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Access to Justice
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October 31, 2024
Georgia Launches Committee To Take On 'Civil Justice Gap'
Georgia's chief justice has created a committee to identify ways to improve rural and low-income Georgia residents' access to civil legal services in an effort to close "the state's civil justice gap," the justice announced Thursday.
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October 29, 2024
Wash. Chief Justice Calls Diversity 'Critical' For Courts
Washington Supreme Court Chief Justice Steven González reflected Tuesday night on what diversity in cultural perspectives can bring to classrooms and courtrooms alike, remarking that the dynamic on the high court has changed for the better during his 13 years on the bench as he's been joined by more colleagues of color.
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October 25, 2024
How An Ex-US Atty's Kirkland Team Aids Trafficking Victims
After becoming a partner at Kirkland & Ellis LLP in 2021, former U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Texas Erin Nealy Cox is now in the third year of an effort by firm attorneys to seal or expunge the criminal records of human trafficking survivors who have convictions or arrests connected to their victimization, with the initiative roughly doubling its work year to year.
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October 18, 2024
How Texas Legislators Blocked 1st 'Shaken Baby' Execution
A bipartisan group of Lone Star State legislators stopped what would have been the nation's first execution for a conviction based on a "shaken baby syndrome" diagnosis by raising a novel separation-of-powers question about whether legislative subpoenas or death warrants carry more authority.
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October 18, 2024
'Chaos' At New Mich. Jail Is Forcing Longer Stays, Suit Says
A former detainee at Wayne County, Michigan's month-old jail alleged in a lawsuit that the center's "operational and administrative chaos," including staff shortages and computer system stoppages, has led to people getting lost in the system and being held for days after they were ordered released.
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October 18, 2024
How Denver Made Migrant Busing Work In Its Favor
City of Denver officials began having discussions in 2022 about accommodating a potential influx of immigrants, amid reports of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott busing them out of his border state to Democratic cities.
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October 18, 2024
Akin Helps Free Falsely Convicted Nicaraguan Missionaries
Thirteen people associated with the Texas-based evangelical missionary organization Mountain Gateway were released from a Nicaraguan prison in September following a monthslong pro bono effort by Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP attorneys to secure their freedom.
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October 18, 2024
It's Not Too Late For Attys To Help Safeguard Election
With the presidential election mere weeks away, a small army of lawyers will deploy throughout the country in a nonpartisan effort to ensure the process is fair, smooth and safe.
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October 18, 2024
Narrow Ga. Ruling On Atty-Client Privilege Draws Concerns
A recent divided Georgia Supreme Court decision found that jailhouse calls between a man convicted of assault and his then-attorney weren't off-limits to prosecutors, drawing concerns from some legal experts that the narrow reading of attorney-client privilege sets a "dangerous" precedent.
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October 16, 2024
Pa. County Accused Of Widespread Juvenile Detention Abuse
A former inmate at a county juvenile detention center in Pennsylvania is suing the county and multiple state officials, saying he was sexually abused at the detention center, victim of an epidemic of child abuse there.
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October 15, 2024
Chicago Wants To Ditch $50M Wrongful Conviction Verdict
Chicago is asking a federal judge to overrule a jury that awarded $50 million to an innocent man wrongly convicted of first-degree murder, saying officers who allegedly coerced the man's confession are immune.
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October 15, 2024
Conn. AG Ends Challenge To Pay-To-Stay Prison Law
The state of Connecticut and three people formerly imprisoned have agreed to dismiss a proposed class action challenging a 1997 law that allowed the state to bill people in prison nearly $118,000 per year for their incarceration, a figure said to result in the highest pay-to-stay bills nationwide.
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October 11, 2024
Seattle Police Guild Tells Judge Shooting Didn't Warrant Firing
A Seattle police officers' union argued in Washington state court on Friday a former cop acted reasonably when she shot at a suspect fleeing in a stolen vehicle, defending an arbitrator's decision to downgrade her firing to a 60-day suspension amid a challenge by the city.
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October 09, 2024
Justices Fear Harm To Atty Reputations In Death Penalty Case
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas expressed concern during oral arguments this month about the reputational harm two former Oklahoma prosecutors were facing in light of the state's claim that they withheld evidence and presented false testimony to secure the conviction of a prisoner on death row — allegations over which the justices seem likely to order further proceedings.
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October 09, 2024
DC Judge Sanctions DOD For Destroying Gitmo Tapes
A D.C. federal judge on Tuesday sanctioned the Pentagon for destroying dozens of video recordings of the torture of a Palestinian man imprisoned in Guantánamo Bay, barring the Pentagon from rebutting the man's testimony of what he endured.
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October 08, 2024
Dem Rep. Reintroduces Death Row Appeal Bill
U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., has announced that he is reintroducing a bill that would ensure inmates on death row would have the opportunity to present new evidence pointing to their innocence.
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October 08, 2024
Ex-Cop Guilty Of Excessive Force After Officers Testify
A federal jury in Indianapolis has convicted a former New Castle, Indiana, police officer of excessive force and witness tampering after a series of incidents in which prosecutors said he assaulted a suspect and two imprisoned persons, then lied to a state police detective.
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October 08, 2024
Justices Divided Over 'Prevailing Party' Status For Atty Fees
The U.S. Supreme Court appeared noncommital on Tuesday while grappling with what constitutes a "prevailing party" for the purpose of awarding attorney fees in civil rights lawsuits, a question that has broad implications for both government agencies and legal advocacy groups.
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October 02, 2024
Atty 'Malfeasance' Upends NY Manslaughter Conviction
A New York state judge reversed a manslaughter conviction against a man who says he mistakenly killed his friend, ordering a retrial after it was revealed his then-attorney concealed information he obtained about the trial judge's concerns with the defense's case.
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October 02, 2024
Legal Services Corp. Counsel Joins Steptoe As Pro Bono Atty
Carolyn Perez, who had supervised volunteer attorneys on pro bono representative matters at Legal Services Corporation, has joined Steptoe's D.C. team as pro bono counsel.
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September 27, 2024
As Climate Change Fuels Disasters, Legal Aid Needs Grow
As the number of extreme weather events increases amid a changing climate, nonprofit legal organizations that serve low-income legal clients project increased demand for services related to natural disasters.
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September 27, 2024
Texas Judge Lets Paxton Probe Of Immigration Nonprofit Go On
Nonprofit legal services provider Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center lost a bid on Friday to halt the Texas attorney general's investigation of the organization's activities, with a federal judge saying the group waited too long to file its complaint.
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September 27, 2024
Texas Bar Seeks Non-Atty Rule Changes To Fill Justice Gap
The State Bar of Texas on Friday laid out a series of proposed changes to pending rules set forth by the state Supreme Court for allowing non-attorneys to perform some legal services, citing the need to increase the educational requirements and prohibit certain fee arrangements.
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September 26, 2024
Immigrant Legal Aid Group Sues Over Texas AG's Probe
The nonprofit legal services provider Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday accusing Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton of trying to chill protected activity — suing two days before it was due to turn over information from the low-income immigrants it serves to the AG.
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September 26, 2024
Pro Bono Attorney Hub Paladin Teams With JusticeServer
Free legal assistance platform Paladin announced a partnership with JusticeServer, a case management solution, to connect volunteers and clients seamlessly between the two software providers.
Florida Legal Aid Groups On Front Lines Of Hurricane Relief
Amid the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton in recent weeks, legal aid workers in the Sunshine State are on the ground to assist vulnerable Floridians and ensure they get a fair shake.
A Jury Found Them Not Guilty. They're Still Serving Life
Despite a federal jury acquitting Terence Richardson and Ferrone Claiborne for the murder of a Virginia police officer nearly 25 years ago, the two men remain in prison for the crime. But with new evidence and a new lawyer, they're hoping to reverse the fraught, state-level guilty pleas that a federal judge later relied on to sentence them both to life behind bars.
Baltimore, DC Legal Wins Help Curb Police Property Seizures
In a span of less than two weeks this summer, a coalition of nonprofit civil rights litigators and private pro bono counsel notched a pair of legal victories in cases over two mid-Atlantic city police departments’ property seizure. Lawyers have expressed hope the impact could reach past their communities.
'He Says, She Says' In Harvey Weinstein's America
The controversial decision by New York's highest court to overturn Harvey Weinstein's sexual assault conviction has some lawmakers focusing intense new scrutiny on centuries-old legal jurisprudence barring evidence of a defendant's criminal propensity.
Expert Analysis
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20 Years On, It's Time To Fix The Crime Victims' Rights Act
The Crime Victims’ Rights Act, enacted 20 years ago this month, was a good start toward helping survivors of crime, but it has fallen short in several key ways, and amendments are needed to ensure the legal system empowers and protects victims, says Bridgette Stumpf at Network for Victim Recovery.
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Pop Culture Docket: Justice Lebovits On Gilbert And Sullivan
Characters in the 19th century comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan break the rules of good lawyering by shamelessly throwing responsible critical thought to the wind, providing hilarious lessons for lawyers and judges on how to avoid a surfeit of traps and tribulations, say acting New York Supreme Court Justice Gerald Lebovits and law student Tara Scown.
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DC Circ. Seizure Ruling Deepens 4th Amendment Circuit Split
The D.C. Circuit’s recent Asinor v. District of Columbia decision, holding that the government’s continued possession of seized property must be reasonable, furthers a split among circuit courts and portends how the text, history and tradition method might influence Fourth Amendment cases, say Ty Howard and Wayne Beckermann at Bradley Arant.
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How To Use Geofence Warrants In A Constitutional Manner
Ensuring that court-issued geofence search warrants minimize infringements on innocent individuals' rights, and uphold the principles underlying the Fourth Amendment, involves striking a balance that includes treating digital information as property, says Robert Frommer at Institute for Justice.
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2 High Court Rulings Boost Protections Against Gov't Reprisal
The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decisions in Gonzalez v. Trevino and Chiaverini v. City of Napoleon significantly strengthen legal protections against retaliatory arrests and malicious prosecution, and establish clear precedents that promote accountability in law enforcement, say Corey Stoughton and Amanda Miner at Selendy Gay.
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High Court Ruling Leaves Chance For Civil Forfeiture Reform
Though advocates for civil forfeiture reform did not prevail in Culley v. Marshall last month, concerns voiced by a majority of the U.S. Supreme Court justices potentially leave the door open to consider stricter limits in future cases, say attorneys at Dykema.
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NY Chief Judge Spotlights Need To Strengthen Public Defense
In a recent concurrence in People v. Watkins, New York Chief Judge Rowan Wilson called attention to the necessity for greater investment in public defense services, highlighting not only the urgency of current crises, but the need to embrace a more ambitious vision of equal right to counsel, says Corey Stoughton at Selendy Gay.
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Justices' 1st Post-Bruen Gun Ruling Provides Little Guidance
The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling in U.S. v. Rahimi that domestic abusers can be prohibited from owning guns — its first chance to clarify the new gun rights test it established in its 2022 Bruen decision — will not do much to help lower courts because it didn’t resolve one of the biggest open issues involving the Second Amendment, says Michael McCarthy at Kendall Brill.
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DOJ Must Be Transparent With Its Death-In-Custody Data
In two lawsuits, the Justice Department is fighting news organizations’ efforts to disclose the data it collects about deaths in custody — a counterproductive position against transparency at odds with officials' statements recognizing that such data is necessary to save lives, says David Janovsky at the Project on Government Oversight.
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Justices' Repeat Offender Ruling Eases Prosecutorial Hurdle
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last week in Brown v. U.S., clarifying which drug law applies to sentencing a repeat offender in a federal firearms case, allows courts to rely on outdated drug schedules to impose increased sentences, thus removing a significant hurdle for prosecutors, says attorney Molly Parmer.
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Congress Must Abolish Acquitted Conduct Sentencing
The U.S. Sentencing Commission’s recent amendment, limiting judges’ ability to consider acquitted conduct at sentencing, is a necessary step toward ensuring fairer trials and protecting individual rights, but ultimately, Congress must end the practice altogether, say Marc Levin at the Council on Criminal Justice and Martín Sabelli at the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.
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Trauma-Informed Legal Approaches For Pro Bono Attorneys
As National Trauma Awareness Month ends, pro bono attorneys should nevertheless continue to acknowledge the mental and physical effects of trauma, allowing them to better represent clients, and protect themselves from compassion fatigue and burnout, say Katherine Cronin at Stinson and Katharine Manning at Blackbird.
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Public Interest Attorneys Are Key To Preserving Voting Rights
Fourteen states passed laws restricting or limiting voting access last year, highlighting the need to support public interest lawyers who serve as bulwarks against such antidemocratic actions — especially in an election year, says Verna Williams at Equal Justice Works.
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Officers' Failure To Appear In Court Undermines Justice
Ten years of data from Philadelphia show that police officers frequently fail to appear at court hearings for which they’re subpoenaed, which has numerous consequences for defendants, crime victims and the smooth functioning of the criminal legal system, say Lindsay Graef, Sandra Mayson and Aurelie Ouss at the University of Pennsylvania and Megan Stevenson at the University of Virginia.
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Criminal Defendants Should Have Access To Foreign Evidence
A New Jersey federal court recently ordered prosecutors to obtain evidence from India on behalf of the former Cognizant Technology executives they’re prosecuting — a precedent that other courts should follow to make cross-border evidentiary requests more fair and efficient, say Kaylana Mueller-Hsia and Rebecca Wexler at UC Berkeley School of Law.