ohio; 8 Feb 2024)

  • Attorney Shortage Leads One State [OH] to Offer Student Loan Relief (Newsweek; 2 Feb 2024)

Non-Profit & Government Management & Hiring

• Biden administration to extend salary history ban to federal contractors (Government Executive; 31 Jan 2024)

  • OPM offers guidance for agencies implementing salary history ban (Government Executive; 2 Feb 2024)

• The jobs boom is hitting the federal sector, too (Government Executive; 2 Feb 2024)

• Public Sector Bodies Required To Comply With The Accessible Saskatchewan Act (Mondaq; 31 Jan 2024)

• San Diego County has a new public defender, but the selection process troubled some (inewsource; 5 Feb 2024)

• CT public defender union schedules 'no confidence' vote on chief Bowden-Lewis (Hartford Courant; 6 Feb 2024)

  • New turmoil arises for CT public defenders: Email accounts of chief's critics accessed (Hartford Courant; 7 Feb 2024)

• Study: Civil Legal Services Lawyers Make as Much as 45% Less Than Public-Sector Counterparts (New York Law Journal; 5 Feb 2024)

• How Foundations Can Co-Create Movement Infrastructure (Nonprofit Quarterly; 6 Feb 2024)

• As DEI policies come under legal attack, philanthropic donors consider how to adapt (Associated Press; 8 Feb 2024)

Access to Justice – Civil & Economic

• At risk of eviction in L.A.? These outreach workers are looking for you (LA Times; 9 Feb 2024)

• Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid to provide legal services for seniors (Kanabec County Times; 9 Feb 2024)

• Free legal aid for veterans comes to New London [CT] (The Day; 2 Feb 2024)

• Legal Aid Society grows along with eviction-defense program (Central NY Business Journal; 8 Feb 2024)

• Tacoma [WA] tenant protection law in full effect despite city’s lack of engagement (Real Change News; 31 Jan 2024)

• Boston [MA] City Council exploring pilot that would fund lawyers for evicted tenants (Boston Herald; 2 Feb 2024)

• [OH] Eviction filings creep back up to pre-pandemic levels (Spectrum News 1; 1 Feb 2024)

• Need for eviction protection increasing (The Berkeley [CA] Independent; 2 Feb 2024)

• Right to counsel for [NE] public housing residents considered (Unicameral Update; 7 Feb 2024)

• A Shortage of Immigration Lawyers Is Another Barrier to Integration for Immigrants (Immigration Impact; 31 Jan 2024)

• Nonprofit brings loan program to Pennsylvania for immigrants who can’t afford legal assistance (witf; 5 Feb 2024)

• Boosting civil legal aid: How Florida’s IOTA program leads the way (Business Observer; 1 Feb 2024)

• Pushing To Make The Formerly Incarcerated A Protected Class (Law360; 2 Feb 2024)

Access to Justice – Criminal

• Proposed [South Dakota] state public defender commission gets term limits added during floor debate (Sioux Falls Argus Leader; 8 Feb 2024)

• Alameda County [CA] Public Defender blasts governor for sending more prosecutors (KRON 4; 8 Feb 2024)

• Court-appointed [NY] lawyers are victims of stolen check schemes, prosecutors say; 6 people charged (ABA Journal; 8 Feb 2024)

• 'No one takes a pay cut': More funding needed for state takeover of Louisville public defenders (WHAS 11; 2 Feb 2024)

• Wilt's Bill For Public Defender's Office Heads To [VA] House Of Delegates (Daily News Record; 4 Feb 2024)

Prosecutorial and Public Defense Office Hiring Crises

• Last public defender in YSL trial moves to withdraw as counsel, says she can’t earn ‘livable wage’ (WSB-TV Atlanta; 8 Feb 2024)

• [Memphis TN] Public defender’s office also faces pay-disparity problem (Daily Memphian; 5 Feb 2024)

• County prosecutor makes plea for 3 more positions amid attorney shortage (WRTV Indianapolis; 8 Feb 2024)

• Could judge have issued ‘less extreme’ remedy to address Oregon’s public defender crisis, appeals court asks (The Oregonian; 6 Feb 2024)

Criminal Justice Reform and Counter-Reform

• California criminal justice system moving slowly to confront biases, discrimination (Courthouse News; 2 Feb 2024)

• Jackson County [KS] prosecutor started a conviction review unit. Some say it’s ‘smoke & mirrors’ (The Kansas Star; 5 Feb 2024)

• Ninth Circuit considers reviving law regulating defense attorneys’ access to victims (Courthouse News; 5 Feb 2024)

• Hennepin County [MN] Attorney Mary Moriarty opens application process for incarcerated people to request reduced sentence (Star Tribune; 7 Feb 2024)

Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives

Hello, interested public! The Digest has been missing for awhile; news has been coming too thick and fast for me to manage. I’m sorry for letting you all down. As a solution, I’m going to move to a more terse delivery of key stories. Please feel free to let me know how this new format lands.

Hope this helps,

Sam

Editor’s Choice

• Fewer People Want to Lead Nonprofits. What’s the Answer? [A new study finds that aspiring leaders, especially those of color, aren’t being pulled into leadership through support and positive role models but are more often pushed into top positions to escape difficult work circumstances.] (Philanthropy.com; 26 Jan 2024)

Student Loans & Student Debt

• Nearly half of law school students enroll in law school carrying undergrad debt, reports AccessLex Institute (NationalJurist.com; 30 Jan 2024)

• Student Loan Borrowers Skip Payments: It's 'an Act of Civil Disobedience' (Newsweek.com; 26 Jan 2024)

• Loan repayment program announced for new attorneys in rural Ohio (Portsmouth-DailyTimes.com; 29 Jan 2024)

Non-Profit & Government Management & Hiring

• Black Louisiana Assistant District Attorney’s Bias Suit Rejected (Bloomberg Law; 30 Jan 2024)

• Feds get 7.4% pay raise under congressional Democrats' plan (GovExec.com; 30 Jan 2024)

• Glassdoor For Judges: Clerkship Transparency Effort Gains Momentum (AboveTheLaw.com; 30 Jan 2024)

• New program helps Delaware nonprofits expand their reach (WMDT.com; 29 Jan 2024)

• Public Sector Drop Undermines Unions’ Organizing Success in 2023 (BloombergLaw.com; 26 Jan 2024)

• CT chief public defender claims discrimination following dispute over hiring policy (Courant.com; 26 Jan 2024)

• Biden Orders US Contractors to Reveal Salary Ranges in Job Ads (BloombergLaw.com; 29 Jan 2024)

Access to Justice – Civil & Economic

• Donation to U of T’s Downtown Legal Services advances legal aid (U Toronto; 30 Jan 2024)

• Budget Talks Will Determine Size Of [Massachusetts’] Legal Aid Gaps (StatehouseNews.com; 30 Jan 2024)

• Provincial grant aims to provide alternatives, boost access to justice (CalgaryHerald.com; 30 Jan 2024)

• People discuss housing issues facing Metro Detroit at Right to Counsel Law meeting (CBS; 28 Jan 2024)

• Charlotte eviction crisis 'affecting the most vulnerable' | Housing advocates seeking solutions to provide representation for low-income tenants (WCNC.com; 25 Jan 2024)

• ‘Greatly underestimated’: In 2024, agencies continue looking for data, solutions for eviction issues (TheIndianaLawyer.com; 31 Jan 2024)

• Dallas Covers Legal Aid for Tenants Facing Eviction (DallasExpress.com; 25 Jan 2024)

• Free Legal Service Provider Expo happening Saturday [in Beaufort SC], and you're invited (WJCL.com; 25 Jan 2024)

• Pennsylvania Courts Announce New Pilot Project Providing Free Legal Representation to Older Adults in Guardianship Cases (PennWatch.org; 25 Jan 2024)

• Reno Justice Court Opens Walk-In Center (2news.com; 25 Jan 2024)

• A lack of attorneys creates ‘legal deserts’ in rural Illinois counties (HeartlandSignal.com; 25 Jan 2024)

• New pre-law program aims to tackle shortage of lawyers in northern Manitoba (CBC.ca; 24 Jan 2024)

• New York State Bar Association Objects to Governor’s Transfer of Funds That Belong by Law to Low-Income New Yorkers (NYSBA.org; 25 Jan 2024)

Access to Justice – Criminal

• EDITORIAL: Public defenders aren’t social workers (Denver Gazette; 30 Jan 2024)

• New legislation will provide funding to public defender offices statewide [in Pennsylvania] (WJACTV.com; 25 Jan 2024)

• ‘Rights are being violated’: WA public defender shortage leads to alleged gap in representation (KIRO7.com; 25 Jan 2024)

• Public defender Champion has [NC] office up and running – even without office space (AlmanceNews.com; 27 Jan 2024)

Prosecutorial and Public Defense Office Hiring Crises

• Kansas attorney general Kris Kobach has hired more lawyers but is still short on staff (Topeka Capital-Journal; 31 Jan 2024)

• Kansas public defenders got raises. But their dissatisfaction with pay almost doubled (KCBeacon.org; 30 Jan 2024)

• Prosecutors are 'quitting in droves,' and it's bad news for defendants, law prof says (ABA Journal; 26 Jan 2024)

• Public defender pay raise shakes up staffing in Minnesota county attorney offices [Many county attorneys have left for the higher pay, but some counties have also raised wages in response.] (StarTribune.com; 27 Jan 2024)

• As staffing gaps grow in local government, rural counties, including Mendocino [CA], struggle to compete (PressDemocrat.com; 27 Jan 2024)

• With Adams County [IL] Public Defender’s office already shorthanded, Nelson leaving as chief public defender on Feb. 15 (MuddyRiverNews.com; 29 Jan 2024)

• Maine’s court-appointed lawyers are ‘saturated’ with criminal, parental caseloads (PressHerald.com; 17 Jan 2024)

Criminal Justice Reform and Counter-Reform

• Chesa Boudin Ally Challenges District Attorney Brooke Jenkins (SFStandard.com; 26 Jan 2024)

• Georgia House Votes to Revive Prosecutor Oversight Panel as Democrats Warn of Targeting Fani Willis [Georgia House members have passed a bill that would revive a commission with powers to discipline and remove prosecutors] (US News.com; 29 Jan 2024)

Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives

Hello, interested public! The Digest has finally caught up with current events, which continue to move at a whirlwind pace. This week sees major stories in almost every area we follow together, including the State of Alabama’s decision to disobey an order from the Supreme Court to rework its election districts, a lawsuit brought by the DoJ against the State of Texas for deploying spiked barriers into the Rio Grande, a congressional budgeting error that threatens to dramatically cut funding to the federal defender service, an effort by landlords in New Jersey to undo recent right-to-counsel in eviction legislation…I could go on, but I’ll stop there and invite you instead to keep reading. As always, these stories and more are in the links below.

Take care of each other,

Sam

Editor’s Choice

• In the United States, “a report from Harvard Law School and New York University, examining how humans, livestock, and wild animals interact here[, found that] regulations are so loose and interactions so frequent [] that a virus or another contagious bug could easily jump from animals to people in the U.S., sparking a deadly outbreak…[Vermont Law Professor Delcianna] Winders said she’s concerned about how much money the government spends subsidizing and protecting industries she believes put the American public at risk [and] hopes Congress will take advantage of this year’s reenactment of the Farm Bill to limit subsidies and impose new safety regulations on animal industries.” (Harvard & NYU Report Available in Full)

Free & Fair Elections

• In Atlanta GA, “[a] federal court judge has ruled in favor of DeKalb County residents, allowing them and others living outside of Atlanta to begin collecting signatures for a referendum petition aimed at putting the planned Atlanta public safety training center on the ballot…[Judge] Cohen [] wrote that the city’s requirement ‘imposes a severe burden on core political speech.’ And he added that Atlanta failed ‘to present any argument that the requirement is narrowly tailored to serve a compelling government interest.’”

• In Alabama, “Republicans [] defied a U.S. Supreme Court order by passing a new congressional map that includes only one majority-Black district. The GOP-controlled Legislature had called a special session to redraw an earlier map after the Supreme Court reaffirmed a federal court order to include two districts where Black voters make up voting-age majorities, ‘or something quite close to it.’..’Following the U.S. Supreme Court order, I called the Alabama Legislature into a special session to readdress our congressional map,’ [Gov.] Ivey said in a statement after signing the measure. ‘The Legislature knows our state, our people and our districts better than the federal courts or activist groups, and I am pleased that they answered the call, remained focused and produced new districts ahead of the court deadline.’”

Reproductive Rights

• In New York, “Attorney General Letitia James today took action to stop members of Red Rose Rescue, an anti-abortion extremist group, from blocking access to abortion care in New York.”

Student Loans & Student Debt

• In Washington DC, “[m]ore than 175 advocacy groups representing borrowers want the Biden administration to move quickly to discharge student loans, as the president promised last August. Such a move would protect borrowers from harm and would be legal, the groups argued in a joint letter, citing an unsigned legal memorandum that outlined how the Higher Education Act of 1965 and other federal laws allow the administration to provide relief quickly.”

• In the United States, “[w]hen you take inflating college tuition costs into account, not only is Gen Z more likely to have student debt, they also have higher balances than any other generation. On average, Gen Z had outstanding student debt balances of $20,900 — 13% higher than millennials…Going by this trend, Gen Z is sprinting headfirst into what some economists refer to as a “student loan cliff” that will have a lasting impact on the American economy.”

Environmental Crisis

• In New York NY, “[s]peaking at UN Headquarters, the [UN] Secretary-General underscored the need for global action on emissions, climate adaptation and climate finance. He warned that ‘the era of global warming has ended’ and ‘the era of global boiling has arrived.’…He said leaders ‘must step up for climate action and climate justice’, particularly those from the G20 leading industrial nations, responsible for 80 per cent of global emissions. He pointed to upcoming summits – including the UN Climate Ambition Summit in September and the COP28 climate conference in Dubai in November – as critical opportunities.”

• In Washington DC, “President Biden unveiled several measures [] aimed at addressing the extreme heat affecting large swaths of the nation, including ramped-up enforcement of safety protections for workers in fields such as construction and agriculture who are most vulnerable to high temperatures.”

  • In response, Greenpeace observed that “[o]n the same day [as Biden’s unveiling], the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is likely to approve a certificate that would permit Port Arthur LNG’s Expansion Project, allowing the terminal to export up to the equivalent of 698 billion cubic feet of natural gas per year – for nearly 30 years. Findings show this project would ‘increase the atmospheric concentration of GHGs and would contribute to climate change.’”

• Meanwhile, also in Washington DC, “[t]he Supreme Court on Thursday cleared the way for the completion of the Mountain Valley Pipeline, a controversial $6.6 billion natural-gas pipeline spanning just over 300 miles, from West Virginia’s northwestern border to southern Virginia. In a brief unsigned order, the justices lifted orders by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit that had put construction in the Jefferson National Forest, in southern Virginia, on hold while challenges from environmental groups to the construction continue. There were no recorded dissents.”

• In the United States, “PFAS, short for per- and polyfluorinated substances, are a class of chemicals used to make heat, grease, and water-resistant coatings…Given their widespread use, they can be found virtually everywhere, including in myriad consumer and other products, and in soil and groundwater—including on farmland and other sites not typically associated with environmental contamination. Moreover, EPA and state regulators have determined that exposure to almost any level of PFAS can result in health risks. Consequently,…[t]he volume of PFAS-related lawsuits will almost certainly rise in the coming years. With pressure mounting on the federal and state governments to more tightly regulate PFAS, these “forever chemicals” may well be the contemporary version of asbestos or PCBs when it comes to environmental litigation.”

• Also in the United States, “[m]ore and more companies are pledging to zero out their greenhouse gas emissions using ‘voluntary carbon offsets’… Experts have described offsets as a ‘climate scam’ and the voluntary market for them a ‘Wild West.’ Now, federal regulatory agencies are beginning to take note. One of these is the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, or CFTC, an independent government body charged with ensuring the stability of the country’s derivatives markets[;…]recent actions suggest that it’s gearing up for a more proactive regulatory role in this space.”

Immigration & Refugee Issues

• In the United States, “[a]s the Biden administration continues to expand ways for immigrants to legally enter and remain in the United States, the agency tasked with overseeing and implementing those efforts is suffering under the strain of its ever-growing workload. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is struggling to keep pace with its new and growing responsibilities, according to watchdogs and agency employees, and some of its backlogs have grown to unprecedented heights.”

• In Austin TX, “[t]he Department of Justice sued the state of Texas and Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday for building a floating barrier at the southern border that the state says will deter migrants but that the Biden administration calls a threat to public safety…The lawsuit [] alleges that Abbott violated the law by building structures in the Rio Grande River without authorization, creating an obstruction in U.S. waters.”

• In San Francisco CA, “[t]he Ninth Circuit [] upheld the federal government’s win in a suit challenging a purportedly covert surveillance program, agreeing that the immigration attorneys and filmmaker who sued [over a purportedly covert surveillance program] haven’t show that they’ve suffered any concrete harm[.]”

Non-Profit & Government Management & Hiring

• In a webinar, “[the] Taproot Foundation team[ed] up with TrustLaw, the global pro bono legal service of the Thomson Reuters Foundation, [to discuss] how nonprofits and social enterprises can access their network of law firms for free legal assistance.”

• In the United States, “[a] congressional budgeting error in pending spending bills has cast a dark cloud over the future of federal public defenders, as they may be forced to lay off up to 500 staff members. If not promptly addressed, the budget cut could slash the Federal Public and Community Defenders’ budget by 3% to 5%, jeopardizing their ability to provide crucial legal representation to the most vulnerable members of society.”

• In Connecticut, “the first Black woman to lead the Division of Public Defender Services…[i]n an exclusive interview with The Connecticut Mirror…maintains that she has openly communicated her goals from day one and finds that much of the backlash [to her leadership] has materialized in unexpected ways…The public narrative suggests her arrival was the catalyst for the troubles. But her supporters say many of the problems have long persisted. Absent from some people’s treatment of Bowden-Lewis, they say, is respect for her leadership…‘I was here for two white women that were previous chiefs. That never happened. There was never this undermining,’ said Amy Baez, who works within the division’s financial unit and, in 2018, filed a discrimination complaint against the agency.”

• In New York NY, “[t]he city is chipping away at its notoriously tardy payments to nonprofit contractors through a new reform that could eliminate nine months of delays each year, Mayr Eric Adams and City Comptroller Brad Lander announced[.]”

• In Washington DC, “[w]hile President Biden has revoked his mandate that all federal employees receive a COVID-19 vaccine, his administration is asking the Supreme Court to vacate the decision that blocked the requirement…the administration is now seeking to prevent a wider, precedent-setting ruling that would rewrite presidential authorities by instead having the case dismissed as no longer relevant.”

Access to Justice – Civil & Economic

• In Nashville TN, the Nashville Scene profiled the practice of “Code Snitching”, describing how “Nashvillians are weaponizing metro codes against ‘undesirable’ neighbors[:]…‘Think about who a system like this targets, and who it benefits,’ says Joanna Weiss, co-director of the Fines and Fees Justice Center in New York. ‘Poor people don’t typically call Codes on their neighbors, because poor people don’t trust the legal system. The people who benefit from complaint-driven systems are people for whom the legal system already works perfectly. Wealthy people. White people. Developers. And they usually use it as a weapon against people who don’t have the means to fight back’[.]”

• In Jersey City NJ, “[t]he Jersey City Property Owners’ Association is challenging the recently approved right-to-counsel law, claiming it is unconstitutional, in a new court filing…JCPOA contends that tenants’ right to counsel ‘is not a power delegated to municipalities by the State of New Jersey’.” (For more on the history of Jersey City’s Right-to-Counsel in Eviction law, see previous editions of this Digest.)

• In San Antonio TX, “[t]he City of San Antonio has joined a lawsuit against the State of Texas over a newly passed law that critics say would sharply curtail the ability of cities and counties to pass local regulations…The new law, which takes effect on Sept. 1, will prevent cities like San Antonio from making or enforcing local laws across broad areas of state law, including on issues like evictions or employment benefits.”

• In Colorado, “[f]or the first time, Colorado's second-highest court has recognized there is a right to effective assistance of counsel for people involved in criminal cases whom the government wishes to forcibly medicate.”

• In Michigan, the State Supreme Court ruled that “[p]ro bono representation should not be a factor in determining a reasonable attorney fee award,…finding a judge wrongly slashed Honigman LLP's fee award when it represented a pair of journalists for free in a public records case.”

• In Florida, “[a]n indigent man contesting a parental rights dispute effectively ‘forfeited’ his right to public counsel after at least five lawyers assigned to him dropped him as a client for not following their advice or threatening them, a Florida appeals court ruled[.]”

• In Manitoba, “[a] 45-page report released [by the auditor general] outlined seven recommendations for Manitoba’s Department of Justice which include improving administration and outdated technology, hiring more staff and providing better service in northern Manitoba. The report examined the efficiency of Manitoba's provincial court system and found case backlogs and court delays have stalled justice.”

• In California, “there's a new state effort offering free legal assistance to farmworkers confronting workplace disputes.”

• In Nebraska, “[a]ttorneys for renters facing eviction are expressing optimism that help will be coming for their clients, despite the dismissal [] of an appeal before the Nebraska Supreme Court. In the appeal, attorneys with Legal Aid of Nebraska and the Nebraska Appleseed Center argued that those facing eviction have a constitutional right to a jury trial before they lose their home. The court ruled that the appeal was moot because an Omaha woman who had appealed had already been evicted from her apartment.”

Access to Justice – Criminal

• In Washington DC, “President Biden is set to give final approval [] to the biggest reshaping in generations of the country’s Uniform Code of Military Justice, stripping commanders of their authority over cases of sexual assault, rape and murder to ensure prosecutions that are independent of the chain of command.”

• In the United States, “[t]he public defender community is praising new recommendations from the U.S. Department of Justice aimed at finding ways to improve the ability of criminal suspects in federal custody to communicate with attorneys and access materials related to their cases.”

• In Washington DC, “President Joe Biden announced [] he would tap a senior litigator with Kansas' federal public defender office to fill the state's vacant seat on the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.”

• In Wisconsin, “[f]our decades ago,…[r]esponding to the outcry from The Milwaukee Journal’s 1985 investigation, the city stopped automatically jailing residents who failed to pay civil fines and expanded its Court Alternatives Program…But in May, [the alternatives program’s vendor’s Exec. Dir.] suffered a ‘gut punch’ when the city terminated her organization’s contract before it expired in 2024. Officials provided little explanation as to why and did not line up another vendor to take over what many see as vital work to curb mass incarceration.”

• In Miami-Dade County FL, “The Agape Network, a nonprofit dedicated to helping people overcome addictions, has partnered with the Miami-Dade public defender to establish a state-of-the-art call center on the Agape Wings campus. The call center will be staffed by women receiving services at Agape and will provide them with opportunities to earn a living wage, receive health insurance and develop essential work skills.”

• In Riverside County CA, “[t]he ACLU Foundation of Southern California and Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP this week filed a lawsuit against Riverside County for violating the state’s Public Records Act (PRA) by refusing to respond to requests concerning how it provides competent legal counsel to indigent defendants. The plaintiff is the ACLU of Northern California.”

Prosecutorial and Public Defense Office Hiring Crises

• In Brooklyn NY, “[m]ore than 100 legal aid attorneys, paralegals, social workers and support staff came out to the picket lines, July 26, as workers at Brooklyn Defender Services (BDS) demanded their bosses come to the table and negotiate a decent contract.”

• In Pennsylvania, “Cambria County Chief Public Defender Maribeth Schaffer said her office is experiencing a shift – from more applicants than jobs, to jobs sitting vacant for months…[she] said that the problem with filling the jobs is being seen statewide due to low salaries and counties not receiving subsidies from the state or federal governments.”

Criminal Justice Reform and Counter-Reform

• In Memphis TN, “[t]he Justice Department said [] it has opened a civil rights investigation into the city of Memphis and its police department, which came under fire following the death of Tyre Nichols after a traffic stop in January.”

• In Georgia, The Guardian reported on a moment that it claimed “provided a roadmap for Republicans throughout Georgia to fight back against progressive prosecutors”: In the Augusta GA judicial circuit, “[in] 2020 [] a Black lawyer named Jared Williams upset a conservative, pro-police candidate with just more than 50% of the vote…The day after his election, a lawyer and state lawmaker in the area proposed…that the circuit’s whitest county separate itself from the Augusta circuit, creating a new judicial circuit in Georgia for the first time in nearly 40 years…Following the Augusta split, two Republican lawmakers in Georgia proposed a circuit split in Oconee county after the election of a progressive prosecutor who ran on a platform of addressing systemic racism. Since then, Republican legislators statewide created a prosecutor oversight commission that holds the power to remove prosecutors for misconduct.”

• In the United States, “[t]he use of police drones is ‘poised to explode’ in the next year as law enforcement takes advantage of the technology’s proliferation, leaving public regulation and transparency efforts in danger of being caught woefully behind, civil rights advocates warn [in a new ACLU report].” (ACLU Report available in full.)

Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives

Hello, interested public! Thanks for bearing with me these last couple of weeks. This digest covers last week’s news; you can expect the Friday issue to be up-to-date with current events. There were some real bombshells last week, as the Justice Department threatened the Texas Government over its decision to deploy a floating barrier into the Rio Grande and the Alameda County DA’s office accused a former employee attorney of passing confidential work product information to a defendant.

As always, these stories and more are in the links below.

Take care of each other,

Sam

Student Loans & Student Debt

• In the United States, “[t]he decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to deny the Biden administration’s student loan repayment plan is forcing millions of borrowers to prepare for the return of monthly payments. With the increasing inflation and interest rates already affecting the country, the ruling will change the way citizens with loan debt view their finances once again.”

• Also in the United States, “[y]oung Americans are piling the blame for their student debt balances on conservatives, according to a poll by Generation Lab provided exclusively to Axios.”

Eye on AI

• Slate reported that “Some legal scholars predict that computationally personalized law and its automated enforcement are the future of law. These would be administered by what Anthony Casey and Anthony Niblett call “microdirectives,” which provide individualized instructions for legal compliance in a particular scenario…They are “micro” because they are not impersonal general rules or standards, but tailored to one specific circumstance. And they are “directives” because they prescribe action or inaction required by law…These systems would likely be so complex that even their designers would not be able to explain how the A.I.s interpret and apply the law—something we’re already seeing with today’s deep learning neural network systems, which are unable to explain their reasoning…Legal microdirectives sent en masse for countless scenarios, each representing authoritative legal findings formulated by opaque computational processes, could create an expansive and increasingly complex body of law that would grow ad infinitum.”

• MIT Technology Review observed that “[i]t’s becoming increasingly clear that courts, not politicians, will be the first to determine the limits on how AI is developed and used in the US.”

• In Cambridge MA, “Harvard Law School and the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society [] announce[d] the launch of the Initiative on Artificial Intelligence and the Law (IAIL), directed by Oren Bar-Gill, William J. Friedman and Alicia Townsend Friedman Professor of Law and Economics, and Cass Sunstein, Robert Walmsley University Professor.”

Environmental Crisis

• In Chicago IL, “[t]he Sierra Club and the nonprofit Friends of the Chicago River intend to sue the Trump Organization, alleging that the Trump International Hotel & Tower’s discharge system has violated the federal Clean Water Act.”

Immigration & Refugee Issues

• In Texas, “[e]mails shared with CNN by the Texas Department of Public Safety detail a trooper-medic expressing concerns to a supervisor over the inhumane treatment of migrants along the border in Eagle Pass, Texas…In the email, the trooper said medics “were given orders to push the people back into the water to go to Mexico” and were also ordered not to give water to the migrants.”

• Meanwhile, in Washington DC, “[t]he U.S. Justice Department has threatened legal action against Gov. Greg Abbott over the 1,000-foot floating barrier that the state deployed in the Rio Grande near Eagle Pass earlier this month…The letter argues that the floating barrier was deployed without authorization from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers — which manages the construction of federal public works projects, including bridges and dams — and violates the Rivers and Harbors Act, which prohibits obstructions in U.S. waters.”

• Also in Washington DC, “[a] judge will hear arguments [] in a lawsuit opposing an asylum rule that is a key part of the Biden administration’s immigration policy. Critics say the rule endangers migrants trying to cross the southern border and is against the law, while the administration argues that it encourages migrants to use lawful pathways into the U.S. and prevents chaos at the southern border.”

Non-Profit & Government Management & Hiring

• In Broward County FL, a federal appeals court has ruled that “Broward County’s former chief public defender was justified in firing an assistant PD who trashed him while running to succeed him…citing the damage her remarks threatened to office cohesion.”

• In New York NY, “lawyers, social workers, and paralegals at the Children’s Law Center (CLC) went on strike following two years of contract negotiations. The striking workers have characterized management’s proposed salary increases as “insulting” and “abysmal.” That proposed scale starts at $37,000 for support staff and tops out at $114,000 for attorneys with 25+ years of service.”

Access to Justice – Civil & Economic

• In California, “[p]rovisions in Senate Bill 133 give the California Access to Justice Commission $250,000 to administer a program that would help pay off lawyers’ student loans if their work centers on serving clients who cannot afford legal services.”

• In Pennsylvania, “Southwestern Pennsylvania Legal Aid and Laurel Legal Services are merging[.]”

Access to Justice – Criminal

• In Maine, “[t]here is currently a ‘critical shortage of attorneys’ in Maine to defend the state’s poorest residents in court against criminal charges, state officials said[.]”

• In Cook County IL, an inspector general’s investigation reported that “Cook County’s former top public defender Amy Campanelli ‘misused confidential information’ by routinely releasing names and details of children defended by her office…According to a six-page summary included in the quarterly report of interim Cook County Inspector General Steven E. Cyranoski, Campanelli entered into an information-sharing agreement with Lawndale Christian Legal Center without the required court authorization.”

Prosecutorial and Public Defense Office Hiring Crises

• In Ohio, “[t]he rate of pay for attorneys who defend indigent clients in capital cases [increased] effective July 17, 2023.”

• In Kenosha County WI, “Kenosha County is getting state funding to pay for two assistant district attorneys as part of the 2023-25 state biennium budget.”

Criminal Justice Reform and Counter-Reform

• In Memphis TN, “Republican lawmakers violated the Tennessee Constitution when they passed a law this spring giving the state attorney general more authority to argue certain death penalty cases, according to a judge’s ruling[.] The new law allows the attorney general to step in and take over post-conviction capital cases. But Shelby County Judge Paula Skahan said that’s unconstitutional because it removes the power of the locally elected district attorney to argue them. The state attorney general is an appointed position, not elected.”

• In New York NY, “[a] federal prosecutor said…his office is seeking to have control of New York City’s trouble-plagued Rikers Island jail taken away from Mayor Eric Adam’s administration, calling conditions there a ‘collective failure with deep roots.’”

• In Cook County IL, “state’s attorney Kim Foxx has released…aa list containing the names of cops who are deemed so unreliable prosecutors refuse to call them as witnesses.”

• In Oakland CA, “Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price…filed a misdemeanor complaint against one of her former prosecutors, who now works for the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office…Amilcar “Butch” Ford is accused of providing confidential work product information to a defendant and authored a declaration of support of the defendant on a case he worked on when he was employed in the Alameda Co. DA’s Office…The defendant Price is referring to is San Leandro Police Officer Jason Fletcher. Fletcher was charged with voluntary manslaughter by the previous D.A. Nancy O’Malley after he shot and killed Stephen Taylor in a Walmart in April 2020.”

Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives

Hello, interested public! Apologies, but the stories today are all news from /last/ week. This week’s digest is in the pipeline and I am hoping to get it to you all first thing Monday. (I’ve been dealing with some illness and am a bit behind.) Major stories include additional fallout from the Supreme Court’s recent decision regarding student loans, the continued growth of local-government-based “right to counsel in eviction programs” (and a critique of this approach to securing housing in the United States, featured as an Editor’s Choice), and news on hiring trends within private firms’ pro bono teams and across the US government sector. It’s a long one, and I’ve got more news coming at you soon. Hang in there.

As always, these stories and more are in the links below.

Take care of each other,

Sam

Editor’s Choice

• At a Stanford Law Review Symposium on Access to Justice, Professor Juliet M. Brodie (Stanford) and Prof. Larisa G. Bowman (U Iowa) argued that “[m]ost low-income tenants facing eviction do not need a lawyer. They need rent money. Recent policy emphasis on right to counsel obscures the real injustice at play in our eviction courts: the monetization of residential housing, the protection of property and profit at the expense of the poor, and the exploitation of the human need for shelter as a mechanism to line the pockets of the real estate industry…If nonpayment cases were diverted to rental assistance programs and non-attorney advocates were available to facilitate the flow of the money, lawyers could devote their energy to the subset of evictions where legal training really makes a difference—those with factual disputes or novel questions of law.”

• In Washington DC, “at the EconCon conference…speakers offered..[a] recognition—sometimes explicit, sometimes less so—that even as budgets have grown, direct public provision of services has atrophied. In a word, a large share of public services during the neoliberal era of the past few decades has been outsourced. Often, the federal government distributes grants or writes checks as if it were a gigantic private foundation rather than implementing public programs directly. This outsourcing of services is a major reason for the rapid growth of the nonprofit sector.”

• In the United States, “[f]or the Am Law 200 firms that participated in The American Lawyer 2023 Pro Bono Scorecard, average pro bono hours per lawyer were flat…Even as industry demand slowed in 2022, pro bono hours, which fell off in 2021, recovered some but failed to return to 2020 levels.”

Supreme Court Ethics Concerns

• In Geneva Switzerland, the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers issued a report “present[ing] her vision for the mandate in the coming years.” Significantly, the report includes a focus on “[e]fforts by businesses and those with economic advantages to unduly influence the judiciary,” stating that “[t]he Special Rapporteur will explore ways that businesses and individuals or groups with significant economic advantages may seek to unduly influence judges in order to obtain favourable outcomes. This could include attempts at quid pro quo corruption, but also other activities that could constitute inappropriate, sometimes systemic, efforts to unduly influence judges.”

• Braxton Brewington of the Debt Collective called attention to the fact that “myself and fellow researchers [have] revealed [in a Roosevelt Institute report of May 2023] that after Biden’s student debt relief plan would have been implemented, MOHELA would [have been] earn[ing] more revenue than ever before — a direct contradiction to the Republicans’ claim that revenue would be cut nearly in half. How did such a flawed claim squeeze by the Supreme Court’s fact finding process? Well, they didn’t have one. In granting certiorari before judgment through the shadow docket, no court ever conducted a discovery — the legal procedure in which someone at the Court reviews the evidence.”

• Relatedly, in Washington DC “[t]he Biden administration is giving student debt forgiveness another shot…[by] invoking a section of the 1965 Higher Education Act, which allows the secretary of education to ‘compromise, waive, or release loans under certain circumstances.’ …[but] Conservative justices are already signaling that Congress hasn’t delegated specific authority to the executive branch for mass debt cancellation…Any court challenges would have to wait until the rule was finalized, meaning a final decision about its legality likely wouldn’t come until after the 2024 election.”

• Also in Washington DC, “[d]ocuments obtained by The Associated Press through public records requests reveal that some all-expenses-paid [teaching] trips [ostensibly to demystify the nation’s highest courts while exposing the justices to a cross-section of the public] — to Italy, Iceland and Hawaii, among others — are light on classroom instruction, with ample time carved out for the justices’ leisure.”

  • Relatedly, “[w]hen Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas headlined a 2017 program at McLennan Community College in Texas, his hosts had more than a speech in mind. Working with the prominent conservative lawyer Ken Starr, school officials crafted a guest list for a dinner at the home of a wealthy Texas businessman, hoping an audience with Thomas would be a reward for school patrons – and an inducement to prospective donors.”

• Again also in Washington DC, the Associated Press reported that “[Justice] Sotomayor’s staff has often prodded public institutions that have hosted the justice to buy her memoir or children’s books, works that have earned her at least $3.7 million since she joined the court in 2009. Details of those events, largely out of public view, were obtained by The Associated Press through more than 100 open records requests to public institutions.”

• Finally, in the New York Times, Judge Michael Ponsor of the District of Massachusetts “wrote a measured, eloquent, and absolutely scathing rebuke of the Supreme Court’s ethical cesspool.”

Student Loans & Student Debt

• In the United States, “Jennifer Delaney, an associate professor in education policy at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign [argued that] fields like education and public defense are getting hit hard as more students choose to pursue more lucrative career fields like tech and medicine, even if they might have a passion for something else[:] ‘If it gets too hard and if student debt itself is playing a role in individuals, say, not becoming teachers, long term, we’re losing talent[.]’”

• Also in the United States, American Banker speculated that “[t]he [Court’s student debt reform] ruling could provide a leg up in recruiting to companies that offer their employees help with repaying student loans.”

Eye on AI

• In New Orleans LA, “[t]he ABA recently adopted Resolution 604, which includes guidelines for the use of artificial intelligence (AI), at its 2023 Midyear Meeting.”

• In California, “Google was hit with a wide-ranging lawsuit [] alleging the tech giant scraped data from millions of users without their consent and violated copyright laws in order to train and develop its artificial intelligence products.”

• In New York NY, “New York Assembly Member Clyde Vanel has said he used AI to draft a bill that would address the housing crisis…Yet, several housing experts say the results are unclear. Linda Rosenthal, a Democrat who chairs the Assembly Housing Committee, told The New York Times that she was unimpressed by the software’s contribution to the housing debate. ‘A.I. failed to identify and to reflect back what the housing crisis is all about,’ Rosenthal told The New York Times. ‘It’s certainly not people clamoring to make their landlord, in the law, send them a copy of their lease.’”

• In Washington DC, “[t]he Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has opened an investigation into OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, questioning its data accuracy and consumer protections.”

• Above the Law reported that “[a] lot of lawyers thought they had discovered a golden ticket when they discovered ChatGPT. They were enthused about how fast it was and how they could utilize it for legal research, drafting legal documents, case analysis, legal compliance, composing client communications and the list goes on. It was dizzying in its speed and the conversational language was irresistible – and understandable. Sadly, many lawyers did not comprehend that they were feeding confidential data to the AI, and that the history of their conversations with ChatGPT could be recalled and even used to train the AI.”

Environmental Crisis

• In the United States, “Alaska and nine other states have notified the Environmental Protection Agency they intend to sue if new standards for certification of wood-burning stoves are not issued soon. The EPA last issued standards for wood-burning stoves in 2015, and new standards are due at least every eight years, said the notice of intent to sue[.]”

Immigration & Refugee Issues

• In San Diego CA, “[a] U.S. Border Patrol temporary holding facility…is restricting access to legal counsel for what could be hundreds of migrants detained there, attorneys say.”

Non-Profit & Government Management & Hiring

• In London UK, “Aristata Capital Ltd, based in London, describes itself as the first litigation funder of its kind, as it finances lawsuits that aim to deliver systemic change and empower marginalized voices. The portfolio, anchored by money from Capricorn Investment Group, will target issues globally, including environmental protection, climate change, indigenous rights and human rights.”

• In the United States, “[m]ore Big Law firms are hiring lawyers to focus on specific areas of pro bono work, a move that makes the firms’ priorities clear and offers a roadmap for growing other social programs.”

• Also in the United States, “[s]tate and local governments continued expanding payrolls in June, adding about 59,000 jobs as the strength of the US economy bolsters tax collections and they draw on aid from Washington.”

• In Washington DC, “Republicans in Congress are proposing to cut deficits by way of steep curbs to federal employee compensation—for example, ending “automatic” annual pay boosts and increasing the price of health insurance premiums. But some experts—in public administration, labor and business—see the plan’s savings as potentially very limited, and the costs potentially high.”

• In Los Angeles CA, a federal lawsuit filed Friday against Los Angeles County by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund alleged that “[t]he Los Angeles County Public Defender’s promotion policy unlawfully discriminates against Latino attorneys[.]”

Access to Justice – Civil & Economic

• Worldwide, “[p]rivacy advocates have a stacked agenda this summer as they fight legislative proposals in three key markets that threaten the security of encrypted messaging services.”

• In Madison WI, “[r]esearch released today shows that for every dollar invested in civil legal aid in Wisconsin, the economy receives a return of $8.40.”

• In St. Louis MO, “[i]ndividuals facing eviction [] have gained the right to have an attorney during the process.”

• In Los Angeles CA, “[t]he Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously [] to create a so-called “Right to Counsel” ordinance aimed at ensuring legal representation for eligible tenants facing eviction in unincorporated areas.”

• In New York NY, “[t]his year’s city budget is adding roughly $20 million a year to the “Right to Counsel” program, which provides free legal representation to tens of thousands of renters in New York City.”

• In Colorado, “[r]ural and remote areas…are experiencing a shortage of attorneys.”

• In San Francisco CA, “homeless advocates [] say the city is still carrying out homeless encampment sweeps despite an order from a federal judge.”

• In New Jersey, the New Jersey Law Journal “call[ed] upon the New Jersey Supreme Court to set up a committee to…experiment [with a framework for ‘practicing law’ in certain circumstances by non-lawyers who nonetheless are regulated and supervised].”

• In British Columbia, “[a]mendments to the Supreme Court Civil Rules and Supreme Court Family Rules will make it easier for people in B.C. to access court services.”

• In Tulsa OK, “[a]n Oklahoma judge has thrown out a lawsuit seeking reparations for the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, dashing an effort to obtain some measure of legal justice by survivors of the deadly racist rampage…The order comes in a case by three survivors of the attack, who are all now over 100 years old and sued in 2020 with the hope of seeing what their attorney called ‘justice in their lifetime.’”

• In Maine, “the final piece of the FY24-25 biennial budget…signed into law [] by Governor Mills[] includes more than $4 million in investments to reduce abuse, neglect, and exploitation of older adults and adults with disabilities[.]”

• In Washington DC, “[t]he Department of Veterans Affairs awarded $11.5 million in legal services grants for veterans experiencing or at-risk of homelessness as part of its national homeless prevention efforts. These first-of-their-kind funds, available through VA’s new Legal Services for Veterans Grant Program, were awarded to 79 public or nonprofit organizations[.]”

Access to Justice – Criminal

• In Carbon County UT, “[l]ocal attorney Robert Oliver [explained to] the Helper City Council…that what Carbon County is doing with other cities is creating a regionalization of public defender services. The goal is to create a more cohesive unit managed by the county. Oliver is acting as the managing defender and wants the system to be sure that there is adequate council.”

• In San Francisco CA, “lawyers and staff from the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office gathered on the steps of the San Francisco Superior Court [] to continue protesting the trial backlogs in court.”

• Also in San Francisco, “police may have violated a long list of their own rules when they detained more than 80 youth during a crackdown on the Dolores Hill skateboard event Saturday night[, according to] Public Defender Mano Raju[.]”

Prosecutorial and Public Defense Office Hiring Crises

• In Whatcom County WA, county government “continues to struggle to find enough public defense attorneys to represent people accused of crimes[.]”

• In Minnesota, “public defenders will receive historic pay raises, ranging from 26% to 72% depending on seniority, under a tentative agreement reached on Monday between state officials and the union representing public defenders.”

Criminal Justice Reform and Counter-Reform

• In Washington DC, “[t]he American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit on Thursday on behalf of a Washington, D.C., nonprofit alleging that the city’s reliance on police response in mental health emergencies is a violation of federal disability law.”

• Also in Washington DC, the ACLU observed that “Senator Joe Biden voted no on the FISA Amendments Act, which legalized a secret mass surveillance program that allows the government to collect Americans’ international phone calls, text messages, emails, and other digital communications — all without a warrant…stat[ing] he was voting no because Section 702 ‘would be a breathtaking and unconstitutional expansion of the President’s powers’…[w]hat Biden did not predict, however, [was] that one day he would be ordering his administration to defend this very same law.”

• In Oakland CA, “[s]ix months after Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price was sworn in, becoming the first Black woman and progressive reformer to hold that role, an effort is underway to remove her from office.”

• In Los Angeles CA, “[a] judge has granted the union representing many Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies a preliminary injunction that for now bars the county from requiring deputies to show their tattoos to investigators with the Office of Inspector General.”

• In Seattle WA, “City Attorney Ann Davison has filed an appeal of a federal judge’s injunction that is currently blocking city prosecutors from charging people under the municipal graffiti law. In a ruling last month, U.S. District Court Judge Marsha Pechman said the Seattle municipal code was too broad and posed a ‘real and substantial threat of censorship.’”

• In Minneapolis MN, “[t]he City Attorney’s Office is challenging one of the DOJ’s findings from a two-year investigation into the Minneapolis Police Department. KSTP writes that City Attorney Kristyn Anderson filed a memo against the DOJ’s use of the word ‘regularly’ when referring to MPD violating the First Amendment rights of residents saying the word is not defined ‘nor quantifying how many of each type of violation was observed.’”

• In Cincinnati OH, “[t]he director of Cincinnati’s police oversight board, Gabe Davis, is resigning to become the new CEO of the Ohio Justice and Policy Center.”

Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives

Hello, interested public!

This is going to be a double-header week for the Digest as I play catchup after a family tragedy last week. Thank you all for your patience with me as I’ve worked to bring you a doorstop of a Digest covering last week’s news. Major stories include responses to major decisions released by the US Supreme Court week before last (you can read NALP’s official response to the Court’s affirmative action ruling here). Most notably, additional media outlets are continuing to unravel the implications of the late-breaking revelation (discussed in the last edition of this Digest) that the facts underlying the Court’s recent decision in 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis may have been fabricated.

As always, these stories and more are in the links below.

Take care of each other,

Sam

Editor’s Choice

• In Washington DC, “[i]n successive rulings last week, the Supreme Court ruled against affirmative action and a plan that would have forgiven federal student loans, drawing sharp backlash from students and academics at Emerson and across the country. [President Jay Bernhardt of Emerson College] along with several other presidents of Boston-area universities, signed on to a statement released by Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey that pledged to ‘continue to break down barriers to higher education’ for historically-underrepresented groups.”

  • Relatedly, “[f]ormer White House adviser Stephen Miller sent a testy message to top law schools over the weekend following the Supreme Court’s decision banning colleges from using affirmative action in their admission decisions.”

• Meanwhile, also in Washington DC, a narrative is developing that focuses mostly on how these decisions will affect national politics: “[t]he recent rulings of the conservative-dominated Supreme Court are set to take center stage in the battle over the Senate majority, giving Democrats a better chance to keep control of the upper chamber despite President Biden’s slumping approval numbers.”

Supreme Court Ethics Concerns

• In Delaware, “Professor Emeritus of Constitutional Law at Delaware State University Dr. Samuel Hoff…to[ld ABC news] he believes the fact that Justice Samuel Alito received lavish gifts from heads of student debt financing companies, may hurt the image of the court and the legitimacy of the [recent student loan debt] decision.”

• In Washington DC, “[a] Christian graphic artist who the Supreme Court said can refuse to make wedding websites for gay couples pointed during her lawsuit to a request from a man named “Stewart” and his husband-to-be. The twist? Stewart says it never happened. The revelation has raised questions about how Lorie Smith’s case was allowed to proceed all the way to the nation’s highest court with such an apparent misrepresentation and whether the state of Colorado, which lost the case last week, has any legal recourse.”

Student Loans & Student Debt

• In New York NY, “[t]he New York Times is under fire after including ‘death’ as one of the options out of student loan debt after the Supreme Court blocked the Biden administration’s plan to forgive them. The newspaper published an article explaining six ways to get rid of student loan debt soon after the Supreme Court decision on Friday…Under the section that had ‘death’ in the subhead, the article read, ‘This is not something that most people would choose as a solution to their debt burden’ and added federal student loan debt ‘dies with the person or people who take it on.’”

  • Relatedly, the day before the Supreme Court announced its decision concerning President Biden’s student debt relief plan the U.S. Department of Education Tweeted “[w]e can all help prevent suicide. If you or someone you care about is in distress, text or call 988 for 24/7, free and confidential support from the @988Lifeline.”

• In Washington DC, “[t]he US supreme court’s decision to strike down Joe Biden’s student debt forgiveness plan late last week ‘usurped the authority of Congress’, Democratic House representative Ro Khanna said.”

• Also in Washington DC, “President Joe Biden isn’t letting Friday’s Supreme Court decision stop him from trying to get student-debt relief to millions of borrowers. But it could take some time…[J]ust hours after the Supreme Court handed down that decision, Biden and Education Secretary Miguel Cardona announced they’ll be trying again, using the Higher Education Act of 1965…The reason this process will take longer is because the Higher Education Act must go through the negotiated rulemaking process, in which it could take months — at minimum — to hold public hearings on the law and solicit public comment.”

  • Meanwhile, Bloomberg reported that “legal experts warn that [President Biden] is likely to encounter a fresh wave of lawsuits challenging his authority to act without congressional approval.”

• Meanwhile, again also in Washington DC, “[the House Education and the Workforce Committee] have introduced a bill called the Federal Assistance to Initiate Repayment (FAIR) Act, which would allow student loan borrowers to access affordable and burden-free repayment options, according to the text. Among other changes, it would require the education secretary to make ‘at least 12 notifications’ to borrowers before repayment begins — including options for repayment, the deadline and more. The legislation would also create an income-driven repayment plan, set at 10% of borrowers’ discretionary income, and would automatically have borrowers repaying based on their income. Interest would be paused and half of a borrower’s payment would go toward the principal for those with adjusted gross income that is less than 300% of the federal poverty line — or $45,675 for people under 65. The FAIR Act would also offer various deferment and forbearance options, such as medical residency and active-duty military and National Guard duty.”

• In the United States, “[t]he Supreme Court’s decision striking down President Joe Biden’s program to forgive student loan debt for about 43 million people could hurt not just individual borrowers, but also the U.S. economy, as billions of dollars of consumers’ disposable income are taken out of circulation. The ruling could spark a ‘modest headwind’ against economic growth, Bernard Yaros, an economist at Moody’s, a financial risk assessment firm, told ABC News…On average, Black borrowers owe 95% of their original student loans 20 years after applying for them, compared to 6% among white borrowers – a fact Democratic congressional leaders were quick to reference in condemning the ruling.”

  • Relatedly, “[t]he ruling could have at least two significant effects on the U.S. consumer lending industry. First, it could lead to higher delinquency rates on consumer loans, including credit cards, as some borrowers struggle to balance their renewed student debt obligations with other bills. It could also slow consumer lending to a population roughly the size of California, as many borrowers are expected to see a dip in their credit scores after resuming payments on Sept. 1, when the forbearance period on debt repayment ends.”

Eye on AI

• The Week reported that, “[s]tudies suggest that ‘efforts to regulate AI appear to be gathering pace,’ the World Economic Forum stated. Data from Stanford University’s 2023 AI Index shows that 37 bills related to AI were passed into law throughout the world in 2022. While some nations are still grappling with this issue, others are implementing national regulations to monitor and keep the use and development of artificial intelligence tech in check.”

• In Canada, “[e]mployees are rushing to experiment with artificial intelligence tools that can help them do their jobs more efficiently, but in the process they might be putting their employers at risk, according to a new report by KPMG Canada.” (KPMG Canada report available here)

Environmental Crisis

• In Montana, “[a] constitutional legal strategy is gaining traction as a way to potentially help bring about climate justice, boosted by a recent high-profile trial in which 16 young plaintiffs spoke movingly about how the climate crisis has affected their lives. That case, the first US constitutional climate trial, came to an end in Helena, Montana, earlier this month, with a verdict expected to be delivered by a judge in the coming weeks. Climate and legal advocates say the Montana case – which made national and international headlines – could inspire more legal action, while also pushing forward similar lawsuits pending against four other states and the federal government. Some climate advocates are, meanwhile, working to enshrine similarly robust environmental rights in other state constitutions, which they say could become the basis of future climate litigation.”

• In the United States, “[a] new national student organization known as Law Students for Climate Accountability (LSCA) is putting pressure on the nation’s top-ranked law schools to gradually eliminate paths toward careers in fossil fuel representation and instead support those that foster a just and livable future for everyone.”

Immigration & Refugee Issues

• In Florida, “[the state’s] agricultural and construction industries say they are experiencing a labor shortage because a new immigration law that took effect July 1 is leading migrant workers to leave the state.”

Non-Profit & Government Management & Hiring

• In Canada, “Federal government departments and agencies will now have to evaluate whether their hiring practices are discriminatory after changes to the Public Service Employment Act came into effect[.]”

• In New York NY, “Open Society Foundations, the progressive nonprofit founded by George Soros, plans to slash staff by roughly 40% as it tries to streamline and speed up decision-making within the organization…The [Wall Street] Journal said the organization, which employs roughly 800 people, was unlikely to pull back on its commitments to different causes, which include funding other groups advocating for human rights.”

Access to Justice – Civil & Economic

• In Memphis TN, “[t]he National Fair Housing Alliance is launching a local nonprofit that will investigate discrimination complaints, back up those investigations with lawsuits and lobby for more equitable housing policies in the region. Initially funded by a $1.88 million grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the nonprofit will be eligible to receive major, ongoing funding from HUD for years to come. The NFHA chose Memphis — one of the country’s most segregated cities — after the city kept rising to the top of its recent national efforts on homeownership access, source of income discrimination and redlining, according to NFHA general counsel Morgan Williams.”

• In Washington DC, “[t]he Biden administration is investing more than $3 billion in nationwide efforts to reduce homelessness, with a focus on helping military veterans get and stay in stable housing. The centerpiece of the effort is $3.1 billion for the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s “Continuum of Care” program, the single biggest infusion of funds into the program that supports state, tribal and local government efforts to tackle homelessness.”

• Also in Washington DC, “[t]he U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether some administrative trials by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission violate the Seventh Amendment’s right to a jury.”

• Again also in Washington DC, “[t]he U.S. Supreme Court [] agreed to decide the constitutionality of a federal law that bans gun ownership by people subject to domestic-violence restraining orders.”

• Also in Washington DC, “U.S. House Education and Workforce Committee Democrats on Thursday announced the introduction of a bill to increase civil and criminal penalties for employers who knowingly violate child labor laws. The measure would also prevent states from easing federal child labor standards. The bill, The Protecting Children Act, comes as multiple states have passed laws that roll back child labor laws, coupled with U.S. Department of Labor investigations that have found a steady increase in child labor violations since 2015.”

• In Grass Valley CA, “[a] new homeless outreach program pairing a social worker with a police officer…seemed to be working…But when the three-year grant paying for that outreach ended in June, there was no money to replace it. So the program came to a screeching halt, to the disappointment of all involved.”

• In Texas, “[s]tarting this September, child protective services agents across Texas will be required to read parents their constitutional rights, the same way that police do for criminal suspects. Under a new law enacted by the state Legislature, caseworkers there will be informing parents under investigation that they have the right to remain silent, to have a lawyer present and to decline searches of their home or of their children without a court order.”

  • Meanwhile, in New York “an almost identical bill was blocked by state Senate majority leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, a liberal Democrat. She prevented the measure, which had dozens of co-sponsors and a groundswell of grassroots support, from even getting a vote[.]”

• In the United States, “[a]s veteran disability claims soar, unaccredited coaches profit off frustration with the VA system[.]”

Access to Justice – Criminal

• In New Jersey, “residents will no longer have to pay fees, liens and warrants issued for public defender services in the state, thanks to a bill newly signed into law by Gov. Phil Murphy.”

• In Oswego County NY, “for the first time in the history of [the] County, it has an official public defender’s office.”

• In Maine, the “[n]ew state legal defense director wants to bring young attorneys in to do ‘important work’.”

• In San Francisco CA, “[l]awyers and staff from the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office gathered on the steps of the San Francisco Superior Court again last Friday to peacefully protest the trial backlogs in the court. Interns, attorneys and other staff members expressed their frustration about the severe and worsening trial backlogs.”

• In Mississippi, “[a] mandate [from the Mississippi Supreme Court that requires poor criminal defendants have a lawyer throughout the period between arrest and indictment] went into effect Saturday. But few of the state’s courts have plans in place to change their procedures in a way that is likely to accomplish what the justices intended.”

Prosecutorial and Public Defense Office Hiring Crises

• In Michigan, “[t]he budget state lawmakers approved last week includes tens of millions of dollars in new funding to provide qualified lawyers for Michigan residents who can’t afford one, as Michigan continues a multiyear reform effort to comply with requirements of the U.S. Constitution. But prosecutors are now pushing back, saying the state is tipping the scales of justice too far in favor of accused criminals.”

• In Adams County NE, “[h]igher salaries are needed to entice attorneys to consider working at the Adams County Public Defenders Office, says a consultant brought in to recommend changes for the beleaguered office.”

• In Wisconsin, “district attorneys and public defenders said low pay was keeping applicants away and making it hard to retain lawyers. Now, Wisconsin’s new budget boosts those salaries.”

Criminal Justice Reform and Counter-Reform

• In Kansas, “[f]our years after the federal public defender for Kansas, Melody Brannon, filed quite a damning disciplinary complaint against problem prosecutor Terra Morehead — a serial offender with a long rap sheet of misconduct findings — Brannon finally got a letter back last week from the Kansas Office of the Disciplinary Administrator[:] ‘After carefully reviewing the material, and deliberating over the facts and rules…the review committee found that probable cause does not exist and that there is not sufficient evidence to prove a violation of the Kansas Rules of Professional Conduct. The review committee’ — made up of other prosecutors, as always — ‘has directed this office to notify you of the dismissal of this complaint.’”

• In Maine, “[s]tate lawmakers have passed legislation that aims to crack down on jails that record attorney-client phone calls by disqualifying investigators who listen to private jail phone calls and directing prosecutors to adopt statewide procedures to ensure confidentiality by January 2024…A spokesman for [Gov. Janet] Mills’ office said she is reviewing the bill.”

• In San Francisco CA, “District Attorney Brooke Jenkins’ office confirmed Monday she is dismissing charges against former San Francisco Police officer Kenneth Cha, who fatally shot Sean Moore at his home in 2017. Her predecessor, Chesa Boudin, had filed voluntary manslaughter charges against Cha in 2021.”

  • Relatedly, “[w]hen District Attorney Brooke Jenkins tossed out a homicide case against San Francisco police officer Kenneth Cha on Friday, one of the rationales for the dismissal was an ethical “breach” involving one of the former prosecutors working on the case. Jenkins alleged that former prosecutor Lateef Gray tainted the prosecution efforts against Cha because he’d previously worked in private practice as victim Sean Moore’s attorney. While five former prosecutors in the DA’s office disputed that allegation, saying Gray was not substantively involved in Cha’s prosecution, others pointed to a very similar conflict involving Jenkins herself[:…]as an assistant district attorney, Jenkins prosecuted Moore on assault and threat charges tangential to the events of Jan. 6, 2017, which left him mortally wounded after Cha shot him twice.”

• In Los Angeles CA, “Fresh off an embarrassing attempt to claw back Los Angeles police officer photos the city released in response to a public records request, City Atty. Hydee Feldstein Soto has launched another misguided effort — this time to weaken the state’s bedrock government transparency law.”

• In Iowa, “[c]riminal records [are] increasingly forgiven in hiring Iowa police officers[.]”

• In Washington DC, “[a] group of Republican lawmakers want to eliminate armed law enforcement from a handful of agencies, saying the employees are unnecessary and infringe on the lives of U.S. citizens. The 2023 No Funds for Armed Regulators Act (H.R. 4416) would specifically prohibit funding and hiring for regulatory enforcement officers at the Internal Revenue Service, Environmental Protection Agency and Labor Department.”

Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives

Hello, interested public!

Sam has returned from his time well spent with his newest family member, so this is my last week curating the Digest. The Supreme Court decisions we have all been waiting for are now here–some victories and some major losses. We also highlight two reports of deplorable conditions in Guantanamo Bay and a Los Angeles jail. And finally the “Cop City” news continues as a district attorney removed herself from the case.

As always, these stories and more are in the links below. Thanks for being such a wonderful audience!

Happy reading,

Brittany

Editor’s Choice

• In Canada, “Google[] said on Thursday that it will block all links to Canadian news articles for people using its search engine and other services in the country in response to a new law that would compel tech companies to pay publishers for content.”

• In Washington, D.C., “The U.S. Supreme Court found that Harvard and the University of North Carolina’s admissions policy violated the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment. The decision reverses decades of precedent upheld over the years by narrow court majorities that included Republican-appointed justices. It could end the ability of colleges and universities — public and private — to do what most say they still need to do: consider race as one of many factors in deciding which of the qualified applicants is to be admitted.”

  • In opposition, “Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson lashed out at the Supreme Court’s majority opinion on affirmative action in college admissions, with a dissent asserting that it will not bring a quicker end to racism. ‘The best that can be said of the majority’s perspective is that it proceeds (ostrich-like) from the hope that preventing consideration of race will end racism. But if that is its motivation, the majority proceeds in vain,’ Jackson wrote.”

    • Likewise, Time reports “the immediate impact will undoubtedly be less diverse student bodies. We will see our marginalized AAPI students, especially from some Pacific Islander and Southeast Asian communities, struggle even more educationally than they do already.”

  • In response to this ruling, “Harvard University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) released statements Thursday saying they will comply after the Supreme Court struck down their race-based admissions processes, severely limiting affirmative action in university admissions.”

  • On a similar subject, “[a] federal civil-rights complaint has been filed against the State University of New York’s Buffalo School of Law by an anti-racism group. The complaint alleges that the law school’s summer program, which gives preference to “students of color” over white students, violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment and Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.”

Supreme Court Ethics Concerns

• Amidst all of the controversial news released recently, “The Supreme Court just agreed to hear a case next term that could preempt Congress and the Biden administration from instituting a federal wealth tax — another potentially lucrative gift for conservative justices’ billionaire benefactors and the super rich. A think tank affiliated with some of those benefactors recently pressed the court to accept the case and outlaw such taxes.”

Student Loans & Student Debt

• In Washington DC, “the Supreme Court…released its official opinion [about the legality of student loan forgiveness:]…[a]s of June 30 2023, the promise of $10,000 to $20,000 in student loan forgiveness promised per eligible borrower is dead. Like it or not, but blanket loan forgiveness is not going to happen — at least not in the way it was promised and definitely not right now…With student loan debt forgiveness off the table, the majority of borrowers with federal student loans need to begin making plans to pick up with payments where they left off.”

• Also in Washington, D.C., “[t]he Education Department in recent weeks finalized a three-month grace period for missed payments once student loans come due in October and directed loan services to be ‘prepared’ to extend that flexibility for subsequent 90-day periods, according to two people familiar with the discussions. Once interest accrual resumes on Sept. 1, under the department’s current plans, it would continue to pile up even if borrowers miss payments.”

Eye on AI

• Across the world, “a slow drip of fund-raising emails and promotional images composed by A.I. for political campaigns has turned into a steady stream of campaign materials created by the technology, rewriting the political playbook for democratic elections around the world. Increasingly, political consultants, election researchers and lawmakers say setting up new guardrails, such as legislation reining in synthetically generated ads, should be an urgent priority. Existing defenses, such as social media rules and services that claim to detect A.I. content, have failed to do much to slow the tide.”

• In Bloomberg Law, Prof. Schultz of Hamline University speculated that “[a]s ChatGPT and and other forms of artificial intelligence take on more humanlike qualities, we need to ask two questions. When and how could ChatGPT be indicted for a crime? And at what point would pulling the plug on ChatGPT be murder? When does an entity powered by AI acquire constitutional status as a person with rights?”

  • Relatedly, Sam recommends readers reconsider an argument this Digest carried on March 24th this year, that “[a] degraded view of humanity results when one assumes that there is no essential distinction between humans and advanced AI programs…And all the consequences of treating humans as machines will result from that attitude.”

First Amendment Issues

• In Florida, “[a] federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked a new Florida law targeting drag shows that was championed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.”

• In Washington, D.C., “The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled against the U.S. Postal Service in its attempts to require any employee to work on Sundays, even when it conflicted with their religious observances.”

Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity

• In the United States, “Colorado can’t force a Christian web designer to create gay wedding websites under the First Amendment, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled[]— a sweeping defeat of Colorado’s public accommodations laws that sought to ban discrimination against customers based on sexual orientation.”

  • In dissent, “Justice Sonia Sotomayor [wrote,] ‘[t]oday is a sad day in American constitutional law and in the lives of LGBT people. The Supreme Court of the United States declares that a particular kind of business, though open to the public, has a constitutional right to refuse to serve members of a protected class. The Court does so for the first time in its history[.]’”

  • Relatedly, after interviewing one of the men named in the plaintiff’s court filings, The New Republic revealed that “it looks like Smith [(the plaintiff)] and her attorneys have, perhaps unwittingly, invented a gay couple in need of a wedding website in a case in which they argue that same-sex marriages are ‘false.’”

  • Also relatedly, “[t]he Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a registered nonprofit behind the ongoing 303 Creative supreme court case which could chip away at LGBTQ+ rights, saw its revenue surge by more than $25m between 2020 and 2021[.]…It has handed over hundreds of thousands of dollars of that newfound wealth to fringe organizations which have sought to diminish the rights of trans students in schools and the right for trans people to participate in sports, an investigation by the watchdog group Accountable.US has found.”

• Also in the United States, “The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a North Carolina public charter school's defense of its blocked requirement that girls wear skirts – a student uniform policy that its founder explained is aimed at treating women like ‘fragile vessels.’ Turning away an appeal by Charter Day School Inc, the justices left in place a lower court's decision that the dress code discriminated against students based on gender in violation the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment promise of equal protection under the law.”

• Also also in the United States, “[w]hen North Dakota restricted what bathrooms transgender students can use in public schools and universities this year, the school district in the state's largest city promised to ignore the new rules. A Republican legislator then called for confiscating its state funding, but the law doesn't include that possibility. The defiance in Fargo shows that it's not exactly clear how bathroom laws will play out in local communities after being enacted in at least 10 states with Republican-controlled legislatures.”

• In Florida, “The Walt Disney Co. has fired a shot across the bow of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis's campaign against the House of Mouse with a significant victory in a ‘Don't Say Gay’ law investor lawsuit.”

• In Georgia, “[o]n Saturday, Georgia’s new law banning gender-affirming surgeries and hormone replacement therapies for those under 18 takes effect. Part of a nationwide effort by conservatives to restrict transgender athletes, gender-affirming care and drag shows, Senate Bill 140 is perhaps the most high-profile of the state’s new laws.”

• In Kansas, “Attorney General Kris Kobach filed a request in federal court asking a judge to end a requirement for Kansas to allow transgender people to change their birth certificates.”

  • Contrastingly, “[t]he Democratic governor in Kansas declared Thursday that the state will keep allowing transgender residents to alter their driver's licenses and birth certificates, despite a new law aimed at preventing it.”

  • Relatedly, “[f]our times as many Kansans changed their gender on birth certificates and driver's licenses this year ahead of a new state law that prevents residents from identifying themselves differently than the sex assigned them at birth.”

• In Texas, “[t]he Texas Supreme Court will review a case involving a Waco justice of the peace’s refusal to perform same-sex weddings.”

• Also in Texas, “The Religious Freedom Restoration Act entitles a Texas company to an exemption from a federal mandate that bars discrimination against LGBTQ employees, a federal appeals court has ruled.”

Reproductive Rights

• In Arizona, “Gov. Katie Hobbs (D) signed an executive order on Friday that effectively stops county attorney generals in the state from prosecuting abortion cases.”

Environmental Crisis

• In Canada, “Saskatchewan has released regulations aimed at curbing industrial emissions after the federal government agreed to remove the province from the federal output-based pricing system (OBPS).”

• Also in Canada, “[a]nimal rights group Animal Justice is celebrating the passage of Bill S-5, the Strengthening Environmental Protection for a Healthier Canada Act. The new law includes measures to phase out painful toxicity tests on animals.”

• In Washington State, “[a] group of environmentalists is working to enact ’Rights of Nature’ laws for Washington rivers across the state.”

Immigration & Refugee Issues

• In the United States, “[a] federal law that bans ‘encouraging or inducing’ illegal immigration does not violate the First Amendment when it is properly interpreted, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 7-2 decision Friday.”

• In Massachusetts, “[s]tarting next week, thousands of Massachusetts immigrants can legally apply for a driver’s license, regardless of their immigration status, under a new state law.”

Voting Rights

• In the United States, “[t]he Supreme Court struck down a legal theory…that would have given state legislators widespread power to determine election rules, shutting down GOP efforts to use the doctrine as a way to overhaul election rules and impose partisan maps and voting laws.”

  • But, as Prof. Hasen of UCLA Law noted, “the Court held that the independent state legislature theory gives the U.S. Supreme Court (and perhaps other federal courts) the ability to second guess determinations of a state court interpreting a state statute in a federal election…This was what the Chief Justice Rehnquist concurrence in Bush v. Gore said that the Florida Supreme Court did in interpreting Florida law…This gives the U.S. Supreme Court the ultimate say over the meaning of state law in the midst of an election dispute.”

• In Virginia, “[s]everal advocacy groups filed a federal lawsuit Monday alleging a Virginia law that automatically stripped the right to vote from more than 300,000 convicted felons is an illegal vestige of historical efforts to keep Black residents from casting ballots.”

Non-Profit & Government Management & Hiring

• In California, “[d]espite its mission to improve the living and working conditions for animals, former employees say management at ALDF [(Animal Legal Defense Fund)] engaged in union-busting tactics while perpetuating a transphobic, racist, and retaliatory work culture that undermined the organization’s mission and pandered to conservative donors.”

• In Washington, D.C., “The Office of Personnel Management on Tuesday announced the launch of the Federal Intern Experience Program, an effort to standardize and improve internship programs across the federal government and better attract young people to careers in the civil service.”

Access to Justice – Civil & Economic

• In Los Angeles, CA, “[p]rompted by the release of information about thousands of Los Angeles police officers that activists posted to a public online database, City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto is trying to convince California lawmakers to weaken the state's public records law. While Feldstein Soto describes her proposal as a minor tweak to the California Public Records Act, civil rights advocates say it would severely diminish the power of the bedrock state law that allows access to information held by local governments and state agencies.”

• In Minnesota, “[a] Minneapolis man claims in a federal civil rights lawsuit filed Wednesday that authorities wrongfully jailed and charged him based on faulty facial recognition technology.”

• In Nevada, “[a] Las Vegas non-profit claims there will be ‘disastrous' consequences after Governor Lombardo vetoed Senate Bill 335. The bill would have given tenants a 60-day grace period, allowing their rental assistance application to be processed before they face eviction. It was meant to extend protections for people facing evictions after COVID-era state protections expired on June 5. Now that SB 335 is vetoed, the Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada fears thousands could become homeless.”

• In Texas, “…unprecedented legislation, which was signed by Governor Greg Abbott, prohibits cities from enforcing or creating regulations that are stronger than the state’s in broad policy areas including labor, finance, agriculture, occupations, property and natural resources.”

Access to Justice – Criminal

• In Manhattan Beach, CA, “[c]ontinually frustrated by L.A. District Attorney George Gascon's unwillingness to prosecute most state misdemeanor cases, the Manhattan Beach City Council has agreed to look into other ways to pursue those crimes.”

• In Atlanta, GA, following up on previous coverage of the “Cop City” protests, “Dekalb County’s top prosecutor announced Friday that she is stepping away from every case involving Atlanta’s Public Safety Training Center….Her statement Friday said in she will ‘withdraw her office from the prosecution of all current cases related to the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center.’”

  • Relatedly, The Marshall Project reports that “[o]pponents of the proposed police training facility have launched a petition for a vote — and some face charges as domestic terrorists.”

• In Chicago, IL, “[w]hile in town for a speech Wednesday, President Biden announced that he’s nominating April Perry as the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. If confirmed, she would be the district’s first woman in the position.”

• In New Jersey, “[t]he Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee released legislation sponsored by Senator Nellie Pou that would bring major reforms concerning public defender representation in New Jersey. One bill would eliminate fees, liens and warrants issued for Public Defender services, while the other would direct the Office of the Public Defender (OPD) to provide representation at parole revocation hearings.”

Prosecutorial and Public Defense Office Hiring Crises

• In Iowa, “Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird is hiring three new attorneys for the Statewide Prosecutions Section in the Iowa Department of Justice.”

• In Mississippi, “[p]ublic defenders in Hinds County are leaving their jobs in high numbers over pay. According to the Hinds County Public Defender, her office is nearly in a crisis with the loss of attorneys.”

Criminal Justice Reform and Counter-Reform

• In Los Angeles, CA, “[a] few dozen graphic videos from the past six years were saved to a thumb drive picked out of the trash by one inmate, and secreted out of [an LA] jail by another. Together, the videos paint a picture of a jail system awash in far more violence and disarray than previously revealed to the public.”

• In Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, “[a] United Nations investigator who was given unfettered access to the detention center at the U.S. naval station in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, reports prisoners face ‘ongoing cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment’ and says the infamous site should be shuttered.”

Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives

Hello, interested public!

We continue to await some major Supreme Court decisions, but one harrowing opinion was issued on Thursday. Justice Thomas’s majority opinion in Jones v. Hendrix prohibits many inmates from challenging their convictions in court. Balancing this loss with more positive news this week, a pro bono attorney successfully settled a case on behalf of transgender inmates in Minnesota, and Nusrat Chowdhury was confirmed as the first muslim female federal judge.

As always, these stories and more are in the links below.

Happy reading,

Brittany

Supreme Court Ethics Concerns

• On Wednesday, “U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito…faced calls to recuse himself from two high-profile cases that will soon decide the fate of President Joe Biden's student debt cancellation plan after a ProPublica report revealed the judge's ties to Paul Singer, a billionaire with financial connections to right-wing groups backing efforts to block relief for tens of millions of borrowers.”

Student Loans & Student Debt

• In the United States, “[o]ver the past decade, women have been outpacing their male counterparts when it comes to obtaining a college degree. And while it’s an impressive trend to see, the costs of obtaining higher education affect women more than men. According to the American Association of University Women, female graduates now hold two-thirds of the outstanding student loan debt in the United States.”

• Also in the United States, “[a] new CreditDonkey analysis comparing all 50 U.S. states found the top 10 with the highest student debt per borrower. Those top states, in order, are Maryland, Georgia, Delaware, Virginia, New York, Florida, Oregon, Illinois, California, and Alabama. Data from Pew Research Center adds another layer to this picture. At least eight of these states rank highly among those with the largest Black populations. Combined with the reality that Black students hold more student loan debt than any other racial or ethnic group, with a median of $30,000 owed.”

• In Missouri, “[n]ewly released emails obtained by the Student Borrower Protection Center reveal employees at [Mohela,] a student loan service provider in Missouri expressed confusion over the state’s attorney general placing the provider at the center of a lawsuit filed to block the Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan.”

• In Washington, D.C., “House Republicans were not able to convince the two-thirds majority they needed to overturn President Biden’s veto of a resolution that would have shot down his proposal to cancel up to $20,000 of a borrower’s student debt.”

Eye on AI

• In the United States, “[i]n a survey of 9,305 U.S. professionals, 80% opposed a ban or restriction on ChatGPT at their workplace, but 20% said there should be some type of ban or access restriction.”

• In New York, “[a] U.S. judge on Thursday imposed sanctions on two New York lawyers who submitted a legal brief that included six fictitious case citations generated by an artificial intelligence chatbot, ChatGPT.”

Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity

• In Florida, following up on previous coverage, “Florida's bans on Medicaid coverage of gender-affirming health care amount to ‘invidious discrimination’ and were politically motivated, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.”

• In Minnesota, “Robins Kaplan partner Sharon Roberg-Perez, whose pro bono work includes representing incarcerated transgender individuals, this month helped reach a historic settlement making one such individual the first to be transferred to a Minnesota facility matching their gender identity.”

• In Utah, the ACLU reports, “[l]ast Friday, the United States District Court for the District of Utah granted Southern Utah Drag Stars’ (Drag Stars) request for a preliminary injunction to allow them to host a family-friendly drag performance on June 30, 2023….The city’s refusal to grant a permit was a part of a years-long effort to target drag performances and LGBTQ+ events in violation of the First and 14th Amendments of the U.S. Constitution and various provisions of the Utah Constitution.”

Reproductive Rights

• In Florida, “[t]he Florida Supreme Court on Thursday refused to reinstate a Florida prosecutor who was removed by Gov. Ron DeSantis after making comments opposing prosecutions for abortions or gender-affirming health care. The state’s highest court ruled that Andrew Warren had waited too long to file a petition.”

• In Iowa, “[a] bill passed by the Iowa Legislature in 2018 that would ban abortions at the point a fetal heartbeat is detected cannot be enforced as a result of an evenly divided Iowa Supreme Court’s failure to lift an injunction put in place by a state district judge four years ago.”

• In New York, “[t]he New York State Legislature passed a bill Tuesday to protect abortion providers against litigation from states where the practice is banned.”

• Also in New York, “[a] U.S. appeals court on Wednesday upheld a New York county's law barring anti-abortion activists from approaching people outside abortion clinics, teeing up potential review by the U.S. Supreme Court.”

• In Wyoming, “[a]bortion pills will remain legal in Wyoming for now, after a judge ruled Thursday that the state’s first-in-the-nation law to ban them won’t take effect July 1 as planned while a lawsuit proceeds.”

Environmental Crisis

• In Los Angeles County, CA, “Genesis Cruz first raised the alarm about flying metal scraps and nauseating fumes at her high school campus four years ago, but no one listened. On Wednesday, June 21, her cries were finally answered as Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon announced charges against Atlas Iron & Metal Co. for the illegal dumping of hazardous waste at Jordan High School in Watts.”

• In Georgia, “[t]he Georgia Public Service Commission has unanimously agreed to reverse a plan to allow biomass plants to burn tires for electricity after SELC urged the state utility regulators to reconsider the decision. ”

• In Washington, D.C., “[n]early $1 billion from the Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act will go toward climate-friendly upgrades for federal buildings, the Biden administration said on Tuesday.”

Immigration & Refugee Issues

• In Canada, “Canada has launched two new streams in Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s (IRCC) Economic Mobility Pathways Pilot (EMPP), which brings in refugees and other displaced people through economic immigration rather than refugee resettlement.”

• Also in Canada, “[t]he recent decision by the Supreme Court of Canada to uphold the Safe Third Country Agreement has sparked doubt about the possibility of providing meaningful remedies to asylum seekers who are sent back to the United States.”

• In Boston, MA, “Biden officials promised Boston's special immigration program would be fast, but fair. Advocates say it fails at both.”

• In North Carolina, “[a] study finds North Carolina ranks last nationwide for having legal representation in immigration cases.”

• In New York, “New York City is planning to open an application center in the coming weeks to help migrants formally apply for asylum — a necessary step in securing permits to work legally in the U.S.”

• Also in New York, “[a]n increasing number of children who entered the U.S. without their parents are turning up in court, and pro bono groups say there aren’t enough resources to represent them on the court’s timeline.”

Employment Rights

• In Florida, “Gov. Ron DeSantis signed Senate Bill 1310 into law…, bringing changes to state employment requirements, allowing work experience to serve as an alternative qualification in lieu of postsecondary education requirements.”

Non-Profit & Government Management & Hiring

• In Washington, D.C., “President Biden’s plan to provide civilian federal employees with an average 5.2% pay raise in 2024 appears safe for now, as a key House panel advanced spending legislation that does not address federal employee compensation. But Democrats and federal employee groups blasted the GOP-led appropriations package, which cuts spending on financial agencies and government administration by 58% compared with fiscal 2023 levels and includes policy riders restricting telework at federal agencies and targeting transgender federal workers and their family members.”

• Also in Washington, D.C., “[w]hile a deal negotiated between President Biden and House Republicans has delayed the immediate threat of the government breaching its borrowing limit and defaulting on its debts, a union representing federal employees is moving forward with its lawsuit seeking to permanently remove the possibility of missed paychecks due to a default.”

Access to Justice – Civil & Economic

• In Arkansas, “The Arkansas Access to Justice Foundation is pleased to announce that it has donated two kiosks to the Arkansas County Circuit Court. These kiosks will help court users in Arkansas County more easily navigate the court system. Arkansans can use the kiosks to access court records, print exhibits, find court forms and fact sheets, and apply for legal aid.”

• In Oakland, CA, “[o]n Tuesday, the City Council is expected to approve an ordinance expanding the City Attorney’s powers, enabling the office to enforce all of Oakland’s municipal laws.”

• In Colorado, “[t]he Colorado Supreme Court on Tuesday released its official guidance for when trial judges should permit litigants, victims, witnesses and attorneys to attend proceedings virtually.”

• In New York, “[t]he New York Civil Liberties Union, with pro bono counsel from Kirkland & Ellis LLP, filed a lawsuit against the City of Yonkers and the Yonkers Police Department for unlawfully denying the NYCLU’s request for records related to police misconduct.”

• Also in New York, “Nusrat Chowdhury, a civil rights lawyer, was confirmed by the Senate last week as the first Muslim female federal judge in U.S. history.”

• In South Dakota, “[t]he growth of the Sioux Falls metro area, adding nearly 50,000 residents to Minnehaha and over 40,000 to Lincoln since 2000, has led to a rising caseload — with Houwman expecting the circuit to top 60,000 cases this year. The state Supreme Court added a new magistrate judge to the circuit Friday — making it the first new magistrate judge position added to the circuit in nearly 20 years.”

• In Utah, “[m]ore people are facing eviction now than in the past five years, according to data provided by the Utah Rental Housing Association. Landlords across the state filed more than 2,600 eviction cases in the first four months of 2023. That’s up 40% from the same time period in 2022 and higher than pre-pandemic eviction levels going back to at least 2017.”

• In Wyoming, “[a] range of expanded legal services offered by Legal Aid of Wyoming intended to help renters weather the economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic will now be available through September.”

Access to Justice – Criminal

• In Colorado, “[c]hildhood sexual abuse victims in Colorado will no longer be able to file lawsuits over abuse that happened decades ago, as the state Supreme Court struck down a law Tuesday that gave victims a three-year window to sue over abuses as far back as the 1960s. The court cited the state Constitution’s ban on legislation that retroactively applies to conduct prior to its passage.”

• In Massachusetts, “[a] Black Muslim man's conviction was vacated Thursday by the state's Supreme Judicial Court after justices concluded his court-appointed attorney's public display of ‘vitriolic hatred of and bigotry against’ Blacks and Muslims represented a clear conflict of interest and violated the man's constitutional rights.”

• In New Jersey, “[l]awmakers seek to end public defender fees charged at the state level in New Jersey while also voiding liens imposed on clients who cannot afford to pay their public defender’s fees.”

• In New York, “[w]ith the deadline for the city’s budget fast approaching, over half of the City Council is calling on the mayor to up funding for public defenders who contract with the city and provide free legal services to New Yorkers.”

• In Oregon, “[t]he Oregon Legislature passed a pair of bills Tuesday and Wednesday that will devote more than $90 million to restructuring the state’s public defense system and creating financial incentives for existing public defenders to stay.”

• In Pennsylvania, “Black Philadelphians continue to be overrepresented in arrests and criminal charges compared to the broader population. That’s one of the key findings in the District Attorney’s Racial Injustice Report issued Monday. Despite increased focus on that disparity in recent years, the DA’s report finds the gap in treatment for Black residents has worsened as a result of federal, state, and local laws and policies.”

• In Tom Green County, TX, “[t]he two elected District Attorneys in Tom Green County appeared before the Tom Green County Commissioners Court Tuesday just two weeks before budget hearings begin to plea for a huge increase in salaries for their assistant attorneys because of a 'crisis' created by higher salaries paid by the State of Texas to attorneys in the new Concho Valley Public Defenders Office across the street.”

• In Washington, D.C., “[t]he Supreme Court just ruled that at least some federal prisoners who are completely innocent must serve out their entire sentence, with no meaningful way to challenge their unlawful conviction.”

• In Clark County, WA, “Clark County’s indigent defense system may be in line for an overhaul. The county council reviewed options for continuing to contract out indigent defense services or bringing them in house during a work session Wednesday.”

Public Safety

• In Washington, D.C., “U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and U.S. Representative Adam Schiff (D-CA) led 78 Members of Congress…in reintroducing the bicameral Equal Access to Justice for Victims of Gun Violence Act, legislation to ensure that victims of gun violence have their day in court and that negligent gun companies and gun sellers are not shielded from liability when they disregard public safety. The bill would repeal the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA), passed by Congress in 2005, which gives the gun industry a unique and unjustifiable legal liability shield that protects gun manufacturers from lawsuits.”

Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives

Hello, interested public!

This is our shortest news week in a while, but still some big topics were covered. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Native American families in adoption proceedings. And the US Department of Education announced that student loan repayment will resume in October.

As always, these stories and more are in the links below.

Happy reading,

Brittany

Editor’s Choice

• In Washington, D.C., “[t]he Supreme Court on Thursday preserved the system that gives preference to Native American families in foster care and adoption proceedings of Native children, rejecting a broad attack from Republican-led states and white families who argued it is based on race.”

First Amendment Concerns

• In Illinois, “Governor J.B. Pritzker signed into law Monday a bill that he says will make Illinois the first state in the nation to outlaw book bans. Illinois public libraries that restrict or ban materials because of “partisan or doctrinal” disapproval will be ineligible for state funding as of Jan. 1, 2024, when the new law goes into effect.”

• In Texas, “Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday signed two bills into law designed to reform public higher education institutions in Texas. One bans them from implementing DEI policies and another revises the tenure structure.”

Student Loans & Student Debt

• In Washington, D.C., “‘Student loan interest will resume starting on September 1, 2023, and payments will be due starting in October,’ an Education Department spokesperson confirmed in a statement to POLITICO.”

• Also in Washington D.C., “U.S. Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Ranking Member Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana, Wednesday introduced the Streamlining Accountability and Value in Education (SAVE) for Students Act, which would simplify the student loan repayment process for borrowers, increase accountability on behalf of the federal government, ensure new federal student loans are paying for degrees that actually produce higher incomes for graduates, and save taxpayers nearly $50 billion[.]”

  • Likewise, “The Federal Assistance to Initiate Repayment (FAIR) Act, led by Republicans from the House Education and Workforce Committee, would provide ‘targeted’ student loan relief for borrowers who ‘already paid back more than they originally owed taxpayers in principal and interest,’ streamline several existing income-driven repayment plans into one system and give defaulted borrowers another chance to rehabilitate their loans.”

Voting Rights

• In the United States, “[a]t least 11 states have enacted 13 restrictive voting laws this year, according to a new analysis from the liberal-leaning Brennan Center for Justice at New York University’s law school.”

• In Connecticut, “Gov. Ned Lamont signed into law Monday a bill to protect historically disenfranchised communities from discrimination at the ballot box, including key protections once considered a stronghold of the 1965 Voting Rights Act before it was gutted by the U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative majority.”

Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity

• In Kentucky, “[a] disagreement over the meaning of ‘or’ in a controversial anti-trans law has ignited the latest conflict between a prominent Republican lawmaker and the Kentucky Department of Education.”

• In New York, “Gov. Kathy Hochul's office announced that it has appointed the first openly transgender male judge in U.S. history.”

Reproductive Rights

• In Indiana, “House Enrolled Act 1608, signed into law by Indiana’s Republican Governor Eric Holcomb in May, contains a set of rules that bar classroom instruction of human sexuality prior to the fourth grade. The ACLU of Indiana filed a lawsuit Friday, claiming that the law is too broadly written.”

• In Massachusetts, “[c]ivil rights and reproductive care advocates are joining forces on a campaign urging lawmakers to prohibit the sale of cellphone location data, warning that the practice could expose people seeking care in abortion clinics to harassment and, in some states, prosecution.”

• In Princeton, NJ, “[l]egal scholar Dr. Saskia Stucki announced her withdrawal from the University’s Fung Global Fellowship last month, citing sex discrimination as the cause of her departure. Stucki, who discovered she was pregnant shortly after her acceptance into the postdoctoral program, has made several allegations against the University surrounding the process of negotiating terms of her parental leave and subsequent childcare.”

Environmental Crisis

• In Canada, “[c]hanges to the Canadian Environmental Protection Act enshrining the right to a healthy environment have passed into law….It also adds a sentence to the act guaranteeing that every Canadian has the right to a healthy environment and makes it a duty of the government to protect that right.”

• In the United States, “[t]he Environmental Protection Agency published a new draft rule that the groups said would extend federal oversight to much of the coal ash disposed at both operating and retired power plants.”

• In Texas, “Govenor Abbott recently signed the Clear Air Bill into law that was filed by State Representative Brooks Landgraf. This all comes after the EPA tried to restrict state oil and gas production, and title the Permian Basin as a non-attainment area. Now, under House Bill 4885, Landgraf said that it'll help leverage emerging technologies to make sure the air in Texas is clean without bring harm to Texas industries.”

• Also in Texas, “[t]he TCEQ has proposed changes to concrete batch plant permits including lowering production limits, reducing dust coming from plants and setting minimum distance requirements from nearby communities.”

Immigration & Refugee Issues

• In Los Angeles, CA, “[a]fter a brief discussion, the Los Angeles City Council Tuesday approved a motion seeking to expand the use of funds to cover additional legal services through RepresentLA, a $4 million program aimed at providing free legal services for the city’s immigrant community.”

Employment Rights

• In California, “[t]he California Senate has passed a bill banning employers from inquiring about a job applicant’s past use of marijuana.”

• In Kern County, CA, “[a] former deputy district attorney has filed a claim against the Kern County District Attorney's Office, saying she suffered ‘continued retaliation, discrimination, and harassment’ due to ‘her religion, race, and disability.’”

Non-Profit & Government Management & Hiring

• In Washington, D.C., “[a] group of more than 150 House conservatives on Wednesday unveiled their plan to balance the federal budget in seven years, with many of their ideas falling on the backs of federal workers, either via cuts to pay and benefits or the weakening of civil service and union protections.”

Access to Justice – Civil & Economic

• In British Columbia, Canada, “Indigenous Peoples will have access to better legal supports and healing opportunities with the opening of a new Indigenous Justice Centre in Chilliwack and $10 million in funding to support First Nations’ community-based justice programs.”

• In Quebec Province, Canada, “Quebec anglophones will lose jobs and access to English services, with their constitutional rights left to the whims of the provincial government under proposed new federal language legislation, a Senate committee has heard.”

• In San Francisco, CA, “[d]elays in criminal cases due to COVID-19 have been upheld by California courts, rejecting defendants’ claims of violations of their right to a speedy trial. But now a state appeals court says San Francisco courts can be sued by taxpayers and the city’s public defender for allegedly refusing to make enough courtrooms available for criminal cases during the pandemic.”

• In Delaware, “lawmakers passed a bill Wednesday that would give tenants the right to representation during eviction proceedings.”

• In Minnesota, “[s]o much sweeping legislation passed during the 2023 session of the Minnesota Legislature that descriptions that would normally seem like exaggerations are now common – and likely accurate.”

• In Missoula, MT, “Mayor Jordan Hess announced a State of Emergency for houselessness and sheltering in Missoula. It's a decision that will allow the city to allocate emergency funds towards re-opening the Johnson Street Shelter.”

• In Jersey City, NJ, “[t]he city council voted unanimously Wednesday night in adopting a right-to-counsel program, in which the city will provide free legal representation for tenants facing evictions, and a 1.5-2.5% fee on new developments that would fund its budget.”

• In Washington State, “Washington Supreme Court justices asked Thursday how far-reaching local civil rights violations needed to be before the state attorney general could get involved, as they considered the state's claims that a small city police force had a practice of illegally evicting residents.”

Access to Justice – Criminal

• In Toronto, Canada, “[i]n February, the Ontario government announced plans to merge Toronto’s six criminal courts into a new 17-storey courthouse near University and Dundas. Meanwhile, the Toronto Regional Bail Centre (TRBC) at 2201 Finch Avenue West is handling all the bail hearings that used to be divided between the six old courthouses—and it isn’t going well.”

• In San Francisco, CA, “[t]he public defender's office in San Francisco has organized a series of sit-ins to protest the backlog in the court system that they say violates the constitution by excessively detaining people without a trial.”

• In Maine, “[s]tate advisers to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights plan to apply more pressure to Maine leaders to overhaul the state’s indigent public defense system with a report that finds the system may disproportionately affect people in federally protected groups.”

• In Texas, “Victoria County is getting some financial help with providing criminal defense to those who cannot afford it. The $71,230 awarded to the county is not for the funding of the proposed public defender office.”

Public Defender Office Hiring Crisis

• In Pueblo County, CO, “[t]he 10th Judicial District Attorney's Office in Pueblo County says it is working with 40% less prosecuting staff due to hiring shortages since 2020….District Attorney Chostner is hopeful for a light at the end of the tunnel with a new two-month summer internship program started by his office this year….Chostner said the goal is to give interns real-world experience while they help attorneys manage heavy caseloads.”

• In St. Louis County, MO, “[i]n all, newly-appointed Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore has hired 10 new prosecutors. Four of them are on loan from neighboring prosecuting attorney’s offices, according to Gore’s spokeswoman Kathyrn Jamboretz. The recruitment momentum may continue, should St. Louis alderwoman Cara Spencer see a bill she is sponsoring make it to the mayor's desk. The bill would boost salaries for assistant circuit attorneys and has an emergency clause, which means it would take effect immediately if approved.”

• In Las Cruces, NM, “[t]he City of Las Cruces Council approved a $700,000 contract to a law firm Monday to supplement the services of the City Attorney's Office.”

• In Pennsylvania, “Crawford County has approved hiring two part-time assistant public defenders, but vacancies remain.”

Criminal Justice Reform and Counter-Reform

• In Hennepin County, MN, “[p]rompted by a string of auto thefts involving juveniles in the Twin Cities, prosecutors, local law enforcement and child protection are coming together with the goal of eradicating youth crime before it happens.”

• In New York, “[d]emonstrators on Tuesday protested outside a federal court in Manhattan, where an emergency hearing was held to look into how Rikers Island is being operated.”

Public Safety

• In New Jersey, “[t]he state Attorney General’s office is five months behind a statutory deadline in determining the ‘technological viability’ of microstamping in guns, with results expected to come sometime this summer.”

• In Wisconsin, “Democratic lawmakers reintroduced a group of bills aimed at strengthening Wisconsin's gun laws, despite rejected efforts in the past. The three bills reintroduced would implement universal background checks for firearms, extreme risk protection orders (also known as red flag laws) and a sales tax exemption for safe gun storage.”

Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives

Hello, interested public!

As predicted, President Biden has vetoed Congress’s attempt to undermine the student debt forgiveness plan. Dissension around the CUNY commencement speech has led to multiple calls for action against the speaker and CUNY Law School. Despite the recent negative coverage of Atlanta’s “Cop City,” the training facility’s funding has been reapproved.

As always, these stories and more are in the links below.

Happy reading,

Brittany

Editor’s Choice

• In Washington, D.C., “the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) upheld in Allen v. Milligan a lower court ruling that Alabama must create a second majority Black congressional district in compliance with Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.”

Supreme Court Ethics Concerns

• As annual financial disclosures were due, “Conservative U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, under scrutiny following revelations that he did not disclose luxury trips paid for by a billionaire Dallas businessman, has received an extension to file his mandatory annual financial disclosure[.]” Justice Samuel Alito was also granted an extension.

First Amendment Concerns

• In New York, NY, continuing last week’s coverage, “[o]n Wednesday, The Lawfare Project urged the Character and Fitness Committees of the New York State Supreme Court’s Appellate Division to reject any future application by Fatimah Mousa Mohammed — a recent graduate of the City University of New York (CUNY) School of Law — to practice law in the state.”

  • Relatedly, “Congressman Josh Gottheimer (D-NY) on Monday called on the US Department of Education Office for Civil Rights (OCR) to investigate City University of New York (CUNY) Law School to determine whether a student commencement speech alleging that Jewish money manipulates school policy on Israel violated the Civil Rights Act.”

  • The news coverage about Mohammed’s anti-Zionist commencement speech has sparked increased scrutiny against CUNY’s position on Israel:

    • The Jewish Journal reports, “[t]wo legal groups sent a joint letter to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) urging the agency to investigate and potentially revoke the City University of New York’s (CUNY) School of Law’s tax-exempt status over the law school’s faculty unanimously passing a resolution supporting the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement last year.”

      • Relatedly, the Daily Caller reports, “[t]he City University of New York School of Law (CUNY Law) was hit with a complaint Tuesday after a Jewish advocacy group wrote a letter to the American Bar Association (ABA) about an anti-Israel policy adopted by faculty in 2022.”

    • The National Right to Work Legal Defense and Education Foundation reports, “Six City University of New York (CUNY) professors have taken their federal civil rights lawsuit against Professional Staff Congress (PSC) union officials to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. The professors, Avraham Goldstein, Michael Goldstein, Frimette Kass-Shraibman, Mitchell Langbert, Jeffrey Lax, and Maria Pagano, charge PSC union bosses with violating the First Amendment by forcing them to accept the union’s monopoly control and ‘representation’ – ‘representation’ the professors not only oppose, but find extremely offensive and in contradiction to their personal beliefs.”

• In Oklahoma, “Oklahoma’s approval of the nation’s first Catholic charter school lays the groundwork for a seismic boost in government aid to religion, but seems certain to lead to a legal challenge likely to make its way to the U.S. Supreme Court.”

• In Tennessee, “[a] federal judge has ruled that Tennessee’s law restricting drag performances is unconstitutional after a Memphis organization challenged the law, according to court documents.”

Student Loans & Student Debt

• As predicted in last week’s news, “President Joe Biden on Wednesday swiftly vetoed Republican-led legislation that would have repealed his plan to cancel up to $20,000 of student debt for tens of millions of Americans.”

Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity

• In the United States, “[t]roops with LGBTQ+ family members have been forced to move to new bases because of harassment at school, a Department of the Air Force official said.”

• In Florida, “[a] federal judge temporarily blocked parts of a Florida law banning gender-affirming care for transgender minors, a move LGBTQ+ advocates are hailing as a ‘much-needed win.’”

  • Relatedly, “[d]ebate surrounding Florida’s new restrictions on gender-affirming care focused largely on transgender children. But a new law that Republican presidential candidate and Gov. Ron DeSantis signed last month also made it difficult – even impossible – for many transgender adults to get treatment.”

• In Maryland, “Gov. Wes Moore issued an executive order this week declaring that state agencies shall ‘take whatever action is necessary and coordinate to protect’ people or entities involved with providing gender-affirming care from legal punishments by other states. The order also prohibits sharing medical records of transgender individuals for potential investigations.”

• In Michigan, “[a] Michigan Supreme Court proposal that would require use of lawyers’ and parties’ preferred pronouns is dividing judges, with sides weighing competing interests in civility and judicial discretion to manage courtrooms.”

• In Tennessee, “[a] federal lawsuit brought to court by two transgender women alleges that Tennessee and its insurance committee are discriminatory because they denied the plaintiffs coverage for gender-affirming surgery.”

• In Texas, “Governor Greg Abbott signed into law on Friday a ban on gender-affirming care for minors in the state.”

Reproductive Rights

• In the United States, “…an analysis from the non-profit Center for Political Accountability (CPA) shows several major corporations donated large sums to a Republican political organization which in turn funded groups working to elect anti-abortion state legislators.”

• In Georgia, the state supreme court “declared that the Georgia Lactation Consultant Practice Act ‘violates Plaintiffs’ due process rights under the Georgia Constitution to practice [their] chosen profession.’ The decision clears the way for lactation consultants to provide care to Georgians without having to obtain a costly and burdensome license from the state first.”

• In Indiana, “Whole Woman’s Health Alliance has closed its South Bend clinic for good amid ‘politically driven and medically unnecessary abortion restrictions,’ the nonprofit announced late Monday night.”

Environmental Crisis

• In Colorado, “Governor Jared Polis signed Colorado’s Protecting Communities From Air Pollution Act (HB23-1294) into law today. While community and conservation groups recently celebrated the passage of a scaled-back version of the bill, they used today’s signing to call for stronger action from the interim legislative committee and a separate rulemaking on cumulative impacts that were both required through the legislation.”

• In Titusville, FL, “[t]he fight between a group of Titusville activists and city government over the right to clean water continues, even after a judge this past week sided with voters who overwhelmingly approved the clean water referendum.”

• In Montana, “[t]wo Kalispell siblings cite changes to skiing and hunting seasons as reasons for joining the coalition of Montana youth suing several state agencies over failure to secure their ‘right to a clean and healthful environment.’”

• In San Antonio, TX, “[t]he City of San Antonio plans to utilize $1 million it is receiving from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) to expand the reach and impact of the city’s Climate Action and Adaptation Plan, staff told council members Wednesday.”

• In Washington, D.C., “[t]he U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected a challenge to a court-ordered prohibition on offshore fracking in federal waters off the California coast.”

Immigration & Refugee Issues

• In Canada, the government “has partnered with a non-profit to seek out LGBTQ people fleeing violence all over the world and refer them to Canada as government-assisted refugees.”

• In Colorado, a “bill, which was signed by [Gov.] Polis on Tuesday, prevents state and local governments from entering or renewing agreements to detain people at immigration detention facilities owned or managed by private entities.”

• In Florida, following up on previous coverage, “Republican state Representatives urged a group of Hispanic religious leaders to counsel their flocks not to abandon their jobs in Florida — even if they are not in the country legally. …The lawmakers said the new law is meant ‘more as a political bill, not policy.’ And it’s meant to keep undocumented migrants from coming to Florida — not to affect those who are already here.”

• In New York, NY, “[n]ew data shows that asylum seekers and newly arrived immigrants in the city are struggling with both basic needs as well as accessing critical services, like legal representation and health care.”

  • Relatedly, ABC7 reports that “‘95% of respondents intend to seek asylum, but less than 10% have been able to find a lawyer to support them,’ said Daniel Altschuler of Make the Road New York.”

  • Also related, “New York City will now begin housing migrants in houses of worship — its latest attempt to manage the more than 72,000 people who’ve flowed into the city since last spring.”

• In Texas, “[a] Texas county judge has asserted that illegal immigrants are allowed to receive universal basic income (UBI) based on a recent proposal….”

• Also in Texas, “[a]n internal investigation conducted by U.S. Customs and Border Protection found that contracted personnel working at a federal border station in South Texas failed to contact doctors while an 8-year-old was having a medical emergency in May, according to a statement Thursday from the federal agency.”

• Also also in Texas, “[a] Texas district attorney is reviewing the recommendation to pursue criminal charges against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration for its role in flying Venezuelan migrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard last year.”

Disability Rights

• In California, “[t]he city of Fresno is considering imposing stricter limitations on where the homeless can set up camp — arguing that the measures are necessary to promote public safety and comply with federal disability rights laws. But disability rights advocates, homeless advocates and unhoused residents say the proposed rule would criminalize homelessness. They say if the city is concerned about disability rights, it could take more substantive measures to improve access for disabled Fresno residents.”

Employment Rights

• In the United States, “[i]n an 8-1 decision…, the Supreme Court ruled that an employer’s tort claims alleging that a union intentionally destroyed a company’s property during a labor dispute were not preempted by the National Labor Relations Act[.]”

• In Colorado, “[o]n June 7, 2023, Governor Jared Polis signed Senate Bill (SB) 23-172 into law, radically transforming Colorado’s employment discrimination legal landscape by expanding the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act (CADA).”

• In Texas, “Governor Greg Abbott recently signed the Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair Act (Texas CROWN Act), which will go into effect on September 1, 2023. The Texas CROWN Act prohibits employers, labor unions, and employment agencies from discriminating against Texas employees because of hairstyles associated with race. The new law covers race-based hair discrimination in employment, schools, and housing.”

Non-Profit & Government Management & Hiring

• In Washington, D.C., “[l]egislation to give Congress more control over major federal agency rules is expected to be voted on the House floor this week. The REINS Act, sponsored by Florida Republican Rep. Kat Cammack, would require Congressional approval for proposed federal agency rules with an economic impact of $100 million or more.”

Access to Justice – Civil & Economic

• In the United States, “U.S. Senators Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), and Jim Risch (R-Idaho) today introduced the Judicial Efficiency Improvement Act of 2023, a bill that would split the massively overburdened Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and create a new Twelfth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.”

• In Colorado, “Gov. Jared Polis signed several bills into law this week protecting foster care youth, some of the most vulnerable to homelessness after aging out of the foster care system.”

• In St. Petersburg, FL, “[a]n agreement is being negotiated with Community Law Program, which would provide pro-bono legal representation and information for those residents facing eviction.”

• In Massachusetts, “[a]fter years of unsuccessful attempts to give cities and towns the option to tax home sales to support local affordable housing, advocates this session are putting forward a new version of the bill with more flexibility for municipalities to choose a plan that works for their community.”

• In Michigan, “[s]tarting on Monday, the 36th District Court resumed in-person hearings for Detroiters facing evictions.”

• In Minnesota, “A recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in a case involving Hennepin County’s seizure and sale of a 94-year-old woman’s condo could unleash a torrent of lawsuits from homeowners whose property was seized under Minnesota’s forfeiture law, which the high court has ruled unconstitutional. Several attorneys in Minnesota are seeking to file a class action suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota on behalf of homeowners who say their property was unfairly seized, just like Geraldine Tyler, the plaintiff in the Supreme Court case.”

• In Ohio, “[t]he city of Akron has the highest number of evictions per year in Ohio. Many advocates have said they hope to see this number come down and have pointed to cities like Cleveland.”

• In Tennessee, “[t]he Tennessee Supreme Court today adopted Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 55 – Use of Technology for Court Proceedings. The rule allows the use of teleconferencing, video conferencing, and other technology to conduct court proceedings remotely at the discretion of the trial or appellate court.”

Access to Justice – Criminal

• In Edmonton, Canada, “[a] new kind of court in Edmonton, the Edmonton Indigenous Court, is taking steps to meet recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and help address the over-representation of Indigenous people in the justice system.”

• In California, “…in Santa Clara County, when indigent defendants met with an attorney in jail soon after their arrest, their situation changed dramatically for the better. That was the conclusion of a study by California Policy Lab, a nonprofit research group affiliated with UCLA and UC Berkeley. Researchers found that indigent defendants in a pilot program were 75% less likely to be convicted if they met with a public defender within 48 hours of their arrest, and 75% more likely to be released before trial.”

• In Florida, “[b]attering a defense attorney or public defender will soon be a felony — the same as it is now for attacks on prosecutors and judges — due to a new law going into effect next month.”

• In Michigan, “[s]urvivors of sexual abuse could get more time to take action under a series of bills proposed by a bipartisan group of state lawmakers.”

• In North Carolina, “[n]early half of North Carolina’s counties are ‘legal deserts,’ or places where there is less than one attorney for 1,000 residents, says N.C. Indigent Defense Services Executive Director Mary Pollard.”

• In New York, NY, “Manhattan’s top prosecutor on Tuesday disavowed over 300 convictions tied to police officers who were themselves found guilty of crimes, the latest in over 1,000 dismissals citywide of cases connected to officers who were charged or convicted.”

• In El Paso, TX, “[h]igh-profile cases that were once in limbo have been filed into El Paso’s court system as the district attorney’s office continues to reduce the backlog of criminal cases.”

• In Harrisonburg, VA, “Harrisonburg is one of the most populous areas in the state still without a Public Defender’s Office. Our community is relying solely on a shrinking pool of court appointed attorneys to meet the needs of indigent defendants.”

Public Defender Office Hiring Crisis

• In Oregon, state “lawmakers have presented and advanced Senate Bill 337, a step towards a solution for the shortage of public defenders all across the state.”

• In Washington, D.C., “U.S. Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-ND) on May 31 offered a bipartisan bill that would address the nation’s current shortage of public defenders by creating a $250 million grant program to help fund public defense and limit workloads for full-time public defenders.”

• In Wisconsin, “[t]he Office of the State of Public Defender for the state of Wisconsin says the salary increase for public defenders passed by the Joint Finance Committee in May will help address the shortage. But now, time and recruiting will play important roles in solving the issue.”

Criminal Justice Reform and Counter-Reform

• In Atlanta, GA, following up on our previous coverage, “Atlanta City Council on Tuesday approved funding for the construction of a proposed police and firefighter training center, rejecting the pleas of hundreds of activists who packed City Hall and spoke for hours in fierce opposition to the project they decry as ‘Cop City.’”

• In Seattle, WA, “[i]n a 5-4 vote Tuesday, the Seattle City Council rejected a bill that would have given the city attorney the authority to prosecute drug possession and public drug use cases, following nearly three hours of public comment.”

Public Safety

• In New York, “New York will try to make it a crime to print a gun at home. Lawmakers are responding to a surge in gun crimes committed with untraceable firearms, known as ghost guns, increasingly being created using a 3D printer.”

• In Oregon, “[a]s a trial over Oregon’s Measure 114 got underway on Monday, a federal judge heard testimony from the measure’s challengers and their experts on why the[y] believe the state’s recent ban on high-capacity magazines should not be enforced.”

• In Washington State, “[a] federal judge Tuesday denied an attempt to halt Washington's new ban on the sale of AR-15s and other semi-automatic rifles.”