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Statement From Equal Justice Works in Response to U.S. Supreme Court Decision on Biden v. Nebraska and Department of Education v. Brown
/ Updates
In response to the Supreme Court’s decision in Biden v. Nebraska & Department of Education v. Brown, Equal Justice Works (EJW) issued the following statement:
“At Equal Justice Works, we are committed to ensuring that no law student or lawyer is deterred from pursuing public interest because of educational debt. Our communities and justice system are strengthened when those with the required education and passion are able to commit to careers in public service. For lawyers who wish to work in public interest law, managing undergraduate and graduate loans is a significant challenge. We also know that Black, Indigenous, and People of Color are on average saddled with higher amounts of educational debt from law school than their white peers,” said Verna Williams, CEO of Equal Justice Works.
Aoife Delargy Lowe, VP of Law School Engagement and Advocacy continued, “This decision by the U.S. Supreme Court hurts borrowers unduly burdened by student debt. Right now, the Legal Services Corporation reports that for people with low income, 92% of their civil legal matters go unmet. We need to deploy every tactic possible to ensure that more communities can benefit from legal services and representation. Alleviating student debt is critical to ensuring that all people have full and fair access to legal services and our justice system.”
“With this decision, borrowers may want to consider an income-driven repayment (IDR) plan as payments are set to resume in September. For those borrowers who are working full time in public service, Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) is a program that forgives remaining federal student debt balances following 10 years of full-time public service work and 120 monthly repayments. Borrowers can use the loan simulator at the Federal Student Aid site to figure out which repayment plan is best for them.”
For more information on Public Service Loan Forgiveness, click here.