Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives

Interested public.

No words today,

Sam

• In Geneva, “UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet…condemned the killing of George Floyd, an African American man whose death in police custody on Monday was captured on video and has led to serious ongoing protests in Minneapolis:
  
  ‘This is the latest in a long line of killings of unarmed African Americans by US police officers and members of the public[.] …The US authorities must take serious action to stop such killings, and to ensure justice is done when they do occur. Procedures must change, prevention systems must be put in place, and above all police officers who resort to excessive use of force should be charged and convicted for the crimes committed.’”
  
  
• Relatedly, in the United States:
  
  
  • In 2020, “[U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota] MacDonald, when asked why an average citizen would have been arrested either at the scene or much earlier than the early evening hours of Thursday, said that the possible defendants’ roles as police officers added a complicated legal wrinkle. Because officers can use force while making arrests and enjoy some legal privileges that ordinary citizens do not enjoy, the case was more complicated and required additional analysis and review[.]”
    
    
  • In 2014, writing for the New York Times opinion section, two Harvard Law 3Ls observed that “ERIC GARNER was not the first American to be choked by the police, and he will not be the last, thanks to legal rules that prevent victims of police violence from asking federal courts to help stop deadly practices…Public indignation about police violence should be directed not only at the grand juries and prosecutors that fail to vindicate victims of police violence, but also at the legal rules that enabled this violence in the first place. The law shouldn’t just serve to punish past conduct: It should also drive reform.”
    
    
  • In 1983, Thurgood Marshall noted, in dissent, that “THE CHIEF JUSTICE asked in Bivens v. Six Unknown Fed. Narcotics Agents, 403 U. S. 388, 403 U. S. 419 (1971) (dissenting opinion), “what would be the judicial response to a police order authorizing shoot to kill’ with respect to every fugitive”? His answer was that it would be “easy to predict our collective wrath and outrage.” Ibid. We now learn that wrath and outrage cannot be translated into an order to cease the unconstitutional practice, but only an award of damages to those who are victimized by the practice and live to sue, and to the survivors of those who are not so fortunate. Under the view expressed by the majority today, if the police adopt a policy of “shoot to kill,” or a policy of shooting 1 out of 10 suspects, the federal courts will be powerless to enjoin its continuation.”

Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives

Hello there, interested public! The news continues to pour in, shaking the windows and rattling the walls. Major stories this week include student loans, in which the Democratic caucus released a debt relief proposal as part of the HEROES Act only to amend their proposal two days later, significantly reducing their proposed forgiveness. In civil access to justice, reporting from DC highlighted the stark difference in FEMA’s efforts to provide legal services during the pandemic, compared with its approach to other disasters. In the legislative branch, a bipartisan group of Representatives proposed a civil Gideon bill. Meanwhile, on the criminal side, legal authorities in Colorado and Massachusetts highlighted a vacuum of authority when considering decarceration as a public health measure. And the Michigan legislature cancelled its session in the face of armed opposition.

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

Stay well,

Sam

Bar Exam Changes

• In Connecticut, “[f]aced with hundreds of Connecticut law school graduates not able to take the state bar examination in July due to COVID-19-related disruptions, the Rules Committee of Superior Court has approved recommendations to loosen guidelines to allow students to make court presentations—in some instances—without a supervising attorney present.”
  • Note: There are many stories of this nature across the United States at the moment. The National Conference of Bar Examiners is working to keep track of these changes on a consolidated page; you can find a link to this page and other COVID-19 national survey materials at www.psjd.org/covid19

Remote Court Practice & Lawmaking

• Writing for The Marshall Project, a public defender with the Kentucky Department of Advocacy noted that as court procedures move online standards for due process are suffering:

  “[t]here is no virtual substitute for many of [our] duties. As a result, we now can accomplish only the bare minimum, namely emergency hearings and arraignments (those first court appearances). What isn’t happening in many counties are competency hearings at which we would argue that a client is not being properly evaluated by mental-health professionals. Hearings for mitigation specialists that might show that a client has faced trauma are on hold because we cannot obtain records from closed schools and social-service agencies. Drug and veterans courts are closed too. And we can’t have trials, because it would be impossible to convene a jury or to subpoena witnesses to appear with current social distancing rules.All the while, the bar for “justice” constantly gets lowered.”

• Across the United States, “[m]any state and local governments…have suspended public records requirements amid the coronavirus pandemic, denying or delaying access to information that could shed light on key government decisions.”
• In Washington DC, “[t]he Senate came one vote short Wednesday of approving a proposal to prevent federal law enforcement from obtaining internet browsing information or search history without seeking a warrant.”
• In Palo Alto CA, leaders of the Center on the Legal Profession at Stanford Law School argued that “[t]his pandemic underscores the need to assist millions of individuals and small businesses through greater innovation in legal services.”

Rule of Law

• In Michigan, the state “closed down its capitol in Lansing on Thursday and canceled its legislative session rather than face the possibility of an armed protest and death threats against Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer.”
• In Washington DC, “[t]he presiding judge in Michael Flynn’s criminal case has appointed a retired judge to present arguments in opposition to the Justice Department’s move to dismiss its prosecution of the former national security adviser.”

Pro Bono Response

• In Oklahoma, Katie Dilks, Executive Director of the Oklahoma Access to Justice Foundation (and former PSJD Fellow), and Michael Figgins, ED of Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma, reported that “[t]he foundation is working with partners across the state to launch a statewide pro bono portal where lawyers can connect with volunteer opportunities, both in their communities and across the state.”
• In Tennessee, “Legal Aid of East Tennessee (LAET) has announced the launch of Pro Bono Matters on its website[.] Pro Bono Matters offers volunteer attorneys the opportunity to express interest in specific cases, which will help LAET to achieve its mission of strengthening communities and changing lives through high-quality legal services.” You can find the new program here.
• In Central Islip NY, “Touro law school [h]as established a helpline to answer legal questions arising from the pandemic. Volunteer attorneys will provide referrals to [Touro’s] own clinic program and appropriate legal partners[.]”
• In New York NY, “[m]ore than 150 Columbia Law School students are working with faculty on pro bono projects: They are guiding small-business owners through the federal Paycheck Protection Program loan process, supporting public defenders working to win the release of prisoners vulnerable to COVID-19, and finding crucial resources for unemployed workers and immigrants.”

Student Loans & Student Debt

• In Washington DC, “[j]ust two days after releasing the Heroes Act, House Democrats [] released an amendment to the bill. The original bill called for $10,000 in student loan cancellation for all borrowers and a suspension of student loan payments through September 30, 2021. This new amendment scales back the proposed student loan forgiveness.”
• Also in Washington DC, “Senate education committee Chairman Lamar Alexander on Tuesday said, ‘interest rates on new federal student loans will drop to historic lows on July 1.’ …The interest rate on undergraduate loans will be 2.75 percent for the 2020-2021 school year, down from 4.53 percent in the 2019-2020 school year. The interest rate on loans for graduate students will be 4.3 percent (down from 6.08 percent) and for PLUS loans for parents and graduates will be 5.3 percent (down from 7.08 percent).”
• Also also in Washington DC, “[r]esponding to a lawsuit from the National Students Legal Defense Network, DeVos noted that her agency instructed nearly 37,500 employers to halt the practice Monday. Over the weekend, it assured some 83,500 borrowers in default that their wages would not be garnished.” Overall, “[a]bout 54,000 workers had their wages garnished as of May 7. This is about 14% of the 390,000 Americans who saw March wages garnished.”
• In Wisconsin, We are Green Bay described the efforts of the state’s Student Debt Task Force, created in January, which “will meet eight times in the coming months, with a goal of submitting a series of recommendation to the governor to deal with student debt, which he will include in his next biennial budget.”
• In New York NY, Judge Ramos of the Southern District of New York “ruled he will allow full discovery” in a suit by New York State against “the Federal Education Department’s sole-source contractor FedLoan Servicing…for ‘failing miserably in its administration of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness [sic].” The docket for this ongoing case is available here.
• Benefits Pro reported that under the CARES Act, “[e]mployers can now help their employees pay down student debt faster and save a significant amount of money on student loan interest.”

Non-Profit & Gov’t Management & Hiring

• In Washington, “[u]nprecedented job losses and furloughs have pushed millions of Americans to the brink of eviction during the coronavirus pandemic, but the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the White House have failed to fund a legal assistance program that is routinely available to disaster survivors.”
• In Kentucky, the “court system will impose a statewide hiring freeze and suspend out-of-state travel to reduce expenses as the coronavirus drives down revenues, the state’s chief justice said.”
  • Note: There are many stories of this nature across the United States at the moment. NALP is working to keep track of news related to this issue on a consolidated page; you can find a link to this page and other COVID-19 national survey materials at www.psjd.org/covid19
• In Washington DC, “the nation’s charitable nonprofits strongly urge[d] leaders in both the House and Senate to take swift action to ensure that nonprofits of all sizes receive critical relief so they can continue to serve their communities through the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.”
• In British Columbia, “non-profit organizations say they’re at risk due to pandemic restrictions, with 15-19% saying they face closure and 23% saying they might not last another six months.”
• In Edmonton AB, “a University of Alberta law professor…raised more than $120,000 for his 100 Interns Project through online seminars, direct employment donations, and financial contributions.”
• In the United States, Government Executive reported that “the federal government lags when it comes to attracting Generation Z tech talent.”
• In Canada, “[t]he economic fallout from the coronavirus has cut off scores of young Canadians from summer jobs and internships, which usually help them bridge gaps between tuition payments.”

Immigration, Refugee & Citizenship Issues

• In Montgomery County MD, “[a] nonprofit group has filed a federal lawsuit against Montgomery County seeking to prevent local officials from distributing COVID-19 relief funds to people living in the country illegally.”
• In Cambridge MA, Forbes profiled “Immigrants Like Us (ILU)[,] a new nonprofit based out of Harvard University’s Innovation Lab.” Its founder describes its mission as one “to democratize access to legal information for low-income immigrants.”

Access to Justice – Criminal & Decarceration

• In Massachusetts, “Supreme Court Chief Justice Ralph Gants had a question for attorneys who argued Thursday that some state agencies should not be named in a lawsuit seeking to release more prisoners because of COVID-19. ‘We’ve got the governor saying, `Not my problem, I shouldn’t be ordered to do something.` We’ve got the Department of Correction saying, `We manage the prisons, the only thing we’re involved with is medical parole,` and now we’ve got the parole board saying that it’s not their problem. So who’s supposed to do it?’ Gants asked during Thursday’s SJC hearing on a class action lawsuit seeking to reduce the number of people incarcerated to stem the spread of the coronavirus behind bars.”
• In Aurora CO, the Colorado Sentinel reported on how efforts to release municipal offenders to slow the spread of the pandemic highlighted a vacuum in legal authority: “City Attorney Dan Brotzman…wrote in an email…citing a bevy of case law [that] ‘in Colorado and across the country, it is clear that a commutation or pardon of a municipal ordinance violation cannot be performed under the executive power of the governor, nor of any city official, unless that power is granted to that official. Under the Colorado Constitution,…the governor is provided that specific power…only for state crimes, not convictions for ordinance violations.’“
  • Note: There are many stories of this nature across the United States at the moment. The Prison Policy Initiative is working to keep track of news related to this issue on a consolidated page; you can find a link to this page and other COVID-19 national survey materials at www.psjd.org/covid19
• In Chicago IL, University of Chicago News covered the experience of students in the law school’s Federal Criminal Justice Clinic, which executed “a quick pivot…as the coronavirus pandemic took hold [and] urgent needs emerged in the federal criminal justice system just as other clinic projects were postponed.”
• In Louisiana, “public defenders face steep financial challenges as the coronavirus rages on, forcing leaders to declare an emergency shortfall in funding this week. The outbreak has shuttered courthouses across the state, halting the flow of user fines and fees that account for about half of the Louisiana Public Defender Board’s budget.”

Access to Justice – Civil & Economic

• In Washington, “Two Republicans, Reps. Susan Brooks of Indiana and Fred Upton of Michigan, and thirteen other Democrats, including Reps. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Jerrold Nadler of New York, have so far co-sponsored [a] resolution [from Rep. Joe Kennedy III], which aims to provide counsel in civil proceedings tied to ‘health, safety, family, shelter or sustenance’ for those who otherwise could not afford or access it.”
• In California, the “State Bar voted Thursday to form a group to study launching an experimental ‘sandbox’ to come up with innovative ways to give more people access to legal services, which could include relaxing rules regarding the unauthorized practice of law and nonlawyer ownership of firms.”
• In Southern California, “[t]hree…cities have received letters threatening lawsuits if they don’t repeal eviction bans enacted to protect out-of-work or ill renters during the coronavirus pandemic. Two of the cities–Upland and La Verne–repealed their bans after getting the letters.”
  • Meanwhile, in New York, “[m]any of those unable to pay monthly rent or mortgage payments are at the mercy of the state and federal governments as the potential for mass evictions looms when the pandemic subsides.”
• In Missouri, “Legal Services of Eastern Missouri has expanded its services to help people with the unemployment benefits application process.”

Criminal Justice Reform

We are pleased to announce that the 2019-2020 PSJD Pro Bono Publico Award Winner is Leslie Alvarez, a 3L at St. Mary’s University School of Law. NALP confers this honor each year to a law student whose extraordinary commitment to law-related public service work contributes to the overall growth of pro bono culture within their law school and their broader community.

Last fall, after much deliberation, we selected five finalists from among the students nominated for this award. In addition to our winner, we have also selected one student to honor as a Merit Distinction finalist. Leslie Alvarez received her award at a meeting of NALP’s Public Service Section held via videoconference last week.

Our winner, Merit Distinction finalist, and other finalists are highlighted below. Thank you to our impressive pool of nominees for the valuable work each of you do for your communities.

You can read more about each of these outstanding students by following the links below to individual blog posts from earlier this year highlighting their achievements.

WINNER: Leslie Alvarez | St. Mary’s University School of Law

Ultimately, we selected Alvarez as our 2019-2020 PSJD Pro Bono Publico Award winner for her work fostering pro bono opportunities for her classmates at St. Mary’s — to the benefit of the San Antonio community broadly. In the words of one of Alvarez’ supervising attorneys:

In my 20 years of practice I have never worked with a law student who is such a doer….Leslie approached my law firm to partner with St. Mary’s Law School on a clinic for young people with disabilities. That by itself was exciting but more so was her follow through: she immediately set up a meeting of interested stakeholders, took charge of recruiting fellow law students, identified community partners to hose the clinic, coordinated multiple trainings, and conducted outreach to parents and students with disabilities. When the first clinic had low turnout, she immediately started brainstorming on solutions and realized we needed a broader outreach network. The second clinic was the most successful my law firm has hosted in our history of doing guardianship alternative work and it is because of Leslie’s dedication.

Statement of Support for the Nomination of Leslie Alvarez;
2019-2020 PSJD Pro Bono Publico Award

Congratulations Leslie!

Merit Distinction Finalist: Ming Tanigawa-Lau | UCLA Law

Although the award ultimately went to another student, the Award Committee wanted to take time additionally to call attention to the exemplary work of Ming Tanigawa-Lau, a 2L at UCLA Law. Tanigawa-Lau has played an instrumental role organizing students’ pro bono efforts to assist asylum seekers in Tijuana. In the words of a postgraduate fellow who worked with Tanigawa-Lau:

As a 1L board member, Ming was an amazing asset to the student group, Law Students for Immigrant Justice (LSIJ) last year. She spent her school breaks volunteering with detained asylum-seeking women and children in Dilly Texas, as well as migrants in Tijuana, Mexico…Ming also created opportunities for other law students to get involved in immigrant justice work[.]

Statement of Support for the Nomination of Ming Tanigawa-Lau;
2019-2020 PSJD Pro Bono Publico Award

Congratulations Ming!

Other Finalists

Finally, the Award Committee wants to recognize one more time the achievement of the other finalists for the 2019-2020 PSJD Pro Bono Publico Award:

• Ashley De La Garza | St. Mary’s University School of Law
  Outstanding dedication to criminal justice reform.
• Chelsea Reese | University of Georgia School of Law
  Pro bono work on behalf of children and vicitms of domestic violence.
• Emily Holland | Pepperdine Caruso School of Law
  Human rights work, internationally and domestically.

Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives

Hello there, interested public! The days remain packed, even as we all stay at home. Some major stories include a decision to restrict the New York bar exam to people who graduated from law school in New York, a judicial opinion out of Ontario suggesting that courts may not want to return to in-person appearances under some circumstances, a decision in New Jersey to allow out-of-state-licensed lawyers to provide temporary, supervised pro bono assistance, and a lawsuit alleging that Secretary DeVos has illegally continued to garnish the wages of student debtholders after the CARES Act suspended this practice.

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

Stay well,

Sam

State Bar Exams

• In New York, “[b]ecause of space concerns related to the novel coronavirus pandemic, the New York bar exam will now be administered at law schools there. And for now, applications are limited to people who graduated in the state.”
  • Relatedly, “deans at 21 top law schools across the country fired off a joint letter saying that ‘the news of your approach has fallen hard on the many students who had planned to sit for the bar in New York,’ adding that they were worried that the ‘resulting delay in the exam’s administration and admission to practice will fall hardest on the most economically vulnerable” and those who may not be able to stay in the country.’ “

Remote Court Practice & Lawmaking

• In Ontario, “[a] judge said [while dismissing a lawyers’ objections to proceeding through a video-conference mini-trial] ‘we should not be going back’ to costly personal attendance in court, comparing it to writing with a quill and ink.”
• Also in Ontario, Barry Leon continued his series for The Lawyers’ Daily on lessons learned from the application of technology to court proceedings in the province.
• In Oneida County NY, “[t]he DA’s office…has put together a memo [for the courts] on how to move forward and do business while minimizing the risk of becoming sick.”
• In Arkansas, the state “Supreme Court issued [for] guidelines once in-person appearances resume in the courts.”
• In Chicago IL, “a group of lawyers has stepped in to offer free legal advice with the help of an artificial-intelligence powered chat bot.” The site is rentervention.com.
• In the United States, “[t]echnology companies helping to fight the coronavirus are policing themselves to protect consumer data in the absence of a comprehensive U.S. statute and only a few state privacy laws.”

Voting Rights

• The Tuscon Weekly reported that “[i]n n an April report that warns of the risks of fraud in mail-in voting, a conservative legal group significantly inflated a key statistic…[A]fter ProPublica provided evidence to PILF that it had in fact doubled the official government numbers, the organization corrected its figure.”

Rule of Law

• At The Hague, “the International Criminal Court is moving forward with investigations into the situation in Afghanistan.”
• In Washington DC, “[o]ne of the lead prosecutors in the case against former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn has stepped down, as the U.S. Justice Department moves to dismiss the charges.”

Pro Bono Response

• In New Jersey, the state “Supreme Court has issued an order to allow attorneys not licensed in New Jersey to provide temporary, supervised pro bono assistance to individuals and small businesses impacted by the novel coronavirus pandemic.”
• In Chicago IL, “[t]he American Bar Association is unveiling a new online portal designed to better connect pro bono attorneys with individuals and families who need free legal services because of the national COVID-19 emergency.” You can access this portal here.
• In Kentucky, “[l]egal aid societies statewide have launched free training for lawyers who agree to provide pro-bono work in exchange for specialized training on the civil issues Kentuckians are expected to need the most help with.” The initiative, “Together Lawyers Can”, is available at this link.
• In New York, “[a]lmost two years after the New York Workers’ Compensation Board approved rules to allow law students and interns to represent injured workers in medical-only claims, the program has gone nowhere, leaving many workers to represent themselves.”
• In Massachusetts, “Safety Net Project Director Julie McCormack and the students working with her on criminal record sealing (a mostly administrative process before the Massachusetts Probation Service) have taken advantage of the enforced slow-down brought about by COVID19 to develop audio-visual self-help materials for veterans and others seeking to remove the stigma of long ago involvement in the criminal justice system.”

Student Loans & Student Debt

• In Washington DC, “[s]tudent loan borrowers have filed a lawsuit against Education Secretary Betsy DeVos for allegedly illegal wage garnishments…[as n]early six weeks after the effective date of the CARES Act and the associated mandated suspension of collections, however, the Department of Education has allegedly continued to garnish the wages of some defaulted student loan borrowers.”
• Also in Washington DC, “Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) has proposed new legislation to delay federal student loan payments for new college graduates for up to three years. The [] Act would apply to anyone who graduates college from January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020. Interestingly, the proposed legislation would empower the Secretary of Education (who is currently Betsy DeVos) – not Congress – to extend eligibility to anyone who graduates in 2021 or 2022[.]”
• Business Insider published a guide to which student loans qualify for forebearance under the CARES Act.

Non-Profit & Gov’t Management & Hiring

• The consultancy Bridgespan and Echoing Green, “an organization that invests in and provides support for leaders of emerging social enterprises,” released a report finding that “[o]rganizations led by people of color win less grant money and are trusted less to make decisions about how to spend those funds than groups with white leaders[.]”
• In Arizona, “[t]he Alliance of Arizona Nonprofits, an advocacy group representing more than 20,000 nonprofits, estimates the state’s nonprofit sector has already lost more than $40 million due to the COVID-19 pandemic and anticipates a $433 million loss be year’s end.”
• In the United States, “[a]lthough it remains unclear when or if the United States will effectively “flatten the curve” of the coronavirus outbreak, federal agencies appear poised to begin calling at least some employees back to the office in the coming weeks.”
• In Washington DC, “[a] new bill in the House would ensure that federal workers who cannot take vacation this year due to the coronavirus pandemic and end up exceeding annual limits on how much time off can carry over from year to year. would not lose their paid leave.”

Immigration, Refugee & Citizenship Issues

• In New Mexico and Texas, detained immigrants “are barred from placing free, private calls to their attorneys, hindering their access to counsel and robbing them of attorney-client confidentiality, a new lawsuit in New Mexico federal court alleges.”
• In Cambridge MA, “Harvard Law School immigration experts said a recent executive order suspending immigration to the United States will especially harm young children and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients.”

Access to Justice – Criminal & Decarceration

• The Appeal commented on how state bar exam delays may impact indigent accused persons’ access to justice: “what will happen to the marginalized—and Gideon’s mandate—when an entire class of public defenders cannot begin their jobs as scheduled in the fall of 2020?”
• In Missouri, “[s]even judges have been dismissed from a lawsuit over Missouri’s public defender wait lists. Circuit Judge William Hickle ruled the judges were not necessary parties to the lawsuit, which seeks to end the use of wait lists for public defenders.”
• In New York, the Legal Aid Society filed a lawsuit “argu[ing] that…[named] inmates particularly vulnerable to COVID-19 because of their race and pre-existing medical conditions [should be released immediately].”
• In New Mexico, the state “Supreme Court…denied a request to hasten the release of some inmates from prisons across the state to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus.”

Access to Justice – Civil & Economic

• In Washington DC, “[t]he Legal Services Corporation’s Board of Directors will meet remotely on Tuesday, May 19, 2020…Unless otherwise noted herein, the Board meeting will be open to public observation.”
• In Charlottesville VA, “[the] Legal Aid Justice Center call[ed] Governor Northam’s pending decision to begin reopening the state’s closed businesses “reckless”. Executive Director Angela Ciolfi told Morning News Virginia is nowhere near where [the state] need[s] to be in terms of testing capacity and contact tracing in order to make the move.”
• In Utah, the state Bar Foundation “has released a report addressing the unmet legal needs of lower-income Utahns. The report…highlights the civil legal needs of the roughly 26% of Utah’s population living at or below 200% of the federal poverty guidelines.” The full report is available here.
• In Washington DC, “[f]ederal relief aid in the CARES Act was supposed to ensure the country’s indigenous peoples were not forgotten. Instead, tribes have been embroiled in a legal fight with the Trump administration over attempts to send the money to for-profit Native corporations in Alaska. While a federal judge sided with the tribes last week, the U.S. Treasury Department has yet to release any of the funds…[w]hen the money finally does flow…Native Hawaiians won’t see any of it.”
• In South Carolina, “legal experts said…in the weeks and months ahead, they expect a deluge of renters and homeowners who will be unable to keep up with payments.”
• In San Francisco CA, “Mayor London Breed received a demand letter…insisting she follow the Board of Supervisors’ unanimously passed ordinance to procure 8,250 hotel rooms and put vulnerable homeless people in some 7,000 of them.”
• In New York NY, local reporting argued that “[a]mid this pandemic, it is imperative that New York City expands the Right to Counsel law by increasing legal capacity to meet the inevitable COVID-19 eviction demand, and, building on this model, establish a new initiative to provide free legal representation to vulnerable small businesses.”

Criminal Justice Reform

The Organization

ECPAT-USA (End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes – USA Office) is a U.S.-based nonprofit policy organization that strices to end the commercial sexual exploitation of children. ECPAT-USA’s work focuses on efforts in awareness, advocacy, policy, and legislation. ECPAT-USA achieves its mission by promoting corporate responsibility, educating first responders and citizens, and empowering youth, and advocating for state and federal policy to end the sexual exploitation of children.

The Position

ECPAT-USA seeks a law student intern to remotely assist in the preparation of a report on state and local anti-trafficking regulations pertaining to the hospitality industry. The student will contribute research and writing to a report that will be distributed to advocates, policy-makers, and businesses seeking to comply with changes in the legal landscape.

For application instructions, see the full post on PSJD: https://www.psjd.org/job?OppID=101249

Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives

Hello there, interested public! News continues to be big, keeping pace with world events. Major stories come from the ABA, which is recommending state bars develop paths to practice for graduates unable to take the bar exam because of the pandemic, Suffolk Law, which has launched a volunteer initiative to design internet-friendly court forms, and the 11th Circuit, which overturned a motion to dismiss in a case brought by student debtholders “alleging they were given false information about whether their student loans would be forgiven when they worked in public-service jobs.” Also, a coalition of states is developing to negotiate for student debtholder protections and accommodations, and the LSC briefed the legal aid community on its response to the pandemic.

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

Stay well,

Sam

Remote Court Practice & Lawmaking

• In Ontario, MPP Doug Downey spoke about the province’s work “rapidly updating procedures and creating policies to physically shut down courthouses and allow wider use of virtual hearings”: “ ‘We’ve modernized the legal system by about 25 years in 25 days. It’s really quite phenomenal the work that’s been done‘[.]”
• In New York, “executive orders have been issued to facilitate not only remote notarization, but now also remote witnessing.”
• Also in New York, after “ the state’s judiciary…successfully implemented a statewide ‘virtual court’ system this month[, ]…representatives of poor and moderate-income communities across the state say they’re concerned for underserved clients who may have trouble getting connected.”
• In Boston MA, “a group of students and staff members at Suffolk University Law School…organize[d] an assembly line of volunteers to design mobile-friendly court forms and assist lawyerless people with their filings. Court officials are sharing relevant documents with Suffolk’s Legal Innovation & Technology Lab, which parcels out the tasks based on volunteers’ skills.”
  • More information on this project is available here: https://suffolklitlab.org/doc-assembly-line/
• In Philadelphia PA, DA Larry Krasner’s office “propos[ed] that the city courts establish a Zoom court where hearings could be held virtually.”
• Relatedly, Law.com discussed how “[p]eople all over..awaiting their ‘day in court’..simply have to wait[, and in] types of matters where individual liberties are at stake or safety is at issue, delays can result in life-altering consequences.”
• In Hennepin County MN, “County District Judge Martha Holton Dimick appeared for hearings Monday via telephone, bucking mandates issued by the county’s chief judge and state Chief Justice Lorie Skjerven Gildea.”
• In Washington DC, “[d]ozens of former congressional members [hosted] a mock remote hearing Thursday to spotlight how Congress can continue its work online during the global coronavirus pandemic.”
  • Relatedly, “Congress Consider[ed] Remote Voting, but Tradition (and Law) Pose a Challenge.”

Pro Bono Response

• In New Haven CT, three Yale law students founded The Coronavirus Stimulus Pledge, an initiative “to encourage financially stable people to donate their stimulus checks to charity.”
• In New York, “Governor Andrew Cuomo has called upon the pro bono network formed by the New York State court system and the New York State Bar Association to help jobless New Yorkers.”

Student Loans & Student Debt

• In Florida, “[a] federal appeals court [] cleared the way for a lawsuit in which two Florida women allege they were given false information about whether their student loans would be forgiven when they worked in public-service jobs.”
• In Massachusetts, New Jersey, Connecticut, Illinois, and Vermont, state governments “have announced that they are participating in a multi-state initiative to provide relief to borrowers whose student loans are not covered by the CARES Act through agreements with certain student loan servicers. Other states identified in the announcements that are also participating in the initiative are California, Colorado, Virginia, and Washington.”
• In Calfornia, Governor Newsom “said that 21 companies that service student loans will be granting [a] 90-day grace period on payments with no late fees. Newsom credited Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker for leading the effort to support borrowers who were not covered by debt forbearance in the $2.2 trillion federal…(CARES) Act.”
• In Washington DC, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) “called for any new stimulus package to include additional relief for student debt, stimulus money for high school and college students, and the creation of a federal program to give young people not bound for college the opportunity to earn a free, post-high school educational certificate.”
• Also in Washington DC, Sens. Warren (D-MA) & Brown (D-OH) proposed a consumer protection plan that included “[e]suring that private student borrowers are protected, just like federal student loan borrowers.” The plan also calls for “broad cancellation of student loan debt as a way to stimulate the economy as well as ‘ensure Americans don’t have a massive student debt load waiting for them on the other side of this emergency and help a generation of Americans who never fully recovered from our last economic crisis participate in stimulating our economy through this crisis.’ ”

Non-Profit & Gov’t Management & Hiring

• In Chicago IL, “[t]he American Bar Association is urging state licensing authorities to let 2019-20 law school graduates who can’t take the bar exam because of the coronavirus pandemic practice law under certain circumstances.”
  • Relatedly, the NCBE is charting accomodations various states are making to help graduates unable to take bar exams this summer because of COVID-19 delays and cancellations.
    (We link to this page and other useful materials at https://www.psjd.org/covid19)
• In Washington DC, house Democrats announced plans to “push for a number of additional protections for federal workers in future legislation aimed at combating the coronavirus pandemic, including hazard pay, expanded leave and telework, and reversing the Trump administration’s policies toward federal employee unions.”
• Also in Washington DC, “Senate Democrats announced a proposal to supplement the health care workforce through a massive outreach and training program, part of a larger effort to expand national service during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
• Also also in Washington DC, “more than 200 national nonprofit organizations [] sent a letter to congressional leadership, calling on them to include a “Nonprofit Track” in any future legislation that builds on the CARES Act.”
• In the United States, “[a] majority of federal employees say the novel coronavirus outbreak has had a “major” or “extreme” impact on their agencies’ operations, according to a new survey[.]”

Immigration, Refugee & Citizenship Issues

• In Washington DC, “President Trump [] signed a proclamation to temporarily suspend certain visas for foreigners seeking to move permanently to the U.S., decreeing that the admission of new immigrants would hurt American workers already struggling in an economy ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic.”
  • In response, the ACLU stated: “There are measured and productive approaches to curbing the spread of COVID-19, namely ensuring equal access to testing and treatment; releasing individuals from ICE and CBP detention; and suspending interior enforcement. Unfortunately, President Trump seems more interested in fanning anti-immigrant flames than in saving lives. We cannot allow President Trump to exploit this pandemic to advance his racism and xenophobia.”
  • Relatedly, in San Francisco CA, “[a] coalition of attorneys filed a class-action lawsuit Monday calling on Immigration and Customs Enforcement to release more than 400 immigrants from two California detention facilities amid coronavirus concerns.”

Access to Justice – Criminal & Decarceration

• In Washington DC, “[a] federal judge has ordered the DC Department of Corrections to take immediate steps to improve conditions at its jail to minimize the spread of the coronavirus among inmates and prison guards, according to a release from the ACLU of the District of Columbia.”
• Also in Washington DC, Senator Harris (D-CA) and Rep. Deutch (D-FL) “sent a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), and Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) pushing for more funding for public defenders during the COVID-19 crisis.”
• In Louisiana, “Public defenders…face uncertainty over the future of their jobs as the COVID-19 pandemic impacts a big source of their funding: traffic tickets.”
• In Ellis County TX, “[t]he Commissioners’ Court…agreed to establish a committee [that] will weigh whether a public defender’s office or a managed assigned counsel program is more appropriate for the county, and will report back to the Commissioners’ Court with recommendations before July 1.”

Access to Justice – Civil & Economic

• On the Internet, “[t]he Legal Serves Corporation held a virtual briefing on The COVID-19 Health Crisis, Civil Legal Needs, and State Courts (recording available via this link).
• Relatedly, the former Chief Justice of the Washington State Supreme Court warned that “the current crisis is generating a wave of needs that will overwhelm our legal-aid system[,]” avocating that “[s]ubstantial and sustained support for civil legal aid must be part of our government’s short- and long-term policy responses to COVID-19 at all levels. Emergency federal stimulus funding should be directed to boosting service capacity.”

The Organization

Public Rights Project is a nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating the gap between the values behind our laws and the lived realities of vulnerable communities across the U.S. Public Rights Project accomplishes its goals by lending support to state and local prosecutors offices to help them protect the core rights and freedoms of Americans. Staff and attorneys at Public Rights Project provide strategic planning support to boost policy enforcement in prosecutors offices and provide pro bono or low cost legal services to help partner agencies get the resources they need.

The Position

Public Rights Project seeks fellows to participate in a two-year fellowship placement with a partnering prosecutorial agency. Fellows will work along side practicing government attorneys to gain experience in affirmative litigation, community engagement, and policy research. Fellows will also have the opportunity to work on enforcement projects within their placement offices.

The ideal candidates will be passionate about public service, have active bar membership, and litigation experience.

See the full post on PSJD: https://www.psjd.org/job?OppID=90673

The Organization

Headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area, the Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting the lives and advancing the interests of animals through the legal system. ALDF staff and attorneys accomplish their goals through animal abuse lawsuits, policy efforts to strength and enforce anti-cruelty statutes, and public education. The ALDF also cultivates the future of animal law through its national student chapters.

The Positions

ALDF seeks second- and third-year law students to work remotely as law clerks this summer. ALDF is hiring clerks in three programs: Legislative Affairs, Pro Bono, and In-House Legal.

The Legislative Affairs clerk will work full-time researching policy issues; corresponding with supporters, partners, and officials; attending hearings and meetings; drafting campaign content; and delivering policy presentations. The ideal candidate will have excellent organization and communication skills and have the ability to use discretion when handling confidential materials.

The two Pro Bono Program clerks will work part-time to help develop ALDF’s pro bono network. The clerks will be responsible for researching law firms and attorneys; CLEs, events, and conferences; public requests for legal assistance; and resource content. The ideal candidates will be flexible and have a sincere interest in animal protection.

The In-House Counsel clerk will work part-time on internal and transactional legal issues related to ALDF’s daily functioning. The clerk will learn to negotiate contracts, monitor disclosures, research legal issues related to corporate governance and lobbying regulations, review and draft personnel policies, and more. The ideal candidate will be flexible and have a sincere interest in animal protections.

Read more about these opportunities on ALDF’s PSJD profile: https://www.psjd.org/org?OrgID=107597

The Organization

The Siracusa International Institute for Criminal Justice and Human Rights (Institute) is an Italian non-profit organization dedicated to education, training, and research in international and comparative criminal justice and human rights. The Institute is recognized by Decree of the Italian government and enjoys special consultative status with the United Nations. The Institute provides training and educational conferences and seminars that connect experts, practitioners, and attendees. The Institute has also published scholarly and scientific research on topics relating to international and comparative criminal law, human rights, and country-specific issues of criminal law and procedure.

The Position

The Siracusa International Institute for Criminal Justice and Human Rights seeks postgraduate ad hoc Researchers and Analysts (RAs) to contribute research, analysis, and data collection relating to international criminal justice. The work schedule is very flexible as RAs will work remotely and be offered assignments as they arise.

The ideal candidates will have a postgraduate qualification in law with an interest and experience in transnational crime, international criminal justice, and human rights. Candidates will also be independent, detail-oriented, and able to adhere to strict deadlines. Fluency in a language other than English is desirable.

See the full post on PSJD: https://www.psjd.org/job?OppID=101103

Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives

Hello there, interested public! Once again, the news is overwhelming. I’ve done my best to catalogue it for you all below. One big announcement: as major stories roll out everywhere concerning eviction moratoria, changes to court procedures, changes to policing and carceral policies, and government hiring freezes, we’ve collected resources that are working to centralize information on these stories as they develop in the PSJD resource center. This section of the resource center also includes links to student-driven pro bono projects that have sprung up in response to the pandemic.

As for the digest itself, you will still find some of the most prominent stories on these topics, but please refer to the PSJD resource page for materials that focus on them exclusively and that attempt to be comprehensive.

Major news this week includes reporting that analyzes the impact of last week’s $2.2 trillion CARES Act on student loan debt payments (and employer-driven student loan benefits). Also, you’ll find lawsuits challenging the ongoing detention of incarcerated individuals, whether as pretrial detainees, convicts, or detainees in ICE facilities. Additionally, there’s a new section looking at the growing pro bono response to the pandemic–and particularly at the areas into which lawyers are productively channelling their energies to address the crisis.

These stories and more are in the links below. As with last week, in each section news that is not related to the current crisis appears at the section’s end, separated from Coronavirus content with a horizontal line (—).

Stay well,

Sam

Editor’s Choice

• The ABA Journal reported on a statement from the President of the National Conference of Bar Examiners on how jurisdictions can adapt as the Class of 2020 confronts delays to various July Bar Exams: “ ‘It is not clear that it is imperative to quickly adopt alternative methods of licensure…particularly at a time when courts and bar admission offices are working overtime (and remotely) to respond to this crisis,’ NCBE President Judith Gundersen wrote in the statement.She added that extending or expanding student practice rules could help provide essential legal services on a temporary basis, but a period of supervised practice should not “necessarily” qualify someone for licensure.”

Remote Court Practice & Lawmaking

• In the UK, “Legal futurologist Professor Richard Susskind unveil[ed an] initiative to co-ordinate efforts to use technology to keep courts open.”
• In Canada, “[t]he Federal Court is continuing to hear all urgent matters, as well as exceptional matters, on a ‘case-by-case’ basis, by teleconference or videoconference according to the terms of its practice direction and order issued March 17, and the frequently asked questions (FAQs) on March 20, the court’s legal counsel, Andrew Baumberg has confirmed.”
• Also in Canada, former Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin wrote “to lend my voice to the growing list of practitioners, judges, academics and court users who are beseeching governments across Canada to see COVID-19 and the courts’ woeful inability to pivot as a wake-up call.”
• In Georgia, “the executive director of the Georgia Public Defender Council sent an urgent letter to Georgia’s criminal justice community [regarding] “[a] few local courts” across the state [] still requiring public defenders to appear personally at county jails before their clients could be released or their cases could proceed,… [and urging] he courts still requiring personal appearances…to implement alternatives ‘as soon as possible’ to limit the risk to lawyers, clients, court officers and incarcerated defendants.”
• In Wisconsin, “Governor Evers signed Assembly Bill 293 earlier this month, permitting parties in Wisconsin to allow the performance of notarial acts using audio-visual technology for remotely located individuals.”
• Worldwide, “Zoom’s ease of use, feature base, and free service tier have made it a go-to resource not only for all those office meetings that used to happen in conference rooms but also for teachers, religious services, and even governments. The widespread use, in turn, is shining a bright spotlight on Zoom’s privacy and data-collection practices, which apparently leave much to be desired.”
  • Notably, the article mentions that “Zoom does offer specific enterprise-level packages—Zoom for Education and Zoom for Healthcare—that have compliance with privacy law (FERPA and HIPAA, respectively) baked in. Many users in those fields, however, may be on the free tier or using individual or other types of enterprise licenses that don’t take these particular needs into consideration.”

Pro Bono Response

• In New York, “[t]he state bar association and court system said in a statement…that they are putting together a network of pro bono lawyers that can respond to legal issues arising out of the pandemic, especially those affecting people who can’t afford to hire an attorney.”
• Law360 discussed the “surging interest from…lawyers looking to tackle the flood of legal problems caused by the pandemic.”
• Law360 also covered “a few ways that lawyers can step up in a time of social distancing.”
• Law.com reported on “[Hogan Lovells] pro bono efforts [that] helped Patriots owner Bob Kraft use his team’s plane to secure 1.7 million N95 masks from China and guided Ford in a deal with GE Healthcare to produce 50,000 ventilators in 100 days.”
• In Baltimore MD, Warnken, LLC announced in a press release their firm “will represent​ healthcare workers or public safety employees exposed to COVID-19 at work pro bono.” They also mentioned that “Jim Lanier, attorney at Warnken, LLC, was primary drafter of a proposed new bill that would create a presumption under Maryland law that healthcare workers at COVID-19 facilities, and public safety employees, got COVID-19 at work. That bill is with government relations professionals actively seeking sponsorship.”
• In Miami FL, Law.com published a conversation with the Executive Director of Legal Services of Greater Miami about “3 Ways Lawyers Can Help Legal Services of Greater Miami Right Now”
• In Canada, CBC reported that “[w]aves of people concerned about COVID-19 are rushing to write or change their wills, but they’re running into a roadblock caused by the effort to curb the pandemic.” In response, the chair of the Canadian Bar Association’s Elder Law section and one of her partners at Loopstra Nixon are “trying [to] advance the law a little bit by obtaining a court order that says it’s OK to witness the will over the internet, whether it be Skype or Zoom or what-have-you[.]”

Student Loans & Student Debt

• Forbes advised that “this is probably one time when you’ll want to contact your student loan servicer.” The article also includes brief bullets on what to keep in mind about modifying your payments and contact information for various loan servicers.
  • Forbes also reported that “any federal student loan payments that you skip between now and September 30, 2020 will count toward the 120 required payments [for Public Service Loan Forgiveness]. While the Education Department or your student loan servicer may not yet have updated their websites (because the legislation is brand new), this benefit is part of the CARES Act and non-payment will not be treated like a regular forbearance. If you contact your student loan servicer and are told differently, rest assured (as frustrating as it may be) that the corrected information will be disseminated soon.”
    • More on this topic from Forbes.
    • Still more on this topic from Forbes.
    • Yet again more on this topic from Forbes.
  • Additionally, Forbes reported that “[n]ew guidance from the Department of Education showed a new benefit to student borrowers[:] In the questions and answers for student borrowers, the Department told borrowers who may have made a payment on or after March 13th that they can request a refund for their student loan payment. Borrowers must contact their student loan servicer to receive this refund.”
• Meanwhile, “the Education Department as of Wednesday still had outdated information on its own site, leaving borrowers confused about what help is available as the financial impact of the coronavirus outbreak takes hold.”
• 401k Specialist Mag reported that “[t]he $2.2 trillion Cares [sic] Act…includes a new student loan repayment benefit for employees that can help them start saving for retirement earlier. Under the provision, an employer may contribute up to $5,250 annually toward an employee’s student loans, and such payment would be excluded from the employee’s income. The $5,250 cap applies to both the new student loan repayment benefit as well as other educational assistance (e.g., tuition, fees, books) provided by the employer under current law.”
• Bloomberg reported on “terms of the [student loan] garnishment suspension [that] may confuse employers as the Education Department refines details of the program authorized by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which was signed March 27 by President Donald Trump.”

Non-Profit & Gov’t Management & Hiring

• In Washington DC, “[i]n an effort to continue federal hiring activities but observe social distancing recommendations, the Office of Personnel Management advised agencies to virtually or remotely onboard new employees.”
• Also in Washington DC, “[a] group of five federal workers and the nation’s largest federal employee union last week filed a class action lawsuit against the Trump administration, arguing that federal employees exposed to the novel coronavirus through their jobs are owed hazardous duty pay.”
• The NonProfit Times reported on “7 ways the CARES Act Financial Supports Nonprofits”
• Philanthropy.com published a letter to the editor urging “professional advisers (including me) to step up to assist the organizations that rely largely upon philanthropy for survival…I make my living in the courts — including the Bankruptcy Court. In my opinion, the courts will not be very friendly to creditors, lenders, or landlords that declare defaults or seek to exercise remedies against customers or tenants whose business has been honestly stricken by the pandemic. That is particularly true for nonprofit organizations.”
• Vice.com interviewed “people who graduated during the last economic session[, who] believe there are some aspects of their experience to which the class of 2020 will be able to relate.”

Immigration, Refugee & Citizenship Issues

• In Washington DC, “[t]he federal docket…is quickly becoming a hotbed for litigation seeking to force officials to protect detained immigrants and inmates during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
• In the United States, the American Immigration Lawyers Association, the National Association of Immigration Judges, and AFGE #511 (ICE Professionals Union) called for the “Immediate Closure of All Immigration Courts”
• Also in the United States, “[t]housands of people with legal status in the United States could inadvertently violate immigration law over the next few months, as the government agency that processes applications remains closed due to the coronavirus pandemic.”
• In Portland OR, the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Innovation Law Lab, and Perkins Coie LLP “s[ought] a temporary restraining order mandating that immigration courts take appropriate measures to protect immigrants, attorneys, court staff and the public from COVID-19 without endangering the rights of people in removal proceedings.”
• In Boston MA, “the Worker & Immigrant Rights Advocacy Clinic (WIRAC) at Yale Law School joined the Boston-based Lawyers for Civil Rights (LCR) and the Brazilian Worker Center in filing a class action lawsuit against Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson, Bristol County Superintendent Steven Souza, and top federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials. The complaint alleges that the dozens of detainees like Ceballos who are held in civil immigration detention at Bristol are at undue risk of contracting and suffering from the novel coronavirus.“
• In San Bernardino CA, “A federal judge has ordered the release of two detainees from the Adelanto ICE facility…due to the coronavirus pandemic.”
• In Alabama, Connecticut Public Radio interviewed “[o]ne Connecticut resident who’s being held by ICE in an Alabama county jail” about his conditions of detention.”
• Quartz.com reminded its readers that just last year “the American Association of Medical Colleges…warned in an amicus brief to the US Supreme Court of a severe shortage in healthcare professionals nationwide [and] explained that the country now very much relies on more than 27,000 grown children of undocumented immigrants in healthcare and medicine, authorized to work under an Obama-era program introduced in 2012, called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).”

Access to Justice – Criminal & Decarceration

• In Washington DC, “[t]he federal docket…is quickly becoming a hotbed for litigation seeking to force officials to protect detained immigrants and inmates during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
• In California, the California Public Defenders’ Association strongly criticized the orders of the state’s Chief Justice extending deadlines for preliminary hearings, trials, and other time periods specified in court procedures as actions “taken without and [sic] regard for, or any mention of, the extensive written objections that CPDA and many other criminal defense and civil liberties groups submitted to the Chief Justice and the Judicial Council in response to their request[.]”
  • Relatedly, in Santa Barbara County, the County Public Defender’s Office filed “a writ of habeas corpus…with the state’s Second Appellate District Court on behalf of several inmates who challenge the Superior Court’s current policy of suspending the vast majority of court matters, including bail hearings for pretrial detainees.”
• Relatedly, Slate published a Maryland attorney’s account of “What It’s Like to Be a Public Defender Right Now”: “Our work, by its nature, necessitates contact…Through remote lawyering, we can prepare most of our cases, sure. But we cannot fully advocate for clients, especially under the limited and ever-shrinking capacity in which Maryland courts are now operating. Basically, under the current regime, defendants can plead guilty, but if a client wants to profess his innocence, the case is postponed (likely without a hearing). In an environment where sitting in jail could, in itself, result in serious illness or death, a system that was already heavily weighted toward guilty pleas has only become more so when, in some cases, clients have options of going home on probation or languishing indefinitely in jail awaiting trial.”
• In Washington DC, “[t]he ACLU and DC Public Defender Service accuse the city of a flagrant disregard for the well-being of prisoners in the DC Jail in a federal lawsuit they have filed against the city.”
• In Saskatchewan, “[t]he John Howard Society of Saskatchewan is urging to [sic] province to quickly implement measures to reduce the further spread of COVID-19 in prisons.”
• In US Federal prisons, “inmates will be confined to their cell or quarters for the next two weeks as a part of efforts to stem the spread of the coronavirus, the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) announced[.]…Criminal justice reform advocates criticized the Federal Bureau of Prisons’s move to confine inmates for an extended period. Scott Hechinger, a public defender in Brooklyn, tweeted that ‘solitary confinement is not a solution. Solitary confinement is torture.’ “
• In Honolulu HI, “Mayor Kirk Caldwell…objected to efforts to relieve overcrowding at Hawaii’s correctional facilities amid the coronavirus pandemic, claiming that ‘our prison could actually be the safest place in terms of COVID-19.’”

Access to Justice – Civil & Economic

• In the United States, “civil legal aid groups…now face an unprecedented crunch from all sides as the nation’s poor take the brunt of the faltering economy and skyrocketing unemployment numbers. The closure of businesses for social distancing will not only increase the number of people with those legal problems but also increase the number of people who qualify as low income.”
• In Canada, the National Self-Represented Litigants Project reported that “[m]any of those working on the front lines will tell you, like health care workers this week, that they feel like they have their finger in a dyke – of need and frustration – that could burst at any moment.”
• In Ontario, Legal Aid Ontario announced that “as part of our ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic, lawyers across Ontario may, temporarily, apply for legal aid on behalf of clients that are in custody, when clients cannot.”
• In New York NY, the Director of the family and matrimonial practice at Her Justice called attention to the difficulties the pandemic imposes on individuals attempting to escape domestic abuse: “[o]ne Her Justice client has already gotten word to her lawyers that they should not try to reach her by phone or email because she’s afraid her abuser, with whom she’s now cloistered at home, will see the messages, Diamanti said. Another client suspected that her partner was exposing their immunosuppressed child to COVID-19 but didn’t have sufficient facts to file an emergency petition.”
  • Relatedly, in Montgomery County TX, “the District Attorney’s Office reports an approximately 35% increase in domestic violence cases filed in March 2020 as were filed in the same time period in 2019. This rise may be due to increased isolation, stress, and more access to victims by perpetrators caused by the COVID-19 virus fallout.”