Balt. Lawyer Group: Freddie Gray Illustrates Civil Justice Issues
CCM Publisher in HuffPo: 2016 Civil Courts Issues ‘Hung Over’ From 2015
CCM publisher, Sara Warner, looks back on her 2015 predictions about the top civil justice issues and highlights several issues to watch in 2016. Marijuana legalization, CSST piping, and litigation against police make the 2016 list. Civil justice issues hung over from 2015 are asbestos litigation and immigration. Read it in her latest Huffington Post blog post.
SCOTUS Chief Justice Praises New Rules
In L.A., Student Tickets Give Way To Counseling, Other Intervention
The Los Angeles Times is following up on measures taken last year to reform an out-of-control truancy system. The shift actually began under pressure from civil rights groups and was approved back in 2012 when the LAT reported that: “Under the old policy, a student who received a truancy ticket had to appear in court with a parent. A judge would issue a fine and order the student to be on time for the next 60 days or face more legal trouble. Both the parent and student had to return two months later for a follow-up, causing the student to miss school time and the parent to lose wages.”
The update offered this background that the shift involves: “… 405 sworn L.A. Unified police officers who, along with more than 125 safety officers, make up the nation’s largest independent school police force. Across the nation, campus officers are facing criticism that they’re pushing children into a “school-to-prison pipeline” with citations, arrests and excessive force for issues that could be resolved by other means. National studies show that one arrest doubles a student’s odds of dropping out.”
The student truancy policies were also seen as a path to criminal records. While the initial “tickets” were treated as civil cases, failing to comply with the results, like paying fines or doing community work, led to criminal arrests.
NY Times Opinion Piece Makes ‘Civil Gideon’ Argument
Texas To Rule On Civil Fees Issue
San Francisco Leads On Civil Gideon Moment
NY Passes ‘Aspirational’ Civil Gideon Measure
WSJ Story Notes Civil Gideon Trend
The Wall Street Journal is taking notice of momentum for a “civil Gideon” approach to lawsuits involving life-changing decisions, like foreclosure or family custody. The WSJ reports that the newly approved state budget “… allocated $85 million for indigent civil legal services at the request of the state judiciary, an increase of $15 million from the previous fiscal year.”And in New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio recommended in his preliminary budget proposal spending $36 million on free legal services in housing court, which would bring the city’s total spending on civil legal services up to about $50 million.By way of background, the deep-dive WSJ story noted that the trend has a history of success and “… in 2009, California passed the Sargent Shriver Civil Counsel Act, which created several pilot programs, supported by court fees, free legal counsel in civil cases. In its third year, the program has succeeded despite a modest $8 million annual budget, its coordinators say. More than 15,000 people have been served so far, most in eviction cases.“One of the big takeaways is that attorneys help settle cases,” said Bonnie Hough, managing attorney for California’s Judicial Council. Read the story here: New York Officials Push Right to Counsel in Civil Cases