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Access to Justice
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May 17, 2024
Reid Collins Helps Score Verdict For Teen In La. Policing Case
Nearly four years to the day when Louisiana teenager De’Shaun Johnson recorded his mother’s arrest in their Slidell driveway, attorneys with Reid Collins & Tsai LLP and the ACLU help convince a federal jury that a local sheriff’s deputy who threatened to Tase him had intentionally inflicted emotional distress.
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May 17, 2024
Inside The New Legal Push To End Calif.'s Death Penalty
In a first-of-its-kind case in the Golden State, the California Supreme Court is being asked to permanently dismantle the nation’s most populous death row on grounds that capital punishment has been administered in a racially discriminatory manner that disproportionately harms people of color.
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May 16, 2024
Lowenstein Sandler Pro Bono Head Leaves Legacy Of Service
As she winds down her tenure leading Lowenstein Sandler LLP's Center for Public Interest this month, Catherine Weiss is leaving behind a legacy as a fierce public advocate for immigrants and reproductive rights at a time when public interest law as a whole faces new challenges.
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May 13, 2024
Jackson, Sotomayor Would Have Taken Up Jury Pool Dispute
U.S. Supreme Court Justices Ketanji Brown Jackson and Sonia Sotomayor dissented Monday from the other justices' refusal to review a case in which a defendant and his counsel were excluded from attending initial juror qualification in his capital murder case, calling the circumstances "significant and certworthy."
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May 13, 2024
Justices Reject Incarcerated Man's Atty Abandonment Claim
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear the case of a Texas man incarcerated on death row who says his court-appointed lawyer deprived him of a fair chance at challenging his conviction in a 2005 double homicide.
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May 09, 2024
Justices Uphold Civil Forfeiture Standards Amid Abuse Fears
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday that people whose property is seized during criminal investigations of others aren't entitled to a quicker process to seek its return, even though a majority of justices expressed concerns about the constitutionality of civil forfeiture systems in general.
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May 03, 2024
Criminal Defense Attys Push Biden For Cannabis Clemency
On the heels of the U.S. Department of Justice's announcement that it would recommend relaxing federal restrictions on marijuana, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers has urged President Joe Biden to grant clemency and compassionate release to those with federal nonviolent marijuana convictions.
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May 03, 2024
Gen AI Shows Promise — And Peril — For Pro Se Litigants
Research on the capabilities of generative AI tools to help self-represented people has shown potential, but there is broad disagreement about how and when pro se litigants should be using them alone.
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May 03, 2024
Stanford Prof On Using Legal AI To Help Real People
Margaret Hagan, a Stanford Law School professor working on tech-driven solutions to problems in the justice system, said she has little doubt that artificial intelligence, and generative AI in particular, may be able to improve outcomes for ordinary people who interact with the courts.
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May 03, 2024
How Courts Can Use Generative AI To Help Pro Se Litigants
While law firms and other private entities have so far been at the forefront of the legal industry's experimentation with generative artificial intelligence, experts say that court systems can play a role in deploying the technology to help self-represented litigants navigate court systems, resolve disputes remotely, and fill out required forms.
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May 03, 2024
AI Legal Tools Could Be Too Pricey For Those Most In Need
At a moment when generative AI is showing potential to help poor and underserved communities address legal issues they've historically had to face without representation, some experts warn that the cost of legal AI tools could put them out of reach for those who need them the most.
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April 30, 2024
Justices Told Error Admission Merits Respect In Capital Case
Attorneys general from across the country implored the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday to give the "utmost" deference to Oklahoma's confession that prosecutorial misconduct led to the wrongful conviction of a death row inmate and to overturn a state court ruling that rebuffed the admission and upheld the conviction.
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April 26, 2024
Mass. Justices Dash Deported Man's Hope For Remote Retrial
Massachusetts' high court ruled Friday that a man deported to the Dominican Republic cannot appear remotely for his retrial on charges that the justices previously vacated, citing court rules.
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April 24, 2024
Broken Promises Land Ga. Prison Officials In Contempt
A Georgia federal judge has slapped the state's prison officials with a contempt ruling imposing fines and appointing an independent monitor after finding the state Department of Corrections has for years flouted the terms of a settlement over its treatment of prisoners in its most punitive unit.
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April 23, 2024
NC Felony Voting Law Struck Down As Unconstitutional
A North Carolina federal judge has struck down the state's 147-year-old law making it a crime for convicted felons to vote, finding that the statute disproportionately targets Black voters and had been inconsistently enforced in violation of the U.S. Constitution.
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April 19, 2024
Wrongful Detention Suit Illustrates Pitfalls Of ICE Lockups
A Salvadoran woman's recent lawsuit alleging immigration authorities locked her up for months despite her protected status highlights how authorized immigrants, and sometimes even U.S. citizens, can wind up being wrongfully detained, and how, with no right to counsel in immigration proceedings, it can prove difficult to free them.
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April 19, 2024
Shook Hardy Mass Tort Pros Help Nix Pa. Murder Convictions
Deep experience dealing with expert testimony on complex scientific evidence and local knowledge of the Philadelphia suburbs made Shook Hardy & Bacon LLP partners John Lyons and David Haase a perfect fit for the team that recently helped vacate the decades-old convictions of three men accused of murdering a 70-year-old woman.
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April 19, 2024
How Attys Are Helping DC Residents Keep Family Homes
As homeownership rates among Black residents have fallen in the nation's capital, a new initiative aims to provide legal counsel to people living in homes that were passed down through the generations but don't have clear titles.
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April 18, 2024
NYC Bar Rips Hochul Plan To Divert Client Trust Interest Cash
The New York City Bar Association urged Gov. Kathy Hochul Thursday to reconsider her "eleventh-hour" renewed plan to divert $55 million in interest earned on lawyer trust accounts that typically goes toward legal aid for low-income New Yorkers, saying the "deeply troubling" move undermines the independence of the legal profession.
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April 18, 2024
BYU Law Students Develop 2 Access-To-Justice Tools
Brigham Young University Law School announced this week the development of two new legal technology solutions, one intended to make assigning community service more efficient and the other used to generate divorce documents.
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April 17, 2024
'It Has To End': Justices Mull Finality In 32-Year Murder Saga
In its second review of drug-fueled, baseball bat killings during the presidency of George H.W. Bush, the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday pondered steering an Arizona man's capital punishment challenge toward conclusion, perhaps by handling evidentiary tasks normally left to lower courts.
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April 17, 2024
Sentencing Commission Limits Acquitted Conduct Sentencing
The U.S. Sentencing Commission on Wednesday voted to restrict the controversial practice of considering acquitted conduct in federal sentencing, and floated the possibility of applying the change retroactively.
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April 17, 2024
Justices Rule Criminal Forfeiture Deadline Isn't Absolute
The U.S. Supreme Court held Wednesday that courts can issue forfeiture orders at sentencing in criminal cases even if prosecutors fail to submit a draft request prior to the court-ordered date, ruling noncompliance with the rule doesn't strip judges of the authority to direct defendants to hand over ill-gotten gains.
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April 15, 2024
Justices Wary Of Strict Limit On Malicious Prosecution Cases
Several U.S. Supreme Court justices appeared open Monday to the idea that a charge made without probable cause can be grounds for a malicious prosecution civil suit even if another charge with valid probable cause accompanied it, but without a clear consensus on a precise boundary.
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April 15, 2024
Sotomayor, Jackson Dissent As Court Rejects Capital Cases
In a pair of dissents, Justices Ketanji Brown Jackson and Sonia Sotomayor on Monday broke with a majority of their colleagues on the U.S. Supreme Court who declined to hear two death penalty cases.
Expert Analysis
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Inside Immigration Court: Making The Case For Bond Release
Immigration Judge Samuel Cole offers a guide to help attorneys practicing in immigration court — against a backdrop of high stakes and fast-moving dockets — better prepare for bond hearings, so proceedings run more smoothly and with less delay.
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LA County Should Loosen Strict Reentry Program Criteria
Los Angeles County’s recent fair chance ordinance proposal is an important step toward reducing recidivism, but the county should also make its reentry programs available to all formerly incarcerated individuals and focus on prerelease job training, say Sophia Lowe, Eleanor Pearson and Samuel Mistrano at USC.
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Why Trump Sexual Abuse Verdict May Be Hard To Replicate
Survivors of sexual assault may be emboldened to file suit after writer E. Jean Carroll’s trial victory against former President Donald Trump, but before assigning too much significance to the verdict, it’s worth noting that the case’s unique constellation of factors may make it the exception rather than the rule, says Jessica Roth at Cardozo School of Law.
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New Ideas For Using Litigation Finance To Close Justice Gap
Bob Koneck at Woodsford outlines new ways in which the growing litigation finance industry could work with foundations, law firms and schools to address the urgent access to justice crisis.
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Meeting The Legal Aid Needs Of Human Trafficking Survivors
Human trafficking survivors have a wide range of unmet legal needs, but there are several ways law firms and attorneys can provide more comprehensive and trauma-informed support, say Sarah Dohoney Byrne at Moore & Van Allen and Renata Parras at Paul Hastings.
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Broader Problems Remain After Justices' DNA Test Ruling
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision this week in Reed v. Goertz straightforwardly resolves a statute of limitations question on post-conviction DNA testing, but it does not address the underlying issue that judges remain hostile to granting access to new evidence of innocence, much less relief based on that new evidence, says Brandon Garrett at Duke University.
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It's Time For Lawyers To Stand Up For Climate Justice
The anniversary this week of the Deepwater Horizon disaster offers an opportunity for attorneys to embrace the practice of just transition lawyering — leveraging our skills to support communities on the front lines of climate change and environmental catastrophe as they pursue rebuilding and transformation, says Amy Laura Cahn at Taproot Earth.
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Lessons On Litigating Wrongful Death Cases Against The BOP
With the process of litigating wrongful death claims against the Federal Bureau of Prisons littered with roadblocks, attorneys at HWG share some key lessons for navigating these challenges to ensure families can pursue justice for loved ones who died in custody.
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Eviction Cases Need Tiered Legal Help, Not Unlimited Counsel
The concept of right to counsel in civil cases, particularly in the context of evictions, is hotly debated, but rather than giving every tenant full representation regardless of the merits of their case, we should be focused on ensuring that everyone has the right amount of legal help, says Bob Glaves at the Chicago Bar Foundation.
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US Self-Defense Law Is Neither Overly Harsh Nor Disappearing
The inaccurate caricatures of U.S. self-defense law distract us from engaging in a more fully informed debate about the appropriate role of, and justification for, self-defense in a modern, pluralistic society, says Markus Funk at Perkins Coie.
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High Court Death Penalty Ruling Presents A Troubling Future
While the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Cruz v. Arizona — which said the Arizona high court misinterpreted state criminal procedure and warranted federal review was — came as a pleasant surprise in its prioritization of due process, the 5-4 ruling also portends poorly for the future with a low bar in death penalty cases, says Christopher Durocher at the American Constitution Society.
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What Landmark Ruling Means For Civil Rights Suits In Nevada
The Nevada Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Mack v. Williams ends the use of qualified immunity in the state, and though the defense will likely be revived by the Legislature, the decision provides a framework for litigants to hold state actors accountable for violations of state constitutional protections, says Austin Barnum at Clark Hill.
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We Can Ensure Public Safety And Still Reduce Incarceration
Recent progress toward reducing jail and prison populations remains fragile as tough-on-crime policies reemerge, but American history shows that we don’t have to choose between less violence and lower incarceration rates — we can have both, says Jeffrey Bellin at William & Mary Law School.
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War On Drugs Is Cautionary Tale For Abortion Prosecution
As state abortion bans proliferate, prosecutors have an obligation to learn from the devastating lessons of the war on drugs — which disproportionately affected communities of color — and vow not to prosecute individuals’ reproductive health care-related decisions, says Dekalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston.
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The Most-Read Access To Justice Law360 Guest Articles Of 2022
Law360 guest experts weighed in on a broad slate of emerging access to justice issues last year, ranging from evidence of ineffective counsel to opportunities for nonlawyers to provide legal help and the presumption of innocence.