A2JC Dispatch – September 2024 Issue
The September Issue
In this month’s dispatch, we congratulate A2JC’s Executive Director, for her recognition by the Daily Record as an Influential Marylander in Law, highlight the Maryland judiciary’s new content for self-represented litigants seeking to file an appeal, and look forward to the celebration of pro bono month. We also look at the interconnectedness of housing and education, how language access tools can help advocacy organizations, and Public Counsel’s new leader’s goals for the organization. You can find all these stories and more in this month’s Dispatch.
A2J Commission News
- A2JC ED Recognized by The Daily Record as an Influential Marylanders in Law A2JC’s ED was proud to be among the powerhouse company of many Maryland leaders and CEOs when accepting her award as an Influential Marylander in the Law. She is thankful for the support of the Access to Justice Commission and the Maryland State Bar Association.
- A2JC Welcomes First UB NextGen Leader for Public Service A2JC is proud to partner with UB’s NextGen Leaders for Public Service program to host a Next Gen leader this Fall. The NextGen Leaders program is a Schaefer Center for Public Policy initiative designed to inspire and prepare University of Baltimore students from all majors to explore careers in public service. The program includes paid internship experiences, co-curricular activities, and academic programs to support and prepare students interested in careers in government and nonprofit sectors.
Tips from Maryland Judiciary’s Access to Justice Department. We are pleased to offer recurring content from the Maryland Judiciary’s Access to Justice Department as part of the A2J Dispatch.
- New Support for SRL Appeals New content from the Maryland Judiciary provides help to self-represented litigants seeking to appeal their cases. A new page on Appeals to the Supreme Court of Maryland provides an overview of the process of appealing to the Supreme Court of Maryland including links to the form that can be used to file an Informal Petition for Writ of Certiorari, information on applying for a waiver of prepaid appellate costs, and links to videos on researching the law.
Local A2J News
- The 2024 National Celebration of Pro Bono Will Take Place October 20 – 26, 2024! October is approaching, during which PBRC and all other pro bono organizations celebrate the National Celebration of Pro Bono. Initiated by the ABA, the Celebration highlights the increased need for pro bono civil legal services nationally while commending grassroots efforts locally.
- Education Officials, Experts Speak out Against Maryland Retention Guidelines for K-3 Literacy Policy Many who testified at a State Board of Education public hearing Tuesday say retention mostly affects students of color and English-language learners. Maryland State Teachers Association President Paul Lemle says even the waiver process parents can take to move students along is geared toward more affluent families.
- The Interconnectedness of Housing and Education: Building Stronger Communities in Maryland MDCEP hosted a webinar exploring the critical link between housing and education. This session delved into the challenges faced by families in underserved communities, the role of equitable housing policies in promoting educational success, and strategies for fostering stronger, more resilient neighborhoods.
- Baltimore, DC Legal Wins Help Curb Police Property Seizures During racial justice protests in Washington, D.C., on two August nights in 2020, Destiny Robinson and Oyoma Asinor both found themselves in a crowd of people surrounded and then arrested by the city’s Metropolitan Police Department officers.
- Attorney General Brown Files Amicus Brief Urging Supreme Court of Maryland to Take Up Home Act Appeal and Protect Fair Housing Rights Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown has filed an amicus brief in the case of Hare v. David S. Brown Enterprises, Ltd., urging the Supreme Court of Maryland to grant a writ of certiorari to hear the case and protect the fair housing rights of Marylanders under the Housing Opportunities Made Equal (HOME) Act.
National A2J News
- Language Access: A Planning Tool for Advocacy Organizations Esperanza Center has released a language access planning tool for advocacy organizations. They reason that if we invest in a comprehensive, proactive approach to providing assistance for individuals with limited English proficiency (LEP), all survivors will have greater access to critical services and greater success in addressing the violence in their lives.
- Major Litigation Win: Court Rules Tennessee’s Medicaid Program Wrongfully Denied Health Care for Thousands A federal court handed down a major victory for Medicaid enrollees in Tennessee, including people with disabilities. This victory comes after years of hard-fought litigation, and proves that Tennessee’s Medicaid program, called TennCare, violated their rights under the Medicaid Act, the Constitution’s Due Process Clause, and the Americans with Disabilities Act.
- NYC Bar AI Task Force Tackles Access to Justice, Tech in Courts The issue of whether nonprofits and solo practitioners will be able to access AI tools to the same degree as Big Law is an important area of focus, said task force co-chair McGowen. These are the types of issues that we need to start thinking about now and addressing, she added.
- New Public Counsel Leader On Her Vision To Advance Justice Kathryn Eidmann has a vision for the future of Public Counsel, the nation’s largest provider of pro bono legal services, as she takes over as the organization’s new leader: to use its focus on individual client advocacy to advance its more systemic goals for racial and economic justice.
- California Senate Passes Tribal Nations Access to Justice Act The Tribal Nations Access to Justice Act gives tribes access to justice that has been denied not only in this case, but throughout California history, commented CNIGA chairman James Siva. If this bill becomes law, it will reflect a new day in California history in regard to the civil rights of this state’s tribal nations.
- Could This Right-to-Counsel Program for Evictions Become a Statewide Model in Virginia? Richmond council member Andreas Addison proposed the program after sitting in on fast-paced eviction cases in Richmond. According to an RVA Eviction Lab report through Virginia Commonwealth University, 40% of evictions in the city last less than 60 seconds in court and Richmond’s eviction rate is the second highest in the nation.
- Washington Bar Backs Experiment For Nonlawyers To Practice If approved by the Washington State Supreme Court, a new regulatory framework would open the door for applicants to seek temporary exemptions from the core tenets that have governed the legal profession for more than a century — including that only those who are licensed by the high court can own law firms and practice law in the Evergreen State.
- CFPB Bans Navient from Federal Student Loan Servicing and Orders the Company to Pay $120 Million for Wide-Ranging Student Lending Failures The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) filed a proposed order against the student loan servicer Navient for its years of failures and lawbreaking. Under the terms of the order, Navient would have to pay a $20 million penalty and provide $100 million in redress for harmed borrowers.