Access to Justice

May 22, 2023
Civil Rights Suit Against NYC Cop Tossed After High Court Win

A New York federal judge dismissed a civil rights suit against a New York City Police Department officer brought by a Brooklyn man who won the right to present his claims last year by the U.S. Supreme Court, ending a nearly decade-long legal battle, attorneys confirmed on Monday.
May 19, 2023
Debt Firm's Flameout A Cautionary Tale For Consumers

The collapse of a California debt resolution law firm has impacted tens of thousands of consumers across the country, leaving many deeper in debt and with ruined credit. It’s an extreme example of predatory behavior across an industry where marketing companies and law firms urge vulnerable debtors to pay big money for services that advocates say have little to no real value.
May 19, 2023
Texas Riding Growing Wave Of Bail Reform Rollbacks

Amid a wave of harsher bail laws sweeping through the nation, Texas is considering bills that would give judges more power to set bail for people charged with serious offenses and a constitutional amendment that would categorically deny bail for those accused of the most serious crimes.
May 19, 2023
Study Shows NYC Judges Who Are More Likely To Incarcerate

A recent study by decarceration advocates analyzing public pretrial data identified 14 New York City judges who are more likely than their peers to order defendants held in jail while awaiting trial.
May 19, 2023
Willkie, Freshfields Help Score NY Medicaid Dental Expansion

Attorneys with Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP and Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP partnered with the Legal Aid Society to secure a recent class action settlement that will expand dental care coverage to an estimated 5 million Medicaid recipients in New York. Here’s how they did it.
May 18, 2023
NYC Faces Suits Alleging Racial Bias In Child Removals

Bronx Defenders and Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP filed two lawsuits Thursday against New York City's Administration for Children's Services, accusing the agency of discriminating against parents of color in its child removal decisions.
May 17, 2023
Calif. Judge Halts Some Pre-Arraignment Cash Bail In LA

A California judge temporarily blocked Los Angeles city and county from enforcing cash bail systems against arrestees detained for low-level offenses before arraignment, finding the system's constitutional harm is "pervasive in that each year it likely affects tens of thousands of impoverished persons detained solely because they are poor."
May 15, 2023
Justices To Hear Cases On Gun Sentencing For Repeat Felons

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to clarify the legal standards used to determine whether repeat felony offenders convicted of federal gun charges must receive prison sentences of at least 15 years.
May 11, 2023
Calif. County To Pay $7.5M In Fatal Shooting Of Black Man

Orange County, California, has agreed to pay $7.5 million to the family of a homeless Black man who was shot and killed by a sheriff's deputy in San Clemente in 2020, an attorney confirmed to Law360 on Thursday.
May 05, 2023
Judge Pauses Miss. GOP's Foray Into Capital City Courts

A state judge in Mississippi has ordered a temporary halt to a controversial new law that would give the majority-white state government greater control over the court system in the majority-Black capital city, Jackson.
May 05, 2023
Old Pot Felonies Hard To Erase Despite NY's New Law

Confusion about New York's law legalizing marijuana — and a possible typo — means some judges are denying requests to clear old felony pot convictions. Defense attorneys, meanwhile, claim what they're really doing is denying the legislature's intent.
May 05, 2023
Justices Halt Execution Of Okla. Man After AG Admits Errors

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday halted the looming execution of an Oklahoma man after the state's attorney general conceded his murder conviction was riddled with constitutional errors and possible prosecutorial misconduct.
May 05, 2023
New Legal Aid DC Leader Faces Growing Needs, Budget Cuts

Vikram Swaruup is settling into his new role as executive director of Legal Aid of the District of Columbia at a time when the organization's clients have been hit hard by inflation, the end of enhanced safety-net benefits and the halting of pandemic-related protections against evictions, foreclosures and debt collection.
May 05, 2023
After 29 Years, 'The Poster Child For Clemency' Comes Home

In December, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul granted clemency to 12 convicts. Last month, several of them finally made it home, including Bruce Bryant, whom advocates call "the poster child for clemency" and who spent nearly 30 years in prison for a murder he's always maintained he didn't commit.
May 05, 2023
Justice At Guantanamo: Atty Attends Bali Bombing Hearings

Pretrial motions are moving forward for three detainees who have been held at Guantanamo Bay for two decades on charges related to a deadly terrorist bombing in Bali in 2002. Here, trial lawyer George Donnini shares his experience traveling to Cuba to be a witness to the proceedings on behalf of the American Bar Association.
May 05, 2023
14-Year Restraining Order Battle Shows Court Reporter Need

When a faulty audio recording left a New Jersey judge unable to rule on a bid to dissolve a decade-old restraining order, the couple embroiled in the dispute was forced to relive their trauma as part of a court-ordered bid to recreate the record in their 2004 restraining order hearing. Experts say the case highlights the important role of court stenographers amid a growing national shortage.
May 03, 2023
3½-Hour Ala. Execution Was Needlessly Cruel, Suit Says

The family of an Alabama man killed in what is believed to be the longest recorded execution in U.S. history has accused the state of subjecting him to unnecessary cruelty in violation of his constitutional rights, according to a suit filed Wednesday.
April 27, 2023
Family Gets $7M Settlement Over Texarkana Jail Death

The family of a 46-year-old woman who died in the custody of a private East Texas jail has reached a $7 million settlement in what attorneys say is the largest known jail death settlement in the state's history and one of the largest reached nationwide over an in-custody death.
April 26, 2023
Okla. Parole Board Denies Clemency For Death Row Inmate

The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board on Wednesday declined to recommend clemency for Richard Glossip, a death row inmate whose murder conviction has been criticized by legal experts — and the state's top prosecutor — as tainted by errors and constitutional violations.
April 24, 2023
3 Justices Protest Court's Snub Of Death Row Inmate's Appeal

Three U.S. Supreme Court justices on Monday called "disheartening" their colleagues' decision not to hear the case of a Tennessee death row inmate whose murder sentence has been clouded by claims of ineffective counsel.
April 24, 2023
NAACP Sues Over Miss. GOP's Foray Into Capital City Courts

The NAACP and other organizations are pushing back against the Republican-controlled Mississippi state government over its recent moves that give white state officials greater power over Jackson, the state's majority-Black capital city.
April 21, 2023
$2M False Arrest Win May Spawn New Legal Fights For NYPD

When Jawaun Fraser was charged for robbery in October 2014, the New York Police Department and Manhattan prosecutors never told him that his arresting officers had been targeted in dozens of civil lawsuits over alleged evidence fabrication, abuse of power and other misconduct. Now, after a $2 million civil rights verdict last month over the disclosure failures, Fraser's case could lead to new legal challenges for criminal cases in the city.
April 21, 2023
Major Payout Likely In Tyre Nichols Beating Case, Experts Say

It's hard to sue the police and win, but the fatal beating of motorist Tyre Nichols at the hands of Memphis police in January was so egregious and highly publicized that experts say the city is likely facing a big settlement.
April 21, 2023
Justices To Hear Whether Post-Seizure Hearings Are Required

Every year, law enforcement agencies across the U.S. confiscate billions of dollars worth of assets, including cash, cars, weapons and real estate, from people they arrest and prosecute. The process, called civil forfeiture, is now before the U.S. Supreme Court, which this week agreed to hear a case centering on when people are entitled to court hearings where they can ask for their property back.
April 21, 2023
After High Court Win, O'Melveny Clears La. Man Of Murder

Although his lawyers notched a landmark victory at the U.S. Supreme Court three years ago when the justices declared nonunanimous criminal verdicts unconstitutional, Evangelisto Ramos remained stuck behind bars on a murder conviction until a team from O'Melveny & Myers LLP finally secured his acquittal at a retrial last month.

Expert Analysis

Maybe Virtual Reality Juries Can Facilitate Access To Justice

Jury service is a terrible user experience and an unpredictable disruption. What if the courts leveraged virtual reality technology to allow jurors to serve remotely? asks Stephen Kane, founder of online dispute resolution platform FairClaims and a fellow of Stanford CodeX Center for Legal Informatics.
A Key Legal Reform To Fight The Child Sex Abuse Epidemic

With child sex predators victimizing, on average, over 100 children in their lifetimes, the implicit danger of retaining state statutes of limitation for prosecution of these crimes could not be more obvious, says Michael Dolce of Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC.
Blockchain Can Empower Stateless Refugees

Innovative blockchain-based projects providing stateless refugees with forms of identification, digital assets and educational opportunities could change the rules for this vulnerable population, say Amy Schmitz of the University of Missouri School of Law and Jeff Aresty of Internetbar.org.
How State Courts Are Fighting Our National Opioid Epidemic

Loretta Rush, chief justice of Indiana and co-chair of the National Judicial Opioid Task Force, discusses how state courts can facilitate a successful policy response to the opioid epidemic.
How The 3rd Generation Of Bail Reform Imploded

Thirty-four years after the passage of the Federal Bail Reform Act of 1984, we have finally seen the implosion of this misguided attempt at justice, says Jeffrey Clayton, executive director of the American Bail Coalition.
Class Cy Pres Settlements Are A Troubling Practice

Class actions are often touted as a powerful mechanism for access to justice, but is this true when there is zero chance of recovery for class members? asks Mary Massaron, a partner at Plunkett Cooney PC and former president of Lawyers for Civil Justice.
The Pro Bono Law That United Congress

Those who perpetrate crimes are guaranteed the right to counsel, but victims of domestic violence and sexual assault are not. With the unanimously passed Pro Bono Work to Empower and Represent Act, I envision an army of lawyers helping break the cycle of abuse, says Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska.
Aggressive Stops And Frisks Won't Make Chicago Safer

Speaking recently to the International Association of Chiefs of Police, President Donald Trump called for stop-and-frisk practices in Chicago to reduce violent crime. But beyond the negative consequences of this approach, data supporting its effectiveness is sparse, say Dr. Tara Lai Quinlan and Northeastern University School of Law professor Deborah Ramirez.
How BigLaw Pro Bono Pros Can Promote Access To Justice

Allegra Nethery, president of the Association of Pro Bono Counsel, discusses opportunities for large law firms to make a difference.
The Pro Bono Policies Worth Adopting In Every State

A recent survey of attorneys across the country found that, despite broad opposition to mandatory pro bono, strong support exists for a number of statewide policies and initiatives to more effectively engage the private bar in pro bono work, says Latonia Haney Keith, associate dean of academics at Concordia University School of Law.
Using The Constitution To End Punishment Of The Poor

One hundred and fifty years after the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment, lawyers are achieving real victories on the ground with new constitutional theories striking at both inequality and unfair process, says Brandon Garrett of Duke University School of Law.