newsletter 04/25/23
Expanding Access to Justice
Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection
GEORGETOWN LAW
South Carolina has one of the highest eviction rates and worst access-to-justice gaps in the country. To tackle those problems, the South Carolina NAACP developed a program to provide simple guidance to tenants facing eviction so they can fully exercise their legal rights in the eviction process. But a state law makes it a felony for nonlawyers to provide such guidance. That’s why ICAP recently filed suit to challenge the state’s overbroad restrictions on the unauthorized practice of law: so that the South Carolina NAACP and its members can implement their program without facing the threat of criminal prosecution.
Turning from our newest to one of our oldest cases, ICAP’s challenge to Oklahoma’s predatory scheme for collecting fines and fees from people too poor to pay is finally moving forward. Two years after the district court dismissed the case, and more than five years after we filed our suit, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the district court across the board, reviving our constitutional claims and allowing our indigent plaintiffs to have their day in court.
In another success in the fight against the criminalization of poverty, the Mississippi Supreme Court recently changed a rule that had allowed criminal defendants to be jailed for months or years without access to counsel, in an effective “dead zone” between initial appearance and indictment. The elimination of the “dead zone” came after ICAP sent the Court a letter on behalf of former federal prosecutors urging adoption of the rule change.
On the democracy-protection front, after winning a remand to state court in our suitagainst the fraudulent Wisconsin electors and their co-conspirators, who tried to subvert the will of Wisconsin voters by casting their electoral ballots for Donald Trump and Mike Pence, ICAP filed an amended complaint, strengthened with additional evidence revealed by the January 6 House Select Committee’s final report. We look forward to continuing to pursue this case to ensure no repeat of the fraudulent elector scheme in the 2024 election.
As criminal and civil investigations and charges mount against former President Trump, ICAP’s Executive Director, Mary McCord, has teamed up with fellow former federal prosecutor Andrew Weissmann to dissect and discuss the prosecutorial strategies and legal issues raised by these cases. Prosecuting Donald Trump released its fifth episode last week, and another will be available this week. Please listen and subscribe here!
Continuing ICAP’s efforts to raise awareness about political violence and other threats to democracy, Mary recently appeared on panels discussing election threats past, present, and future, the United Nations Secretary General’s report on the implementation of the UN’s Global Anti-Terrorism Strategy, and U.S. government responses to threats to democracy. She also spoke to FiveThirtyEight about state laws against private paramilitaries. And Mary and Policy Counsel Jacob Glick both weighed in on Just Security about the consequences of social media companies’ decisions to re-platform Donald Trump.
For those interested in other national security issues, this coming Wednesday, Mary will moderate a panel here at Georgetown Law discussing potential reforms to section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which is due to sunset at the end of the year. Register here to attend in person or virtually.
Finally, we’re thrilled that Amy Marshak is returning full-time to ICAP as Legal Director, and ICAP’s long-time litigation and operations clerk, Jonathan de Jong, is graduating from Georgetown Law and becoming a counsel at ICAP!
Lastly, we’re hiring for another Counsel position—please share the opening with your networks!
Keep up with ICAP on Twitter via @GeorgetownICAP; and suggest what we should take on next via reachICAP@georgetown.edu.With thanks for your continued support, The ICAP Team.