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Access to Justice
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October 26, 2022
In Their Words: Associates' Lessons From Pro Bono Work
Taking on a pro bono matter can be a transformative experience for a new attorney, helping them develop vital legal skills and see the world from the perspective of someone in need whose future hangs in the balance of the legal system.
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October 26, 2022
Courts Urged To Work With States To Address Mental Illness
A national task force is encouraging courts to form working groups with state government officials, among other recommendations, to better help individuals with mental illnesses in the civil and criminal legal systems.
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October 19, 2022
Supreme Court Won't Stay Execution Of 'Catatonic' Okla. Man
The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to stay the imminent execution of an Oklahoma death row inmate whose attorneys say is severely mentally ill, Law360 has learned.
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October 14, 2022
Calif. Passed CARE Court Bill. Will Other States Follow?
California is a political trailblazer that is often the first to pass novel legislation that is later adopted by other states, but legal scholars say unique factors will determine whether other states will enact the CARE court model recently passed in the Golden State.
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October 14, 2022
NY Seeks First-In-The-Nation Right To Counsel In Deportations
Nearly one in every three noncitizens with pending immigration proceedings in New York lacks a lawyer. A proposed bill introduced in January would create a first-in-the-nation right to counsel for people facing deportation, and improve the odds for thousands of them to obtain relief.
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October 14, 2022
4 Takeaways From PPI's New Report On The Bail Industry
Bail companies owe counties across the United States millions in unpaid forfeitures, the Prison Policy Initiative claims in a recent report that argues states and localities should end their use of money bail.
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October 14, 2022
We The Action's New Head On Where Pro Bono Aid Is Needed
We The Action, which connects volunteer lawyers with nonprofits in need of legal help, welcomed Anna Chu as executive director in September. Here, Chu discusses the organization's work, where pro bono attorneys are needed most and why she believes equal access to democracy and justice is not yet a reality.
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October 14, 2022
Georgia Innocence Project Celebrates 20-Year Mark
In 1999, September Guy and Jill Polster — then two idealistic Georgia State University College of Law students — were told that an initiative to free wrongfully convicted people would never get off the ground in Georgia, where the conservative state's laws and attitudes have been firmly stacked against inmates. Twenty years after forming the Georgia Innocence Project in 2002, their efforts have defied the doubt and the odds.
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October 14, 2022
City Bar Debuts Free Legal Advice For Migrant Youth In NYC
The City Bar Justice Center in New York has partnered with housing and homeless youth services nonprofit Covenant House to provide pro bono advice on immigration law to young asylum-seekers arriving in the city from the southern border of the U.S., the City Bar has announced.
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October 13, 2022
Legal Orgs Sue Feds Over ICE Detainee Access To Counsel
Five organizations that provide legal services to people in immigration detention sued U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Thursday, accusing the agency of improperly keeping detainees from accessing legal counsel.
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October 11, 2022
Comity Takes Center Stage In High Court DNA Testing Case
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday signaled an interest in striking down a rule adopted by two federal appellate courts that says the statute of limitation for state prisoners to request DNA testing in federal court begins running when a state court denies testing, regardless of any appeal.
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October 07, 2022
Campaigns To Eliminate Justice Fees Pick Up Steam
Fees associated with the justice system often set criminal defendants, who are overwhelmingly poor, on a downward spiral that leads them to more poverty and legal woes, said Lisa Foster, the co-director of Fines and Fees Justice Center. But several organizations are leading a growing national movement to abolish them.
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October 03, 2022
Finnegan Atty Fights Disabled Veteran Precedent At Top Court
The U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments on Tuesday in a case that may open the door for U.S. military veterans to seek disability compensation through equitable tolling. Finnegan partner James Barney, a Navy veteran himself, will argue the case pro bono.
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October 03, 2022
More Law Firms Helping Davis Wright Protect Journalists
After a pilot program between Davis Wright Tremaine LLP and Microsoft Corp. showed the need to give pro bono legal support to local journalism, more law firms are joining the cause, they and other partners in the initiative said Monday.
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September 28, 2022
Free PACER Searches May Require More Money For Judiciary
A proposed bill to grant free public access to searches of federal court filings could add $77 million to the federal deficit and would require more cash for the federal judiciary but could save money in the long term, the Congressional Budget Office said in a release.
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September 23, 2022
Racial Disparities In State Imprisonment Continue To Decline
Disparities between Black and white state imprisonment rates are continuing to decline, but at a slower rate than in previous years, according to a report recently released by the Council on Criminal Justice.
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September 23, 2022
Access To Justice Cases To Watch This Supreme Court Term
The Supreme Court's upcoming term beginning on Oct. 3 will focus on fights over equality, experts say. The justices will rule on LGBTQ rights and the First Amendment, voting rights and gerrymandering, affirmative action, indigenous rights and prisoners' access to habeas corpus.
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September 23, 2022
How Calif. Court Reporter Shift Will Impact Family Law Cases
Legal experts say a decision by the country's largest unified trial court to no longer provide official court reporters in family law and probate cases as of Nov. 14 could harm California's most at-risk and disadvantaged litigants.
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September 21, 2022
Fed. Courts Extend Remote Audio Access To Civil Hearings
The federal court system's policymaking body announced it would continue remote public court access and start regularly surveying its employees, while also again calling for the passage of legislation that would improve security for judges.
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September 15, 2022
Senate Punts On Marriage Equality Vote, For Now
A possible Senate vote on legislation codifying marriage equality was put temporarily on hold on Thursday, with the bipartisan group of negotiators saying they need more time to get the necessary support to overcome a filibuster.
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September 14, 2022
DOJ Gives Attys More Leeway To Aid Migrants In Deportation
The U.S. Department of Justice on Wednesday offered more flexibility to immigration attorneys helping unrepresented immigrants in deportation proceedings, allowing lawyers to draft and file court documents without assuming the responsibilities of becoming the immigrants' "practitioner of record."
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September 14, 2022
UConn Law And Disability Rights Group Establish Legal Clinic
The University of Connecticut School of Law has partnered with Disability Rights Connecticut to offer a clinic that provides legal advocacy for people with disabilities.
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September 13, 2022
Sex Crime Victim Sues SF Over Use Of Rape Kit To Arrest Her
A woman who gave police a DNA sample as the victim in a sexual assault investigation is suing the city and county of San Francisco in California federal court after the police used the sample to arrest her for an unrelated retail theft, alleging an unconstitutional invasion of privacy.
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September 09, 2022
ACLU Takes On Qualified Immunity In The 5th Circ.
The ACLU is partnering with 65 law firms and 27 corporations to bring police abuse suits in Louisiana, a state often described as a "legal aid desert." Through the project, dubbed Justice Lab, pro bono attorneys have filed 40 civil suits challenging local and state police for excessive force, racial profiling and unlawful arrest or search.
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September 09, 2022
5 BigLaw Firms Join Forces To Aid Female Afghan Ex-Soldiers
This summer, five BigLaw firms teamed up to form a legal task force that in mid-August filed more than 50 asylum applications for female Afghan former soldiers, marking the latest example of industry competitors combining resources in the name of a pro bono initiative.