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.”

Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives

Hello, interested public!

Happy Pride Month! Unfortunately, there’s not much in the way of positive news for the LGBTQ+ community, but the fight for equal rights will continue. Regarding the federal government’s debt ceiling talks and student debt crisis, the Senate has chosen to back the House’s bill undermining Biden’s student debt forgiveness plan, but Biden may yet exercise his veto power (fingers crossed!). Also, lots of news surrounding First Amendment issues, particularly involving the CUNY commencement speech that has garnered national and international attention.

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 is nearing the end of another term with a number of high-profile decisions yet to be released. From student loans to LGBTQ+ protections to affirmative action and voting rights – the justices are set to weigh in on a number of issues that influence American life.”

First Amendment Concerns

• In California, “[a]s a growing number of colleges around the country have stopped using diversity statements, a lawsuit filed against the University of California system in May appears to be the first to directly challenge their legality.”

• In Michigan, “[a] Republican-backed bill introduced in the Michigan House Thursday would require school districts to ensure history and civics classes include instruction on what the proposal described as ‘the Christian foundations of the United States.’”

• In New York City, NY, “It is not often that Republicans and Democrats in the United States find common ground, but this week, officials from both major parties pursued a shared cause – bashing a New York law school graduate for a speech criticising Israel….The New York Post tabloid newspaper put [commencement speaker Fatima] Mohammed on its front page on Tuesday. But many Palestinian rights advocates appeared bewildered by the accusations, stressing that Mohammed said nothing hateful or bigoted. Advocates say the vilification of Mohammed fits into a broader pattern of publicly attacking Israel’s critics in an effort to deter further criticism of the country’s policies.”

  • The New York Times’ reports “Ms. Mohammed’s remarks went largely unnoticed until The New York Post put her on the cover, more than two weeks after the May 12 graduation, with the headline, ‘Stark Raving Grad.’…CUNY’s handling of all this has been confounding from the outset and suggests the ways in which public universities dependent on the generosity of political overlords remain particularly vulnerable to the complications around campus free-speech debates.”

  • As a result of public outcry, “Republican Congressman Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., will introduce legislation Thursday to prohibit universities that ‘authorize antisemitic events on campus’ from participating in student loan and grant programs.”

Eye on AI & Other Legal Technology

• In New York, “[a] New York lawyer is facing potential sanctions over an error-riddled brief he drafted with help from ChatGPT.”

  • Relatedly, in Texas, “[a] US federal judge has categorically told lawyers that he will not allow any AI-generated content in his court.”

Student Loans & Student Debt

• In Washington, D.C., “A Republican-led effort to overturn President Joe Biden’s student debt relief plan narrowly cleared a key procedural hurdle in the Senate on Wednesday as several moderate Democrats broke with the White House and backed the measure. On a 51-46 vote, the Senate advanced legislation that would repeal Biden’s debt cancellation program and nullify the pause on monthly payments and interest….But the White House has promised that Biden would veto the bill if Congress were to pass it.”

Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity

• In the United States, “[a]ccording to a tracker provided by the ACLU, this June is blemished by more than 490 anti-LGBTQ+ bills threatening everything from basic health care to bathroom use and available books. This month, the risk of harm and humiliation is looming large.”

• In Iowa, “Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a sweeping anti-LGBTQ education bill Friday, dramatically restricting what students are allowed to learn in schools across the state.”

• In Lexington, KY, “AVOL Kentucky is offering a free clinic with pro-bono lawyers to assist in legal name changes. The clinic is meant to help members of the transgender and nonconforming communities in what is normally a complex, expensive, and taxing process.”

• In Texas, “Gov. Greg Abbott is poised to sign a bill that would ban trans athletes from playing in college sports on the team that aligns with their gender identity….”

• In Washington, D.C., “[l]eaders in Congress are forcefully condemning a sweeping new anti-gay law in Uganda, calling on the Biden administration to reconsider assistance to the East African nation….The law has provoked public backlash from officials, including from President Biden, who responded by threatening sanctions against those involved with carrying out related human rights abuses. He also said he instructed his National Security Council ‘to evaluate the implications of this law on all aspects of U.S. engagement with Uganda.’”

Reproductive Rights

• In Colorado, “…First Liberty Institute and the law firm Cooper & Kirk, PLLC, filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of Wendy Faustin, a pro-life advocate and sidewalk counselor, in the United States District Court of Colorado, claiming that state and local restrictions on engaging in speech outside of abortion centers violates the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.”

• In Missouri, “Missourians of any age can obtain free emergency contraceptives, commonly known as ‘Plan B,’ through the Missouri Family Health Council’s ‘Free EC’ initiative.”

• In Oklahoma, “[t]he Oklahoma Supreme Court has declared two state laws restricting abortion to be unconstitutional, citing an earlier ruling in which the court declared abortion is a right granted by the Oklahoma Constitution despite the fact that the state constitution contains no language directly or implicitly addressing abortion.”

• In South Carolina, “[a] judge put South Carolina's new law banning most abortions around six weeks of pregnancy on hold Friday until the state Supreme Court can review the measure, giving providers a temporary reprieve in a region that has enacted strict limits on the procedure.”

• In Utah, “[s]tarting next year, Salt Lake City could begin reimbursing its employees who travel out of state for abortions and other forms of medical care.”

• In Washington, D.C., the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine has its “first workshop to explore in-vitro gametogenesis, or IVG, which involves custom-making human eggs and sperm in the laboratory from any cell in a person's body.”

Environmental Crisis

• In Oregon, “[a] federal judge ruled on Thursday that a lawsuit brought by young Oregon-based climate activists can proceed to trial years after they first filed the lawsuit in an attempt to hold the nation’s leadership accountable for its role in climate change.”

• In Washington, D.C., “[t]he deal announced by President Biden and House Republican leaders this weekend would legislate the approval of a controversial West Virginia natural gas pipeline and shorten environmental reviews under one of the nation’s bedrock environmental laws.”

Immigration & Refugee Issues

• In Canada, “Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC), the federal ministry responsible for the labour market, revamped its list of median hourly wages used by employers when hiring foreign nationals under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP).”

• In the United States, “[m]ore than a quarter of young immigrants protected by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program lack health insurance and face burdens preventing them from accessing care, according to new data first shared with NBC News.”

• In New York, “[u]ndocumented New Yorkers who serve in the military and their families could receive state support to become naturalized citizens if the Legislature adopts a proposed law before the end of session.”

• In New York City, NY, “[o]nly a small number of the more than 70,000 migrants who have come to New York City since last spring have formally applied for asylum, a top official in Mayor Eric Adams’ administration said Wednesday. Anne Williams-Isom, Adams’ deputy mayor for health and human services, did not provide an exact tally of asylum applicants, but suggested many who haven’t applied are likely reluctant to fill out the forms out of fear and confusion over the process.”

• In Suffolk, NY, “Suffolk lawmakers have approved a measure to retain an attorney to explore legal options regarding the possibility of asylum seekers and migrants being sent to the county, according to reports.”

• In Tennessee, “[a]s part of an 18-state coalition, Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti is suing the Biden administration over its proposed new ‘Circumvention of Lawful Pathways’ rule.”

Employment Rights

• In the United States, “[t]he National Labor Relations Board has joined the Biden administration’s efforts to curtail employers’ practice of having workers sign noncompete agreements.”

  • Relatedly, law firm Fisher Phillips advises, “Employers should review their non-compete agreements now that the NLRB General Counsel announced that many of them violate federal labor law – regardless of whether you have a unionized workforce.”

• Also in the United States, “[t]he U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday dealt another setback to organized labor by making it easier for employers to sue over strikes that cause property destruction in a ruling siding with a concrete business in Washington state that sued the union representing its truck drivers after a work stoppage.”

• In Chicago, IL, “[t]he City of Chicago recently updated its existing ‘Ban the Box’ Ordinance to further limit an employer’s ability to consider conviction records of both new and current employees.”

• In Iowa, “Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a bill into law Friday to loosen some of the state’s child labor laws.”

• In Nevada, “[f]ederal investigators have found the operator of six Nevada Sonic Drive-In locations illegally allowed 14- and 15-year-old teenagers to work more hours and at times not permitted by federal child labor regulations and assigned them to operate manual deep fryers, a task considered a hazardous occupation.”

Non-Profit & Government Management & Hiring

• In North Carolina, the state’s “government personnel laws would prohibit job applicants from being forced to opine about politics and culture to get hired and forbid employee trainers from promoting certain concepts in Republican legislation [are] getting close to Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s desk.”

• In Washington, D.C., “[t]he Senate late Thursday evening passed a bill to ensure the government continues to pay its bills on time, sending to President Biden’s desk a measure that will freeze spending at most federal agencies next fiscal year but remove the threat of delayed paychecks for employees.”

Access to Justice – Civil & Economic

• In Arizona and Utah, “[a] new legal service model that aims to keep more low-income families in their homes has received approval from the Arizona and Utah supreme courts — which have waived restrictions on the unauthorized practice of law.”

• In Idaho, “[s]ix of the eight top attorneys assigned to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare have quit or been fired by Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador since March.”

• In Chicago, IL, “[a] program to help Chicagoans avoid evictions during the pandemic is in limbo after the city ended its contract with the nonprofit providing emergency rental assistance.”

• In Indiana, “[t]hanks to a partnership between the Foundation and the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority, Legal Help Kiosks are aimed at providing Hoosiers free and low-cost legal services with access to legal databases, documents, and assistance.”

• In Louisiana, the “attorney general filed a sweeping lawsuit last week that advances a conservative argument to undo hard-won legal protections against systemic racism, seeking to reverse yet another crowning achievement of the 1960s civil rights movement.”

• In New York City, New York, “Bronx and Brooklyn tenants rallied outside of housing courts in their respective boroughs on Wednesday to call on Mayor Eric Adams to fully fund the right to counsel in the 2024 fiscal year budget.”

• In Norristown, PA, “[a]bout 20 homeless encampments in Norristown will be cleared in the coming weeks, with no plans to store people’s confiscated property, according to advocates for individuals living homeless in the borough.”

• In Rio Grande Valley, TX, “residents can access a free legal services kiosk at the Harlingen, Texas library[.]”

• In Vermont, “[a]…judge won’t block the eviction of about 800 homeless people from a pandemic-era motel housing program on Thursday despite pleas from advocates that the move was both confusing to those involved and inhumane.”

Access to Justice – Criminal

• In Marin County, CA, “[a] civil grand jury in Marin County has released a scathing report regarding a substantial backlog of criminal cases in the county, placing the blame squarely on the shoulders of the District Attorney's Office.”

• In Massachusetts, “[s]tate legislators are looking to make changes to a Massachusetts law that keeps secret all police records of domestic and sexual violence, after a WBUR investigation revealed the statute designed to protect victims has instead shielded alleged abusers. The privacy law makes it harder for survivors to access their own police incident reports and other records — documents they need in order to file restraining orders or fight for custody of their children.”

• In Michigan, “[a] bipartisan group of Michigan House members have introduced a 20-bill package to add more oversight, resources and opportunities for juveniles to proceed through the justice system, regardless of their financial standing.”

Prosecutor & Public Defender Office Hiring Crises

• In Del Norte County, CA, “[t]he Board of Supervisors appears poised to open an office for a fully staffed public defender. Supervisors directed administration to develop an office of the county public defender, establishing a classification for the county public defender as part of the recommended 2023/24 budget using a managed assigned counsel (MAC) structure.”

• In Sedgwick County, KS, “…the Sedgwick County public defender’s office recently shut down temporarily due to short staffing….[County District Attorney Marc] Bennett said the offices have shut down in the past to allow the attorneys to catch up on their caseloads. This time, the attorneys won’t take on new cases for at least a month.”

• In Carson City, NV, “[t]he Sixth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution establishes the right to a speedy and public trial and legal defense. Thursday, the Carson City Board of Supervisors will consider a new Office of Public Defender to ensure that right for indigent defendants.”

Criminal Justice Reform and Counter-Reform

• In Arizona, “[s]ome convictions for marijuana sales are eligible for expungement under Proposition 207, which legalized the drug for adult use, the Arizona Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday.”

• In Atlanta, GA, following up on our previous coverage, “[p]olice on Wednesday arrested three Atlanta organizers who have been aiding protesters against the city’s proposed police and fire training center, striking at the structure that supports the fight against what opponents derisively call ‘Cop City.’…Charged with money laundering and charity fraud are Marlon Scott Kautz, 39, of Atlanta; Savannah D. Patterson, 30, of Savannah; and Adele MacLean, 42, of Atlanta.”

• In Indiana, “[t]he ACLU is challenging a new bail law that they claim creates unlawful restrictions on nonprofit organizations who assist criminal defendants with paying cash bail.”

• In Baltimore, MD, “Baltimore’s top prosecutor announced Thursday a new program that allows police to issue citations for minor crimes such as loitering, drug possession and public urination — a significant shift from the more progressive policies of his predecessor, who declined to prosecute such cases.”

• In Minnesota, “[f]rom studying psychedelics to legalizing drug paraphernalia and residue, Minnesota's new drug policies reach far beyond marijuana. The state is enacting changes this year aimed at reducing overdoses and infections, including legalization measures that advocates called nation-leading.”

  • Relatedly, “[j]ust one day after Minnesota legalized the recreational use of marijuana, an agency that regulates the use of firearms warned that any current user of marijuana is prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition.”

• In New York City, NY, “[t]he city Department of Correction has abruptly stopped notifying the media when an incarcerated person dies and will no longer do so in the future.”

• In Seattle, WA, “…City Attorney Ann Davison announced last week that she would end the city’s participation in the criminal justice alternative called Community Court due to questions about its cost and effectiveness. Instead, the office said they will use pre-filing diversion services[.]”

Public Safety

• In California, “[t]he state Senate has approved legislation by Sen. Catherine Blakespear of Encinitas that would require all semiautomatic pistols sold in California to use microstamping technology beginning in July 2027.”

• In Los Angeles, CA, “…City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto announced a $5 million settlement Tuesday in a lawsuit against Nevada-based Polymer80, permanently prohibiting the company from selling its ‘ghost gun’ kits in the state without first conducting background checks of buyers and serializing its products.”

• In Georgia, “[t]he [state] Supreme Court issued an opinion Wednesday affirming the dismissal of a lawsuit brought by five university professors against the state's campus carry law.”

• In Portland, OR, “[e]ight months after giving the go-ahead for a gunshot detection pilot project, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler announced Thursday that the city won’t pursue installing the technology.”

• In Fort Worth, TX, “With 345 gun violence-related calls already counted in 2023, the city of Fort Worth and Fort Worth’s police department are considering adding gunshot detection technology in conjunction with smart streetlights and already existing Flock cameras to help lower crime rates in areas scheduled for revitalization….There are concerns about the technology’s potential mass surveillance capabilities and placing them in communities where trust in law enforcement is already low.”

Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives

Hello, interested public!

As the federal government continues to duke it out over the debt ceiling, a default on U.S. debt looms imminently. The House also made a drastic move to overturn Biden’s student loan cancellation plan, while we continue to await the Supreme Court’s ruling on the same issue. Also in the news this week: more state laws regarding transgender rights and the impending immigration crisis now that Title 42 has expired.

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

Happy reading,

Brittany

Editor’s Choice

• In Florida, “Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) cleared his own path to keep his current position while running for president, signing a bill that will allow him to remain as governor while being a presidential candidate.”

• In Montana, “Gov. Greg Gianforte has signed legislation giving Native American families preference in fostering and adopting Native children involved with child protective services, a proactive move to protect such rights as the U.S. Supreme Court considers a case that could undercut them nationally.”

Supreme Court Ethics Concerns

• In the United States, “[a]pproval of the Supreme Court is declining, according to a poll by Marquette Law School. The poll found approval of the high court stands at 41%, with 59% disapproving. That is a 6% decline since January.”

• According to Axios, “U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts said Tuesday night he wanted to assure people that he's ‘committed to making certain that we as a court adhere to the highest standards of conduct.’…Roberts did not outline in his speech at the American Law Institute's annual dinner what measures he was looking into and nor did he address the potential ethical issues surrounding the court or calls for an ethics code.”

  • However, according to Bloomberg Law, “Justice Elena Kagan noted, buried in the court’s May 22 orders list denying review of hundreds of cases, that she was recusing herself from acting on a petition in a capital case, which the rest of the court denied….Kagan took what may be one small step in the road to transparency, albeit a guarded and somewhat opaque one.”

First Amendment Concerns

• In Montana, a “new law, which Gianforte signed on Monday, defines drag performers as ‘a male or female performer who adopts a flamboyant or parodic feminine persona with glamorous or exaggerated costumes and makeup.’ When it was first introduced, journalist and transgender rights activist Erin Reed pointed out that the measure could affect glam rock, wrestling, and even performances by Dolly Parton.”

• In Oklahoma, “[h]arassment lawsuits that target the free-speech activities of Oklahomans could become more common under a bill sent to the governor. The legislation would weaken an existing state law that provides significant financial sanctions for individuals or entities that file frivolous harassment lawsuits to financially harm individuals engaged in free-speech activity.”

• In Texas, “[a] push to inject religion into public schools across Texas faltered on Tuesday after the State House failed to pass a contentious bill that would have required the Ten Commandments to be displayed prominently in every classroom.”

Eye on AI & Other Legal Technology

• In the European Union, “OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said on Wednesday the ChatGPT maker might consider leaving Europe if it could not comply with the upcoming artificial intelligence (AI) regulations by the European Union. The EU is working on what could be the first set of rules globally to govern AI. As part of the draft, companies deploying generative AI tools, such as ChatGPT, will have to disclose any copyrighted material used to develop their systems.”

  • Relatedly, “Tech companies have grown secretive about what they feed the AI. So The Washington Post set out to analyze one of these data sets to fully reveal the types of proprietary, personal, and often offensive websites that go into an AI’s training data….Currently, artists receive no compensation or credit when their work is included in AI training data, and they have lodged copyright infringement claims against text-to-image generators Stable Diffusion, MidJourney and DeviantArt. The Post’s analysis suggests more legal challenges may be on the way: The copyright symbol — which denotes a work registered as intellectual property — appears more than 200 million times in the C4 data set.”

• The National Law Review reports that “the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued two guidance documents addressing AI in the HR context, specifically tackling the issues of adverse impact and disability accommodations.”

  • Relatedly, “[a]s AI is more common in our day-to-day lives, we have seen it make mistakes and replicate human shortcomings. For many it came as a surprise when AI hiring algorithms appeared to replicate human biases as well. If you are an employer using AI hiring algorithms, you may be at risk of liability under federal law.”

• In Florida, “[a] new first-of-its-kind app and companion website, called FosterPower, provide foster youth with comprehensive but easy-to-understand information about their rights to mental health care, education and legal protections.”

Student Loans & Student Debt

• In Washington, D.C., “House Republicans passed a resolution on Wednesday that would overturn President Joe Biden’s student loan cancellation plan, but the White House has vowed to veto it and the plan remains on hold as the Supreme Court considers its fate.”

  • Relatedly, “[a]lthough Republicans were responsible for the bill, two Democrats, Jared Golden of Maine and Marie Gluesenkamp Pérez of Washington State, joined Republicans in voting for it. According to a letter signed by 260 organizations, the bill, should it become law, would also retroactively add interest onto the student loan repayments that were paused during the Covid pandemic.”

• Also in Washington, D.C., “[s]ome conservative lawmakers don't want Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy to make any compromises with President Joe Biden on the debt ceiling — even with a default potentially eight days away.”

  • Relatedly, “[a] U.S. default on its debt would have a significantly broader impact on federal operations, financial markets and the global economy than recent government shutdowns that have left ordinary Americans largely untouched….A default would potentially reduce payments that keep millions of households afloat, as well as payments to states and providers for health care for elderly and low-income Americans.”

Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity

• In the United States, “[a]t least 17 states have enacted laws restricting or banning gender-affirming care for transgender minors, though judges have temporarily blocked their enforcement in some, including Arkansas. An Associated Press analysis found that often those bills sprang not from grassroots or constituent demand, but from the pens of a handful of conservative interest groups.”

• In Arizona, “[l]ess than a dozen trans students in the entire state have asked to play on girl’s sports teams’ in the past decade, but Republican Superintendent Tom Horne said that girls across the state are facing unfair competition, which is why he is vehemently defending Arizona’s trans athlete ban.”

• In Florida, “[t]he parents of three transgender children in Florida are trying to get a federal judge to block a new law that bans gender-affirming care for minors….”

• In Minnesota, “[a] new law establishes Minnesota as a ‘trans refuge state,’ and as other states pass bans on gender-affirming care, Minneapolis nonprofit Avenues for Youth says it's fielding more calls from transgender youth who are coming to Minnesota for care and need a place to stay. It’s asking Minnesotans to help by hosting them.”

• In Montana, “Gov. Greg Gianforte’s office announced Saturday that the Republican governor has signed into law Senate Bill 458, legislation that inserts binary, reproduction-based definitions of ‘male,’ ‘female’ and ‘sex’ into dozens of parts of state code.”

• In North Carolina, “[a] Catholic school teacher fired due to his same-gender marriage will have his discrimination lawsuit heard by a U.S. Court of Appeals soon.”

Reproductive Rights

• In Connecticut, “[m]edical providers in Connecticut who face disciplinary action in other states for performing abortions could not be denied a license, have their license revoked, or be denied privileges here based solely on their out-of-state sanctions under a bill that cleared the General Assembly’s House last week.”

• In Nebraska, “[t]he governor of Nebraska joined a number of conservative US states in limiting women's rights to choose by signing a 12-week abortion ban into law.”

Environmental Crisis

• In the United States, “[a]s part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced that applications are open for the Renew America’s Nonprofits grant, a funding opportunity that will support projects to reduce energy use in buildings owned and operated by 501(c)(3) nonprofits.”

• In Florida, “Florida’s environment will suffer ‘irreparable damage’ under a new law Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed on Wednesday that opponents say will financially discourage regular folks from challenging proposals to change local rules that limit the size and scope of new developments.”

• In New York, “[the] State Assembly unanimously passed a bill aimed at increasing protections for the state’s community gardens. The bill, which has already unanimously passed the Senate, now awaits Governor Hochul’s signature.”

• In Washington, D.C., “[t]he Supreme Court sided against the Environmental Protection Agency in a case over what constitutes a wetland. In doing so, the court reduced the EPA's authority to regulate water pollution under the Clean Water Act, passed more than 50 years ago. The decision could impact what happens to wetlands across the country.”

Immigration & Refugee Issues

• In California, following up on our previous coverage, “[t]he University of California on Thursday took a first step toward allowing the hiring of undocumented students for jobs across the 10-campus system, a move that follows months of pleas from those students. The action by the system’s board of regents Thursday does not immediately authorize the employment of undocumented students. Instead, UC plans to create a working group, proposed by President Michael V. Drake, that will spend the next six months considering the proposal.”

• In Florida, “[a] group of Chinese citizens is suing Florida over a new law that bans them from buying property in parts of the state….The law prohibits citizens of the specified countries from owning property within 10 miles of military installations. Those that already own property as restricted by the new law must register with the state or face fines.”

• In Boston, MA, “Mayor Michelle Wu and the Mayor’s Office for Immigrant Advancement (MOIA) today announced that the City is awarding $711,000 in grants to 15 nonprofits to expand access to immigration services.”

• In Nevada, “[a] federal appeals court has ruled that a U.S. deportation law that fueled family separations at the southern border is ‘neutral as to race,’ striking down an unprecedented Nevada ruling that had determined it was racist and unconstitutional.”

• In New York, “Onondaga County and the Town of Salina continue to insist they have the legal grounds to prevent a large number of migrants from settling in the community. But it’s still not clear if, when, or how many asylum seekers are being sent here from New York City.”

Disability Rights

• In Wisconsin, “[t]he state Department of Public Instruction says it has no legal authority to force private taxpayer-funded schools to accommodate students with disabilities[.]”

Non-Profit & Government Management & Hiring

• In Canada, “[o]ver 100,000 federal public servants who belong to the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) exercised their right to strike in April. The federal government responded to this pressure tactic by offering its employees the option of continuing to do their jobs by teleworking.”

• In the United States, “[t]he imminent resumption of the requirement for employers to physically inspect the I-9s of remote employees is causing whiplash among some employers. They worry about the revived mandate's cost and inconvenience, despite the possibility of using a third-party representative to examine work authorization documents.”

• In Massachusetts, “[a] federal judge will next week hear a case, brought by a federal employee union, on the constitutionality of the debt ceiling structure and the impact it could have on civil servants, potentially providing a last-minute opening to avoid a catastrophic default.”

• In Nebraska, “The United States Attorney’s Office will add three additional federal prosecutors, with one focusing on violent crime, another handling government fraud, and the third leading the office’s eLitigation program.”

Access to Justice – Civil & Economic

• In Indiana, “[t]he Indiana State Bar Association has launched an online Indiana Pro Bono Academy to provide an entry point for Hoosier attorneys who want to do pro bono work.”

• In Montana, “[t]he Montana Legal Services Association has started…[t]he Rural Incubator Program for Lawyers creates a way for new attorneys to start their careers by helping connect them to rural clients with pro-bono and reduced-rate services.”

• In Jersey City, NJ, following up on our previous reports, “[t]he Jersey City Council passed two amended ordinances for right to counsel on first reading at last night’s meeting, which saw a few dozen residents speak in favor of the proposal.”

• In Oklahoma City, OK, “[a] new Right to Counsel Eviction Help pilot program has been launched in Oklahoma City, aimed at providing legal information, assistance and representation to tenants as soon as they are at risk of eviction.”

Access to Justice – Criminal

• In Contra Costa, CA, following up on our past coverage, “[t]he Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a $5.515 billion budget for fiscal year 2023-24, including more money for the district attorney's and public defender's offices to handle cases related to the Antioch police scandal.”

  • Relatedly, a Superior Court “judge found proof of racial bias and racism in the charging decisions by the D.A.'s office.”

• In Lake County, CA, “[t]he Board of Supervisors is continuing to move to create a public defender program and will consider a draft proposal on the process from a consultant this week.”

• In Colorado, “[t]wo men incarcerated for sex offenses, who have been moved around to various facilities where they were unable to participate in legally required treatment, may sue Colorado corrections officials for violating their constitutional rights, a federal judge ruled this week.”

• In Indiana, “Youth and their families can be charged for costs such as having a public defender, being placed in residential treatment or being detained in a Department of Correction facility. Costs vary for each child, but the payments can be significant – totaling hundreds or even thousands of dollars. Under current Indiana law, the court presumes that parents are able to pay these costs. Now, HEA 1493 will place the burden on the courts to prove that families are able to pay the fees. It also removes the obligation to pay for a public defender.”

• In Massachusetts, “Rachael Rollins, the George Soros-backed rogue U.S. attorney for the District of Massachusetts, announced earlier this week that she is resigning as the chief federal prosecutor for the Bay State.”

  • Relatedly, “Biden's DOJ has decided not to charge Rachael Rollins after evidence found her guilty of election interference, raising concerns about a double standard in the criminal justice system.”

• In St. Louis County, Missouri, following up on our previous coverage, “Republican Missouri Gov. Mike Parson on Friday named Gabe Gore, a former assistant U.S. attorney, as the new chief prosecutor in St. Louis, three days after Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner's sudden departure.”

• In Queens, NY, grand jurors received “substantive instructions” from court officers, “a duty reserved only for prosecutors and the judges who are supposed to oversee them[,]” which “could have tainted the grand jury’s decisions in roughly three dozen cases they heard over four weeks in January.”

• In Marion County, OR, “[a]…deputy district attorney referred to a criminal defendant as a ‘drunk Hispanic guy’ in a discussion with the man’s lawyer, leading the county’s top prosecutor to dismiss the case later that day, according to the defense lawyer and public records.”

Prosecutor & Public Defender Office Hiring Crises

• In DeSoto County, MS, “[j]oined by Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, DeSoto County District Attorney Bob Morris highlighted recent passage of legislation that has added three assistant district attorneys….House Bill 834 adds one additional permanent prosecutor in each of 14 judicial districts, including DeSoto County. Another bill, House Bill 603, provided DeSoto County with $275,000 to fund two more ADAs.”

• In Oregon, “Gov. Tina Kotek is asking a state legislative panel for changes to a Senate bill that would address a constitutional crisis that has left thousands of people accused of crimes without attorneys. Kotek’s letter comes after lawmakers and policy experts have spent over than a year crafting the legislation, Oregon Public Broadcasting reported. Some public defense leaders say Kotek’s request for the changes would force them to oppose a bill they otherwise support.”

• In Wisconsin, “Brown County leaders want the state of Wisconsin to reimburse the county for $256,585 it paid to hire public defenders and to provide other legal help for dozens of criminal defendants in 2022.”

Criminal Justice Reform and Counter-Reform

• In the United States, “[t]here were a record 238 exonerations in 2022, according to a database maintained by the National Registry of Exonerations.”

• Also in the United States, “[t]he Homeland Security Department released on Tuesday its first-ever policy on body worn cameras, which will apply across the department’s 80,000 law enforcement officers. The new policy comes in accordance with an executive order President Biden issued last May to increase accountability in policing on the two-year anniversary of George Floyd’s murder by a police officer and subsequent protests for racial justice.”

• In Allegheny County, PA, “[o]n May 17, Chief Public Defender Matt Dugan defeated long-term Allegheny County District Attorney Steve Zappala in the Democratic primary for top prosecutor, winning 56 percent of the vote on a decarceration platform.”

Public Safety

• In the United States, Tech Policy Press reports that “144 different bills, spanning 43 states,…were introduced in 2023 and specifically attempt to protect children from various harms on the Internet.”

• In Colorado, a weapons startup “launched its so-called ‘smart gun’ last month…The weapon will fire normally as long as the user's fingerprint or face is stored in its memory banks. For anyone else, the company says, the gun is little more than a paperweight.”

• In Kentucky, “[h]igh-end weapons detection systems that use AI technology are gaining popularity with school boards wanting to protect their students, but they come at a high cost and a lack of transparency.”

• In Michigan, “Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Monday signed ‘red flag’ legislation into law, making Michigan the 21st state to enact a law designed to prevent people posing a risk to themselves or others from possessing a gun.”

• In Minnesota, “Gov. Tim Walz (D) signed two gun safety initiatives into law on Friday that will establish universal background checks and a process for temporarily removing firearms from those who imminently pose a threat to themselves or others.”

• In Ohio, “[s]tate lawmakers are considering a bill its Republican sponsors say will protect Ohio gun owners from federal laws and policies that they think go too far. The bill would declare Ohio a ‘Second Amendment sanctuary state’ to encourage police not to enforce federal gun control measures.”

  • Relatedly, “[o]pponents throughout the law enforcement community contend those changes would be disastrous. Not only would it threaten participation in federal task forces, it would also hamper investigations by closing off access to federal databases like one tracking ballistics….Easily the biggest sticking point is a provision that seemingly restricts local agencies from hiring former federal employees.”

Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives

Hello, interested public!

Lots of moves have been made to either promote or hinder criminal justice reform. And we’ve added a new section for First Amendment Concerns as new issues continue to pop up, mostly related to free speech on the internet. We’ve also expanded our section on AI to include other emerging technologies.

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

Happy reading,

Brittany

Editor’s Choice

• In New York City, NY, “Bronx Defenders and Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP filed two lawsuits Thursday against New York City's Administration for Children's Services, accusing the agency of discriminating against parents of color in its child removal decisions.”

Supreme Court Ethics Concerns

• According to Business Insider, “Jane Sullivan Roberts, the wife of Chief Justice John G. Roberts, played a key role in helping her husband secure a spot on the Supreme Court nearly twenty years before the court overturned Roe v. Wade thanks to conservative power players who heralded her anti-abortion advocacy as evidence that the now top justice was the right man for the job.”

First Amendment Concerns

• In the United States, “Internal emails show that the U.S. Marshals Service received regular alerts from Dataminr, a company that persistently monitors social media for corporate and government clients, about the precise time and location of both ongoing and planned abortion rights demonstrations.”

• In Montana, “[a] diverse group of Montana TikTok creators with hundreds of thousands of followers sued to challenge the first statewide ban of the popular app, arguing the law violates free-speech rights and will disrupt their livelihoods.”

• In Washington, D.C., “during oral arguments last month before the U.S. Supreme Court in the true-threats case of Counterman v. Colorado, several conservative justices…voiced skepticism about letting jurors use a reasonable-person standard to decide when statements constitute threats of violence unprotected by the First Amendment. As The Hill reported, they fretted that today’s reasonable person, as envisioned by jurors, may be ‘too hypersensitive’ and thus might wrongly find threats where none exist.”

Eye on AI & Other Legal Technology

• In the United States, “Employers using or thinking about using artificial intelligence (AI) to aid with workplace tasks received another reminder from the federal government that their actions will be closely scrutinized by the EEOC for possible employment discrimination violations.”

• Also in the United States, “According to research conducted by North Carolina State University, American law enforcement agencies who use AI for predictive policing, facial recognition, and gunshot detection have insufficient understanding of AI and its limitations when employing AI technology in their line of work.”

• In Virginia, “William and Mary Law School’s McGlothlin Courtroom is equipped with a hologram machine that is being tested for its use in virtual witness testimony.”

• In Washington, D.C., “OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has sounded his fears about AI-powered election interference, telling a congressional hearing on Tuesday that the technology needs to be regulated to protect voting integrity.”

  • Likewise, “‘GPT-4 is more likely to respond helpfully and truthfully, and refuse harmful requests, than any other widely deployed model of similar capability,’ Altman said on Tuesday. ‘However, we think that regulatory intervention by governments will be critical to mitigate the risks of increasingly powerful models,’ he added, suggesting the adoption of licenses or safety requirements necessary for the operation of AI models.”

• Also in Washington, D.C., “Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., introduced a bill Thursday requiring certain federal agencies to assign a senior official to oversee the use of emerging technology.”

Student Loans & Student Debt

• In the United States, “the U.S. Department of Education (Department) released proposed regulations to establish the strongest set of safeguards ever to protect students from unaffordable debt or insufficient earnings from career training programs, along with new measures to increase transparency across all postsecondary programs.”

• A new study from the National Bureau of Economic Research revealed that “[t]he decision to freeze student loan payments in 2020 as part of the response to COVID-19 may have actually led some households to take on more debt.”

• In California, “[p]art of a slate of budget bills signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom earlier this week is legislation exempting Californians from paying income taxes on forgiven federal student loans and some pandemic-era emergency grants.”

Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity

• In the United States, LGBTA+ students face institutional barriers to receiving financial aid if their “parents still have no intention of signing the [FAFSA] paperwork or helping them pay for college.”

• In Florida, “Governor Ron DeSantis signed a horrifying bill Wednesday that will let the state take transgender minors away from their families if they are receiving gender-affirming care.”

• In Jackson County, MO, “Officials in Missouri's largest city approved a resolution Thursday to declare it a sanctuary for people seeking or providing gender-affirming care, defying state lawmakers who voted a day earlier to ban such care for minors and restrict it for some adults.”

Reproductive Rights

• In the United States, “[a] daily oral contraceptive called Opill might soon be available over the counter, which would mark a huge move in making birth control accessible during a time of legal battles over reproductive health.”

• In Florida, “…Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill requiring public lactation spaces in Florida courthouses.”

• In Michigan, “…residents can’t be fired or otherwise discriminated against by employers for getting an abortion under legislation signed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer Wednesday.”

• In Washington, D.C., “[a] federal employee group within the Justice Department on Wednesday called on House Democrats to fight to eliminate a long-running ban on federal funds being spent on abortion services, citing the negative impact the policy has on federal workers.”

Environmental Crisis

• In Canada, “…the Honourable Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, launched the Conservation Exchange Pilot, an innovative, science-based initiative designed to enable more conservation work in Canada.”

• In Montana, “…Gov. Greg Gianforte has signed into law a bill that bars the state from considering climate impacts in its analysis of large projects such as coal mines and power plants.”

Immigration & Refugee Issues

• In California, following up on last week’s coverage, “[t]he University of California regents, saying they support an equitable education for all, unanimously agreed Thursday to find a pathway to enact a bold policy to hire students who lack legal status and work permits.”

Disability Rights

• In California, “four law school graduates with disabilities have filed a group complaint with the United States Department of Justice against the State Bar of California for consistently violating the Americans with Disabilities Act by failing to provide accommodations on the California bar exam.”

• In Chicago, IL, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois “granted summary judgment on claims that the City of Chicago discriminated against blind and low vision pedestrians under federal disability rights laws by failing to install accessible pedestrian signals (APS) at signalized intersections.”

• In Texas, “Obesity may in itself be considered a disability by Texas courts under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Texas Commission on Human Rights Act even absent evidence of an underlying health condition.”

Employment Rights

• In Nunavut, Canada, “[a]n arbitrator has ruled that the Government of Nunavut’s and federal government’s plans to increase Inuit employment in the public sector don’t comply with the Nunavut Agreement.”

• In Illinois, the “legislature passed Senate Bill 1515 (the “Amendment”), which would amend the Illinois Right to Privacy in the Workplace Act (820 ILCS § 55) to mandate a specified process employers would need to follow if they choose to take an adverse employment action against an employee after receiving notice from any Employment Eligibility Verification Systems, including E-Verify, of a discrepancy between an employee’s name or social security number. The Amendment would also grant employees certain rights and protections if any such discrepancies arise.”

Non-Profit & Government Management & Hiring

• In the United States, “[f]ederal agencies would not be able to consider a job applicant’s salary history when setting pay for certain offers of employment under new regulations proposed by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.”

Access to Justice – Civil & Economic

• In Georgia, “[t]he State Bar of Georgia’s Access to Justice Committee has launched a new technology platform to help connect Georgia lawyers to more pro bono opportunities, the bar announced May 15.”

• In Iowa, “[t]he Iowa Supreme Court has approved $681,345 in grants to non-profit programs that provide legal assistance to low-income Iowans with civil legal problems.”

• In Jefferson County, KY, Gerina Whethers has been appointed as the commonwealth’s attorney for Jackson County. “She is the first Black woman to serve in this post in Jefferson County.”

• In Baltimore County, MD, “Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski announced that Baltimore County will receive an additional $1.1 million in rental assistance funding to prevent evictions and further support residents.”

• In Westchester, NY, “…the county Board of Legislators unanimously passed an ‘Access to Counsel’ bill to guarantee legal representation to low-income households facing eviction.”

• In Multnomah County, OR, following up on last week’s coverage, “Multnomah County residents on Tuesday night voted down a measure that would have levied a capital gains tax to fund lawyers for tenants facing eviction.”

• In Washington, D.C., “Brad Garcia, a former O’Melveny & Myers partner, was confirmed as the first Latino to serve on the US Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.”

Access to Justice – Criminal

• In Contra Costa County, CA, following up on previous coverage, “Antioch police last Wednesday pledged to support the state attorney general's civil investigation into their department, following allegations that officers there shared bigoted text messages and engaged in other misconduct.”

• In Georgia, according to District Attorney Alena Cook Jones, the Prosecutorial Oversight Bill “is designed to keep reform-minded prosecutors in line by constraining their prosecutorial discretion. Moreover, it is another tool certain politicians use to silence voters, keep them out of decisions about our criminal legal system, and undermine our democracy.”

• In Chatham County, GA, “[t]he Chatham County jail changed its rules on attorneys visiting clients who are locked up after the public defender’s office cried foul that they couldn’t get reasonable access to their indigent clients.”

• In Michigan, “[s]tate lawmakers are considering bills that would stop anyone under the age of 19 from receiving a sentence of life without parole when convicted of first-degree murder.”

• In Macomb County, “[a]n assistant Macomb County prosecutor has asked the state Supreme Court last week to set 100 miles as the standard of a released prisoner to reside away from their victim.”

• In Washington State, a “bill set to aid in the protection of victims of domestic violence will be signed into law by Washington Gov. Jay Inslee Monday.”

Prosecutor & Public Defender Office Hiring Crises

• In Colorado, “[m]ore than 500 employees in the Office of the Colorado State Public Defender signed a petition this spring raising concerns about how a $16 million wage increase will be divvied up among workers. The 546 petitioners worry that some employees will remain underpaid even while managers and administrators receive raises….”

• In Dacano, CO, “[i]mmediately after the Dacono City Council voted 4 -1 to hire Rick Samson as interim city attorney this week, the Longmont-based lawyer turned down the offer….’What we are not willing to do is to work for a divided council,’ Samson said during Wednesday’s council meeting. ‘I’m too old to deal with that.’”

• In Florida, “[t]he First Judicial Circuit's state attorney and public defender asked the Florida legislature for a $15,000 increase in attorney salaries to prevent high turnover and growing caseloads, but the new state appropriations for the next fiscal year won't provide for that.”

• In Georgia, following up on our previous coverage, “[a]n attorney who’s serving as a public defender in the YSL trial has received a pay raise….The low wages shed light on the issues faced by public defenders and low-income defendants who seek a fair trial….The GPDC has since agreed to increase their pay from a measly $15K salary to $55K.”

• In Chatham County, GA, Former Assistant District Attorney Anthony Burton has filed a civil lawsuit against former Assistant District Attorney Michael Edwards claiming “he was terminated, in part, because of his sexual preference and in retaliation for sending a text message to colleagues about staffing shortages in the DA's office.”

• In Hancock County, IN, “Prosecutor Brent Eaton reiterated to the Hancock County Council this week that his department is in a bit of predicament. Using state records to support his point, Eaton said that not only does his department need more than standard raises, but it is also in need of more employees. That’s something county officials say cannot be addressed all at once or as fast as Eaton would like.”

• In St. Louis County, MO, following up on our previous coverage, “[e]mbattled St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner, who this month announced she would resign effective June 1, said Tuesday she is leaving office immediately, ending a turbulent tenure marked by frequent criticism, especially from Missouri’s Republican leaders.”

• In Grand Forks County, ND, “[a]s an integral part of the system, the Grand Forks County public defender’s office handles roughly 800 cases per year, according to Ogren. Caseloads are ‘always an issue,’ Ogren said. There are only three full-time attorneys employed at the agency.”

• In New York City, NY, “Adams administration officials dodged questions over potential raises and staffing shortages for public defenders during a budget hearing on Wednesday. Advocates say the status quo could be disastrous for low-income New Yorkers embroiled in the city’s criminal justice system.”

• In Franklin County, OH, “[s]taff attorneys in the Franklin County Public Defender’s office announced Thursday they are forming a union to address stagnant wages and high caseloads.”

• In Allegheny County, PA, “[f]or nearly two decades, Allegheny County courts have capped pay to appointed defense lawyers at levels most local attorneys consider unjust. Rates may be rising, but will it be enough to give the accused fair representation?”

• In Chesterfield County, VA, “[a]s public defenders in Chesterfield County grapple with overwhelming caseloads, staffing challenges and pay gaps, the office has requested relief from the court in order to work through a backlog of cases.”

• In Wisconsin, “[l]awmakers on the Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee advanced a proposal Tuesday to include significant pay raises for county prosecutors and public defenders in the state’s next budget to bolster Wisconsin’s criminal justice system.”

Criminal Justice Reform and Counter-Reform

• In Canada, “[a] Saskatchewan legal aid lawyer says the federal government’s proposed bail reform is a knee-jerk reaction that fails to address the real underlying problems related to why people are re-offending while out on bail.”

• In Arkansas, “[a]n overhaul of Arkansas' parole system is expected by some defense attorneys to lead to more criminal cases going to trial, an outcome that would increase workloads for court-appointed attorneys already managing caseloads above national standards.”

• In California, “[t]he California Workforce Development Board (CWDB) is pleased to announce the Helping Justice-Involved Reenter Employment (HIRE) initiative. HIRE is a new funding opportunity for community-based organizations (CBOs) and other nonprofit organizations to provide employment services to justice-involved individuals.”

• Also in California, “[a]n appellate court has revived a lawsuit challenging the Orange County district attorney’s unregulated DNA program, which offers leniency to low-level defendants who ‘volunteer’ to give their genetic material.”

• Also also in California, “Senate Bill 731, passed last fall, makes California the first state in the nation to allow people to permanently expunge old convictions on their criminal records.”

• In Los Angeles, CA, “Los Angeles’ Neighborhood Prosecutor program may not be the most well-known arm of city government, but it has for many years been one of the most popular at the grass roots level, where it has helped neighbors all across the city deal with ‘the most destructive community crimes like drug sales, illegal dumping, graffiti and more.’ For the last few weeks, however, the Buzz has been hearing from people in several areas that our Neighborhood Prosecutors are being reassigned by City Attorney Heidi Feldstein Soto to other duties…and many are not happy about the news.”

• In Yolo County, CA, “…the California Board of Community Corrections approved a grant of $2,145,000 over the course of three years that will go toward the Yolo County District Attorney’s Restorative Justice Partnership (RJP).”

• In New York, “[a]dvocates recently promoted legislation to clear a controversial New York Police Department of Investigation (DOI) database that they argue keeps tabs on predominately Black and Brown residents in New York.”

• In Ohio, “[i]n April, changes went into effect in Ohio to the record sealing and expungement law. This allows even more people to be eligible than before.”

• In Harris County, TX, “[t]he Harris County District Attorney's Office believes its six youth crime diversion offices are succeeding, though, a disturbing trend is also coming into play.”

• In Virginia, “Central Virginia Community Justice (CVCJ) grew out of a pilot program and is now providing people with an alternative to the courtroom.”

• In Washington, D.C., “The Senate cast a symbolic vote Tuesday to overturn a District of Columbia policing bill, setting up a promised veto by President Joe Biden….Supporters of the local policing measure say it increases public safety by strengthening training requirements and prohibiting the hiring of officers who have a history of misconduct. Meanwhile, Republicans have argued the local measure undermines officer retention and restricts officers from doing their jobs.”

Public Safety

• In Washington, D.C, following up on last week’s coverage, “[a] group of seven Republican senators last week introduced the Senate companion to a piece of House-passed legislation that would require federal agencies to revert to their pre-pandemic telework policies….”

• In Minnesota, “[t]he Minnesota House passed the Judiciary and Public Safety budget bill, which included two gun control measures, early Tuesday morning….Proponents of the bill say the gun control measures will ‘keep guns out of the hands of those who are prohibited from having them’ by implementing criminal background checks for all firearm sales.”

• In Ohio, “[t]he Columbus City Attorney's office filed a new lawsuit Thursday against the state of Ohio in a renewed attempt to put in place and enforce local gun safety laws.”

• In Texas, “[s]tate lawmakers passed a bill requiring courts to report involuntary mental health hospitalizations of juveniles for inclusion in the federal gun background check system.”

• In Virginia, “[a] U.S. judge’s ruling striking down a federal law that bans licensed federal firearms dealers from selling handguns to young adults under 21 is the latest example of how a landmark Supreme Court decision is transforming the legal landscape around firearms.”

• In Washington, D.C., “[t]he House voted 232 -198 Wednesday evening to pass a bill that would allow federal law enforcement officers to buy retired weapons from their agencies.”