Organization

The Capital Appeals Project (CAP) is a non-profit law office based in New Orleans, Louisiana that provides capital appellate and post-conviction representation to indigent people on Louisiana’s death row. CAP provides high-quality representation in the state and federal courts throughout Louisiana, and acts as a resource to public defenders and criminal defense lawyers across the state. CAP attorneys have successfully represented clients in state district courts, the Louisiana Supreme Court, and the U.S. Supreme Court, which in turn has improved the quality and standards of representation for indigent capital defendants in Louisiana. We also represent a number of non-capital juvenile clients in proceedings implementing the recent Supreme Court decisions which limit life without parole sentences for juvenile offenders.

Position

CAP is seeking applicants for a one-year fellowship. The fellow will help represent defendants from the time they are sentenced to death through their direct appeal to the Louisiana Supreme Court and petition for certiorari to the United States Supreme Court, as well as in state post-conviction and federal habeas.

The fellow will be supervised by senior attorneys, and will have a substantial role in informing the litigation strategies, reviewing records, meeting with clients, conducting legal research, drafting appellate briefs, mooting oral arguments, and conducting investigation. The fellowship is potentially renewable for a second year.

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. The application deadline is February 15, 2019.

See the full post on PSJD: https://www.psjd.org/opportunitydetails?OppID=87956

Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives

Hello there, interested public! What a couple of weeks it has been. You can read all about them below, but in particular there is a lot of news about the ongoing government shutdown and student debt. In particular, you will find information below about how the shutdown may complicate student loan payments, the Department of Education’s advice for furloughed student debtholders, and an opportunity for free legal assistance to furloughed workers from the Indianapolis Bar. (If anyone knows of similar offers of similar opportunities elsewhere, please contact psjd@nalp.org and help us get the word out.)

One more thing: according to the ABA, today is the last day the U.S. Administrative Office of the Courts will be able to sustain paid operations.

See you around,
–Sam

Student Debt

• MarketWatch published advice for borrowers about potential “snags” they might encounter while paying student loans during the government shutdown.
  • Meanwhile, Teen Vogue reported on how the shutdown is stalling financial aid applications for students seeking federal loans.
• In Washington DC, US Rep. Elissa Slotkin wrote Secretary DeVos to urge her to “proactively communicate with borrowers the available options to refinance given the extenuating circumstances, and, where possible, extend special dispensation to federal employees who may not otherwise meet the criteria for refinancing.”
  • Meanwhile, the US Department of Education released this advice for federal employees managing their student loans during the shutdown.
• GovExec.com reported that “[a]fter the [CFPB] declined for the first time to release an annual ombudsman’s report on student complains about loan servicing,” LendEDU released its own version, using the CFPB’s prior methodology.
• The US Federal Reserve released a report entitled Can Student Loan Debt Explain Low Homeownership Rates for Young Adults? in which the authors “estimate that roughly 20 percent of the decline in homeownership among young adults can be attributed to their increased student loan debts since 2005.” (The report was covered in publications such as The Hill and CNBC.)
• The same US Federal Reserve publication included an article on “Rural Brain Drain” concluding that “[i]ndividuals with student loan debt are less likely to remain in rural araes than those without it,” and therefore “[w]ith students borrowing at higher rates and in larger amounts to pursue postsecondary education, student loan debt may play an increased role in the dynamics of urban-rural migration.”
  • Meanwhile, in Maine, the Bangor Daily News observed that “[t]oo often, the choice between staying in Maine and leaving for a job that will pay enough to cover student loan bills finds Maine on the losing side,” in an opinion piece arguing that “Maine lawmakers must again consider student debt relief.”
• Experian released a study reporting that “[s]tudent loan debt in the U.S. more than doubled in the past 10 years”, with the average per capita debt carried by borrowers having increased by 20% since 2015. “[T]he good news,” Experian says, “is that borrowers seem to be on the right track when making their monthly payments.”
  • Meanwhile, Fortune reported on a new survey by CreditCards.com finding that “1 in 5 millennials expect they’ll die in debt.”
• The LA Times reported that “[t]he Society for Human Resource Management…said more companies are offering to help recruits with student loans–but the value of the perk varies widely.“
• In Washington DC, MarketWatch reported that “[t]he US Department of Education is about to pilot test a new debit card for students who get federal student loans.” While the program could save students the risk of overdrafts and potentially other banking fees, the article’s author warns that “the acquisition of the students financial behavior data” may be very valuable for issuing banks, while providing small efficiencies that will not address the overall loan crisis.
  • Meanwhile, a poll by Politico and Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health found that “[r]oughly 87% of Democrats and 61% of Republicans said it would be ‘extremely important’ for Congress to find ways to decrease student debt.”
• The New York Times profiled Lambda School, an online learning start-up founded in 2017 that is experimenting with “Income Share Agreements” — a financial structure under which “students go to school for free and are required to pay back a percentage of their income after graduation, but only if they get a job with a good salary.“

Government Shutdown

• The Washington Post spoke with the Partnership for Public Service about the federal shutdown’s potential to instigate a “federal brain drain”…with drags on recruitment.“
  • NB: the Partnership for Public Service is maintaining its own running updates on the shutdown.
  • Meanwhile, Rachel Pauley, who oversees D.C. externships for Columbia Law School, spoke with the New York Law Journal on the effect the shutdown is having on law students with initial interest in government service.
• In Indianapolis, IN, “[f]urloughed workers in the Indianapolis area will have the opportunity to speak directly with an attorney on landlord/tenant, bankruptcy, mortgage, debtors rights and child support issues arising as a result of the shutdown at a special free legal advice program sponsored by the Indianapolis Bar Association on Tuesday, January 22 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.” If readers are aware of similar initiatives in their respective area, please write to psjd@nalp.org and help us get the word out!
• New York Magazine profiled the various tasks for which newly “essentialized” federal employees have been asked to return to work over the last several days, arguing that “the administration [is turning] furlough plans into Swiss cheese at the behest of lobbyists and Republican pols.“
  • In related news, Judge Randolph of the D.C. Circuit dissented from a decision denying a motion from government attorneys in Air Transport Ass’n of America v. FAA, arguing that “[t]he majority’s order in effect directs a government attorney to perform work unrelated to any ’emergencies involving the safety of human life or the protection of property’ and not otherwise ‘authorized by law’ in violation of the Anti-Deficiency Act. 31 U.S.C. s.1342.” Judge Randolph reviewed a recent decision to grant the government an extended briefing schedule in another case and concluded that “our circuit has not settled upon any principled way of deciding these stay motions.”
• NBC News provided a brief summary of federal workers’ rights when forced to work without pay.
• Various areas of the country are reporting on the challenges nonprofits have begun to face during the shutdown.
  • In Utah, the CEO of the Utah Nonprofits Association is finding that “a lack of cash has some organizations in limbo,” as reported by local radio.
  • In Ohio, “[f]ive groups that represent advocate [sic] agencies across Ohio sent a letter to [Ohio’s senators] expressing concerns about the effect the shutdown is having on the agencies,” as reported by Ohio.com.
• Finally, the ABA Journal reported that “the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts [is] working toward a goal of sustaining paid operations through Jan. 18.” After today, “[c]ourts will continue operating, but not at full steam.“

Legal Technology

• The ACLU led “[a] coalition of over 85 racial justice, faith, and civil, human, and immigrants’ rights groups” in sending letters to Microsoft, Amazon, and Google “demanding the companies commit not to sell face surveillance technology to the government.”
  • Meanwhile, a group of Amazon shareholders filed a resolution they hope the company will consider at their annual meeting in May, which would block Amazon from selling facial recognition technology to law enforcement agencies, as reported by USNews.
• The Information Technology & Innovation Foundation, released a report recommending that “[f]ederal privacy legislation should rescind existing privacy laws, such as GLBA, FERPA, HIPAA, COPPA, and others, and have all sectors and functions under one unified privacy regulation, with differences between them based on the sensitivity of the data and the degree of consumer choice in providing the data.“
• In Oakland, CA, a federal magistrate judge ruled that “the Fifth Amendment’s protections against self-incrimination extend to phones equipped by biometric locks,” as reported by Reason.com.
• MuckRock released information collected in a joint project with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, crowdsourcing their efforts to study how law enforcement agencies are gathering and sharing Automated Licence Plate Recognition Technology.
• In Iowa, the state Supreme Court’s Chief Justice delivered a “Condition of the Judiciary” address in which he announced “several new initiatives where technology can be used as a tool to speed up [court] process and increase access [to justice], especially to rural Iowa,” as reported by local television.

Election Law

• In Washington State, the State Supreme Court upheld a ruling that pro bono legal services creating ballot propositions and sample municipal ordinances were campaign contributions subject to election law reporting requirements, as reported by LegalNewsLine.

Access to Justice – Civil

• In Canada, The Lawyers Daily spoke with an assistant professor at Schulich School of Law who is using readability analysis to assert that the federal Income Tax Act is so indecipherable it presents and access-to-justice challenge.
• In Vermont, Vermont Legal Aid released a report finding that eviction rates in the state could be cut in half if the state puts aside about $800,000 for rental support–a policy which “could save the state money in the long run”, according to local television news.

Access to Justice – Criminal

• In Wisconsin, the StarTribune reported that “a group of defendants…is suing over funding and staffing problems in the state Public Defender’s Office[.]” The newspaper notes that “[s]tate officials say Wisconsin’s low compensation rate for private attorneys has contributed to the shortage of lawyers willing to represent [indigent defendants].”

The Organization

Disability Rights Washington is a private nonprofit organization that advocates for the rights of people with disabilities across Washington. We are designated by the governor as the independent federally-mandated protection and advocacy system for Washington State. As such, Disability Rights Washington promotes, expands, and protects the human and civil rights of people with disabilities.

The Position

DRW’s Amplifying Voices of Inmates with Disabilities (AVID) Program seeks a full-time prisoners’ rights litigator with a demonstrated interest in conducting impact litigation to enforce the legal rights of incarcerated individuals enduring abuse, neglect, or other human and civil rights violations. This position will require a licensed attorney with the ability to conduct systemic investigations, develop complex advocacy strategies, and represent both classes and individuals. The AVID Program enjoys DRW’s unique access authority, which will allow the attorney the ability to see firsthand the conditions in Washington prisons and jails, even in the most secluded and segregated parts of those facilities.

The ideal candidate would have lived and/or professional experience relating to the AVID Program’s practice areas, which include, but are not limited to: addressing discrimination, improving conditions of confinement for people experiencing incarceration, supporting community reentry from institutionalization or incarceration, and ending abuse and neglect. The attorney for this position must have a commitment and capacity to produce high quality legal analysis and to provide effective advocacy through complex civil litigation as well as informal and alternative dispute resolution. All DRW attorneys must demonstrate dedication to DRW’s values of inclusion, diversity, and equity as well as the values of individual autonomy, community integration, universal accessibility, freedom from restraint, and respectful language. DRW seeks applicants who have the ability to work independently in a team of supportive colleagues and are seeking to join in our mission to “advance the dignity, equality, and self-determination of people with disabilities.”

See the full post on PSJD: https://www.psjd.org/opportunitydetails?OppID=87930

Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives

Hello there, interested public–and Happy New Year! It’s been awhile, so there’s plenty of news to bring you all up-to-speed with. I’ll jump right into it, beginning with a new blog post aggregating various responses to the featured piece from the December 21 digest (a critique of law school’s role in our democracy by Prof. Moyn of Yale Law).

Best wishes for 2019!
Sam

Immigration, Asylum, and Citizenship

• Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen announced that “asylum-seekers presenting themselves at the southern border will be returned to Mexico for the duration of their immigration proceedings, a process that often takes several years.”
• CNN reported on how the federal government shutdown is interfering with the Trump administration’s immigration agenda. The Washington Post ran a similar story.
• In Shelby County, TN, the County Attorney announced publicly his conclusion that a new state law requiring local authorities to obey federal requests to hold immigrants until federal agents can arrive does not apply to the county.
• In Minnesota, incoming Attorney General Keith Ellison named Josh Keller, Executive Director of the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota, as his Chief Deputy Attorney General.
• The San Diego Tribune reported that “with as few as eight remaining eligible children moving toward possible reunification, the focus of [the family reunification effort] has shifted to restoring the rights of the migrants and to preventing such a crisis from happening again.”
• In San Francisco, CA, local public radio profiled the city’s Immigration Defense Unit, established last year to represent people threatened with deportation.
• In New York, Governor Cuomo announced his administration will “expand[] its first-in-the-nation legal defense project for immigrants to include social and health care services for families and rapid response to raids by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.”
  • Also in New York, the State Office for New Americans hired 20 full-time immigration attorneys to offer free legal services to immigrants.
• In Portland, ME, CentralMaine.com reported that as “the city and state are among the few that offer shelter and financial assistance to [] immigrants while their asylum cases are being processed…the arrival of so many asylum seekers has overwhelmed local services, including the city’s emergency shelter for homeless families.”

Government Hiring

• The Hill reported that new congressional representatives are facing difficulties setting up their offices–and hiring staff–while taking office during the federal government shutdown.
• Meanwhile, Newsweek reported that “Democrats are on a hiring spree for lawyers to help investigate Donald Trump in 2019.”
• In British Columbia, the Province Attorney General invited all law students in the province to visit his office.

Student Debt

• Forbes.com picked up the story that 99.5% of applicants to-date have been rejected by the student loan forgiveness program, amplifying the issue (already mentioned in previous editions of this digest). (Forbes also predicted that “the future of student loan forgiveness may change [in 2019].”) USA Today ran a similar story.
• Senators Doug Jones, Catherine Cortez-Masto, Kamala Harris, and Elizabeth Warren “submitted a letter to more than 100 stakeholders around the nation requesting feedback that can advance policies for student borrowers of color and work to make higher education more equitable.”
• In an opinion column, the Washington Examiner reported on research suggesting that “58 percent of independents and 47 percent of Republicans ‘strongly agree’ that student loan debt levels are at ‘crisis’ magnitudes,” urging Republican lawmakers to allow “[a]n employee signing up for a new 401(k) plan at work [to direct] his employer match…to his student loan until it’s paid off.” This idea is similar to–yet differences in crucial ways from–legislation recently proposed by Senator Wyden (mentioned in a prior edition of this digest), which would allow employers to make matching contributions to employee retirement accounts as employees paid off their student debt.
• Inequality.org profiled the “grassroots organizations [] pushing for sweeping change [concerning student debt] on a national level.”

Legal Technology

• Congress passed the Open, Public, Electronic and Necessary (OPEN) Government Data Act, which technology groups say will “ensure that the federal government releases valuable data sets, follows best practices in data management and commits to making data available to the public in a non-proprietary and electronic format.”
• Industry commentators predicted that “it’s likely that a Democratic-led House will reinvigorate a push for a federal data privacy regime. But it’s unlikely that such a big piece of legislation will have an easy path through Congress.”
• In Pennsylvania, legal groups launched mycleanslatepa.com — a website that aims “to help people figure out if they are entitled to get their criminal records sealed under [a] new law [that took effect in late December].”
• According to an online survey by the Harris Poll, “[j]ust over two-thirds of Americans…state they would definitely use online legal services to save money.”

Access to Justice – Civil

• The American Board of Trial Advocates adopted a resolution supporting the work of the Legal Services Corporation.
• In Newark, NJ, the City Counsel approved a right-to-counsel law to ensure low-income tenants facing evictions have free legal representation, making Newark the latest city to join the right-to-counsel-for-evictions movement (mentioned in prior editions of this digest).
• In Minneapolis, MN, the Volunteer Lawyers Network published a study tracking more than 300 eviction cases finding that 96% of “fully represented” tenants won or settled their cases, while only 6% of tenants without lawyers left housing court with a clear eviction record.
• In Ontario, The Agenda with Steve Paikin published a video feature discussing a recent report from the Province’s auditor general “rais[ing] several concerns about how a half-billion dollars in legal aid funding is deployed in [the] province.”
• In Iowa, the Vice Chair of the Iowa Supreme Court’s Access to Justice Commission gave an interview to the Des Moines Register in which she discussed

Access to Justice – Criminal

• In Utah, Governor Herbert proposed expanding the state’s public defender system budget more than fourfold— move the San Francisco Chronicle observes “comes after the state was sharply criticized in a 2015 report by the Sixth Amendment Center [as] one of just two states that left public-defender funding entirely up to local governments.”
• In Oakland County, MI, “[c]ounty officials have taken the Michigan Indigent Defense Commission to court, arguing that the county needs more money to hire additional staff [and] seeking a court order that says they don’t have to comply with the state regulations until the county receives a grant to cover the cost.” (The work of the Indigent Defense Commission to reform Michigan’s indigent defense system has been mentioned extensively in previous editions of this digest.)
  • Meanwhile, in Livingston County, MI, the Indigent Defense Commission’s new standards translated into a 25% pay raise for six of seven public defenders.
• In Faulkner County, AR, Arkansas Online reported that “the Faulkner County Quorum Court has diverted more than $350,000 in restricted funds from the 20th Judicial Circuit public defender’s office to other programs. The prosecuting attorney’s office, which got part of the money, has agreed to return $23,500, but the Quorum Court has declined to reimburse any of the remaining money. That refusal leaves the public defender’s office without enough money to hire an investigator or a legal secretary to assist part-time defenders[.]”
• In Louisiana, State Public Defender Jay Dixon “told legislators some of the state’s public defender districts are at risk of becoming insolvent in a year or two if the state doesn’t provide more funding.”
• In St. Louis County, MO, the Eastern District of the Missouri Court of Appeals referred a case to the State Supreme Court that challenges structural reforms to the state’s public defender system, including a maximum caseload for individual defenders and a directive to focus attorney resources on defendants languishing in jail.
• In Washington County, NY, the County Public Defender reported that based on end-of-year statistics his office would be in compliance with new caseload standards imposed as part of a court settlement devised in 2014 which came into effect in the last six months of 2018.

Criminal Justice Reform

• The Associated Press reported about how “at least eight new reform-minded prosecutors will take office in cities around the country after winning their local elections by promising to be more compassionate toward drug addicts and more evenhanded in the treatment of minorities.”
• In St. Louis, MO, incoming District Attorney Wesley Bell announced his office “will no longer prosecute marijuana possession cases, among other changes…Bell wants to change the cash bail system, opposes the death penalty and pledged to hold police officers accountable if they step out of line.” The new district attorney has also fired some staff and suspended others pending termination hearings.
• In Dallas, TX, incoming District Attorney John Creuzot told reporters that his office may not prosecute “first-time marijuana offenders and simple criminal trespass [cases], ” asking his office to “join with me in another era of criminal justice reform.”
• In Arlington, Fairfax, and Loudoun Counties, VA, “liberal challengers are taking on prosecutors whose views they see as retrograde and excessively punitive.”
• In the Yukon, the Yukon Legal Services Society applauded the Supreme Court of Canada’s recent decision that “imposing mandatory victim fine surcharges on offenders is unconstitutional.”
• In Baltimore, MD, the public defender’s office called for an investigation into the Baltimore Police Department’s alleged “widespread practice of wrongly expunging internal affairs files of officers accused of misconduct.”

The Organization

To prepare for the 2019 program, Equal Justice Works and Legal Services Corporation are actively recruiting students to fill 30 exciting positions nationwide.

The Position

Selected participants will begin the summer with intensive training from poverty law experts on housing, domestic violence, public benefits, migrant farmworkers, Native American, and family law. After the training, the law students will return directly to their host site to continue their 8-10 week placement.

Selected student fellows will work with esteemed LSC-funded civil legal aid organizations to build their legal skills in various areas, such as:

• Direct legal services: Intake, client and witness interviews, advocating for clients, attending hearings, assisting attorneys in legal representation, legal research, and writing.
• Outreach and education: Developing and distributing fact sheets, developing and delivering training on legal topics or on how to access legal services.
• Capacity building: Organizational assessments, compiling best practices, organizing focus groups, leading planning committees.

Salary: Law Students receive a $5,000 for 8-10 weeks of service.

See the full post on PSJD: https://www.psjd.org/opportunitydetails?OppID=87852

Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives

Hello there, interested public! I hope you all have a chance to take a break from things in the near future, but in the meantime, some news. One big story is featured immediately below. For the other, check out the “Student Loans” section, where a new Senate bill aims to make it easier for debtholders to save for retirement via employer matching contributions, the DoE released new PSLF data, and a report from a new non-profit purports to expose misfeasance in the way the federal government has administered the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.

Editor’s Feature: “Law Schools are Bad for Democracy”

In a strongly-worded piece, Professor Samuel Moyn of Yale Law wrote an opinion piece in the Chronicle of Higher Education suggesting that legal education misdirects aspiring lawyers’ desire for social change into judicial activism and provides “social-justice work [that] harmonizes [] easily with elite credentialing for power and wealth.” Multiple responses followed, including this one from Dean Raymond of the University of Wisconsin Law School (printed as a letter-to-the-editor in the Chronicle), and this blog post from Prof. Lubet of Northwestern Law.

Immigration, Refugee, & Citizenship Issues

• The National Catholic Reporter profiled the logistical and procedural hurdles pro bono attorneys face while trying to represent individuals with pending asylum claims detained by federal authorities.
• Southern California Public Radio also focused on logistical hurdles for asylum seekers, reporting that “California’s high cost of living could push families out of the very places offering the most help.”
• In Denver, CO, the city “officially opened a fund in November for people who can’t afford legal representation in their immigration cases.”

Student Loans

• Senator Wyden introduced the Retirement Parity for Student Loans Act, which “would permit 401(k), 403(b) and SIMPLE retirement plans to make matching contributions to workers as if their student loan payments were salary reduction contributions.”
• The Department of Education released new Public Service Loan Forgiveness Data. Politico used this data to report that “[a]s of September 30, only 206 borrowers have had their student loans discharged under [PSLF]. More than 32,000 borrowers had their applications denied ‘due to not meeting program requirements’ and another 11,892 were denied for ‘missing information.'” MarketWatch reported further on the subject.
• Meanwhile, CNBC profiled one recently-rejected PSLF borrower who has launched a lawsuit against her loan servicer.
• The American Federation of Teachers and the Student Borrower Protection Center released Keeping the Promise of Public Service Loan Forgiveness, a report that purposes to detail how “servicers have created roadblocks for borrowers at each step in the process of qualifying for PSLF”–and to provide a roadmap for holding the federal government and its contractors accountable for “irreparable harm to millions of borrowers.” The Washington Post reported further on the subject.
• Following a court order, the Department of Education prepared to erase $150 million worth of student debt under the “Borrower Defense to Repayment” rule, a move that “will benefit about 15,000 lenders and students who were taken advantage of by “for-profit” colleges.”
• In California, a state senator announced plans to introduce a bill “lift[ing] state income taxes on newly forgivable student loan debt.”
• In Pennsylvania, “a federal judge has ruled that a lawsuit alleging widespread abuse by student loan servicer Navient Corp. can go forward.”

Access to Justice – Civil

• The ABA announced its approval for iQualify Lending as a financing method for client legal fees. Under iQualify’s system, “the attorney can provide the client with an application form that’s submitted to iQualify Lending offices, and within a matter of minutes, qualified lenders will submit bids to the client to help finance the legal fees…The result is that the client is now able to pay their legal fee in full, upfront, [and a]ll loans made to the clients are non-recourse to the attorney.” (See also ABA Formal Opinion 484: “A Lawyer’s Obligations When Clients Use Companies or Brokers to Finance the Lawyer’s Fee“.)
• Meanwhile, the ABA Journal expressed skepticism that novel financing structures can help: “[t]he access-to-justice gap doesn’t exist because of absence of loans (sic) or the lack of technology or the intractable billable hour. It exists–and continues to grow–because the cost of life in America has increased dramatically while wages for most Americans have been stagnant or even falling for decades.”
• In West Virginia, the newly-appointed Director of the state’s Access to Justice Commission discussed his vision for the commission with WVNews.com. (The state’s A2J commission recently came under the administration of the West Virginia University College of Law, as previously reported in the Digest.)
• In New Jersey, the State Senate passed legislation which would “direct the Department of Military and Veterans’ Affairs to fund a portion of the legal services provided to homeless veterans and veterans at risk of homelessness.”

Access to Justice – Criminal

• In Indiana, the Public Defender Commission sought funding for a pilot project that “would pair public defenders [representing parents in Department of Child Services court cases] with social workers.”
• In Louisiana, a professor of political science published a thorough and thoughtful critique of Louisiana’s newly-revised system for funding indigent defense, created earlier this year after criticism of the old system (as discussed in prior digest editions).

Criminal Justice Reform

• In Canada, the National Magazine reported on how the “Jordan Rule” capping the duration of criminal trials is affecting the administration of justice: “[n]ow that [the] backlog of pre-Jordan cases has been larged cleared…Crown and defense lawyers alike report that trial times aren’t speeding up.” Instead, the Magazine reported “a trend…of courts holding defence counsel responsible for questionable delays that violate the Jordan limits…imposing an extra burden on the defence as an ‘escape hatch’ to evade Jordan stays.”

Pro Bono

• In South Carolina, the State Supreme Court “has created a new honor for attorneys who provide over 50 hours of pro bono legal service each year.”

Music Bonus

Dee1, “Sallie Mae Back”

The Organization

The Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti (IJDH) has successfully helped Haitians enforce their human rights since 2004. IJDH partners with the Haiti-based Bureau des Avocats Internationaux(BAI) to support grassroots struggles for justice in Haiti and in the powerful countries abroad where decisions about Haitians’ rights are often made. IJDH and BAI combine traditional legal strategies with organizing, emerging technology and public advocacy to address the root causes of instability and poverty in Haiti. 

We fight with routinely excellent legal work, but also with creativity, humility, inspiration and humor, and a supportive work culture. We effect broad changes with modest resources by nurturing large advocacy networks.

The Position

IJDH is offering a two-year legal fellowship for an emerging lawyer passionate about supporting justice struggles in the Global South. The Fellowship is part of the Bertha Foundation’s Bertha Justice Initiative, a global network of progressive lawyers that provides solidarity and training to movement lawyers around the world.  The Bertha Foundation supports 4-8 fellows at BAI in Haiti, and one fellow at IJDH. The Fellowship at IJDH will focus on developing skills necessary for lawyers from the Global North to support social change movements and progressive lawyers in the Global South and build effective transnational advocacy movements.

The IJDH Bertha Fellow will work closely with IJDH and BAI teams in the U.S. and Haiti on advocacy and legal work, including our groundbreaking project holding the UN accountable for introducing cholera to Haiti. The Bertha Fellow will also serve as a support to the BAI Fellows in Haiti and a liaison between the BAI and the broader Bertha Network.

See the full post on PSJD: https://www.psjd.org/opportunitydetails?OppID=87589

Sam Halpert, NALP Director of Public Service Initiatives

Hello there, interested public! Things continue to be busy here at NALP. Looking forward to checking in with you all more in the New Year. In the meantime, here’s some news:

Immigration, Refugee, and Citizenship Issues

• Professors Robertson (Case Western) and Manta (Hofstra) published an article alleging that the manner in which the Trump administration is working to de-naturalize citizens with criminal histories “carr[ies] a disturbingly high risk of mistakenly taking away citizenship from someone who committed neither crime nor fraud.”
• In California, the 9th Circuit conducted an en banc hearing of a case concerning whether the Fifth Amendment’s right-to-counsel guarantee extends to children facing deportation.
• Pro Bono attorneys from Hogan Lovells, in partnership with the Capital Area Immigrants’ Rights Coalition (DC) and the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (TX), filed a challenge to the Trump administration’s attempts to keep asylum seekers from entering the United States.

Legal Technology

• In Chicago, IL, the Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction (CALI) launched two new websites: www.a2j.org and www.a2jauthor.org. The sites are designed to allow anyone to create and host A2J Guided Interviews that help self-represented litigants complete legal forms or work through legal decisions.
• A survey conducted by The Harris Poll on behalf of Your Lawyers Online suggested that 69% of Americans would be willing to use online legal services if it would save them money.

Student Loans

• In Michigan, Eastern Michigan University has launched a program that aims to re-enroll former undergraduates who were unable to continue due to financial challenges by forgiving student debt when students perform community service.

Public Benefits

• In Massachusetts, the state is studying a series of changes to court rules and procedures after Northeast Legal Services revealed that district courts in the Salem area had been routinely “sign[ing] off on settlement agreements and judgments that force many low-income debtors to make payments of of public assistance, Social Security, or workers’ compensation payments.”

Pro Bono

• In Michigan, the State Bar launched its “A Lawyer Helps” Pro Bono Honor Roll, recognizing Michigan attorneys who provide 30 or more hours of pro bono legal services in a calendar year.

Access to Justice – Civil

• Martha Bergmark, a former LSC President, argued in the pages of USA Today that the new Congress should increase funding for the Legal Services Corporation and make other structural reforms to help narrow the justice gap.
• In West Virginia, West Virginia University College of Law became the home of the state’s Access to Justice Commission. According to WVU, “[o]nly two commissions in the country are administered by law schools.”
• In Cleveland, OH, Cleveland Legal Aid launched a fundraising campaign which aims to raise $10-$15 million over the next four years, 80% of which will go toward new programming at the organization.

Access to Justice – Criminal

• In Montana, the Office of the State Public Defender

Criminal Justice Reform

• In King County, Washington, the County Prosecutor, Sheriff, Deputy Policy Chief, and a representative of the King County Sexual Assault Resource Center announced plans to “work with Legislators to expand the statue of limitations for sex assault crimes.”
• In Solano County, CA, a longtime deputy public defender was appointed to a vacant seat on the County Superior Court bench.

Judicial Appointments

• “Vice President Mike Pence cast a tiebreaker vote in the Senate on Tuesday to confirm a federal appeals court nominee who received a “not qualified” rating from the ABA Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary… a second confirmed nominee to the appeals court, Leonard Steven Grasz, [also] received [a] not qualified rating[].” 

Music Bonus!

Brass Against the Machine, “Cult of Personality” (Living Colour Cover)

The Organization

The Jerome N. Frank Legal Services Organization (LSO) provides legal representation to individuals and organizations in need of legal services but unable to afford private attorneys. Students, supervised by Law School faculty members and participating attorneys, interview clients, write briefs, prepare witnesses, try cases, negotiate settlements, draft documents, participate in commercial transactions, draft legislation and regulatory proposals, and argue appeals in state and federal courts, including the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and the Connecticut Supreme Court.

The Position

LSO seeks to hire 20-25 Summer Fellows to work with clinical faculty in order to continue this client representation. These are paid positions, with a salary of $7,080 for 12 weeks of full-time work ($14.75/hour). The Fellowship will run from May 21 to August 16, 2019, with some flexibility as to start and end dates. Part-time work or full-time work for a portion of the Fellowship period may also be possible. 

LSO clinics perform a wide range of exciting work, including litigation in state and federal court and before administrative agencies, transactional work on behalf of community organizations, and policy and legislative advocacy at the local, state, and federal levels. For 2019, LSO seeks Summer Fellows for the following clinics:

• Advanced Sentencing Clinic
• Challenging Mass Incarceration Clinic
• Ludwig Community and Economic Development Clinic
• Criminal Justice Clinic
• Housing Clinic
• Veterans Legal Services Clinic
• Worker and Immigrant Rights Advocacy Clinic

See the full post on PSJD: https://www.psjd.org/opportunitydetails?OppID=87219 

Organization 

Lambda Legal is the nation’s oldest and largest legal organization committed to achieving full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people and everyone living with HIV.

Since 1973, Lambda Legal has used impact litigation and other advocacy tools to decriminalize same-sex relationships; challenge discrimination against LGBT people and people living with HIV in the workplace, the home, in schools, in health care, and in the military; and protect LGBT families, including by winning and defending marriage equality. Supporters across the country contribute to a growing budget of approximately $27M. Clients are not charged for legal representation or advocacy and Lambda Legal receives no government funding. Headquartered in New York City, Lambda Legal has regional offices in Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas, and Washington, D.C.

Position 

Lambda Legal welcomes applications for the 2019-2021 Tyron Garner Memorial Fellowship for African-American LGBT Civil Rights. This fellowship honors the memory of Tyron Garner, one of the men Lambda Legal represented in our groundbreaking Supreme Court victory Lawrence v. Texas (which struck down all remaining state sodomy laws in the country) and helps expand Lambda Legal’s work in African-American LGBT communities. Mr. Garner died in 2006, after his case vindicated the constitutional right to express sexual intimacy in adult relationships.

Through the Garner Fellowship, Lambda Legal seeks to support law graduates dedicated to LGBT issues within African-American communities in ongoing engagement with civil rights work on behalf of LGBT individuals and people living with HIV. The Garner Fellowship contributes to Lambda Legal’s expansion of our current work to serve communities of color and address the intersection of LGBT discrimination and racism that affects African-American LGBT communities.

See the full post on PSJD: https://www.psjd.org/opportunitydetails?OppID=86887