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GOP states’ lawsuit challenges student loan repayment plan

TOPEKA, Kan. — A group of Republican-led states is suing the Biden administration to block a new student loan repayment plan that provides a faster path to cancellation and lower monthly payments for millions of borrowers. In a federal lawsuit filed Thursday, 11 states led by Kansas argue that Biden overstepped his authority in creating the SAVE Plan, which was made available to borrowers last year and has already canceled loans for more than 150,000. It argues that the new plan is no different from Biden's first attempt at student loan cancellation, which the Supreme Court rejected last year. "Last time Defendants tried this the Supreme Court said that this action was illegal. Nothing since then has changed," according to the lawsuit. The Education Department declined to comment on the lawsuit but noted that Congress in 1993 gave the department the authority to define the terms of income-driven repayment plans. "The Biden-Harris Administration won't stop fighting to provide support and relief to borrowers across the country — no matter how many times Republican elected officials try to stop us," the department said in a statement. Biden announced the SAVE repayment plan in 2022, alongside a separate plan to cancel up to $20,000 in debt for more than 40 million Americans. The Supreme Court blocked the cancellation plan after Republican states sued, but the court didn't examine SAVE, which was still being hashed out. The new lawsuit was filed this same week the White House hosted a "day of action" to promote the SAVE Plan. The Biden administration says more than 7.7 million borrowers have enrolled in the plan, including more than 5 million who have had their monthly payments reduced to $100 or less because they have lower yearly incomes. The challenge was filed electronically in federal court in Kansas by the state’s attorney general, Kris Kobach, who requested that any trial be in Wichita, the state's largest city. The lawsuit asks a judge to halt the plan immediately. Along with Kansas, the suit is backed by Alabama, Alaska, Idaho, Iowa, Louisiana, Montana, Nebraska, South Carolina, Texas and Utah. "In a completely brazen fashion, the president pressed ahead anyway," Kobach said during a news conference at the Kansas Statehouse. "The law simply does not allow President Biden to do what he wants to do." Biden's new repayment plan is a modified version of other income-based repayment plans that the Education Department has offered since the '90s. The earliest versions were created by Congress to help struggling borrowers, capping payments at a portion of their income and canceling any remaining debt after 20 or 25 years. The new plan offers more generous terms than ever, offering to reduce monthly payments for more borrowers and canceling loans in as little as 10 years. Unlike other plans, it prevents interest from snowballing as long as borrowers make their monthly payments. The plan's provisions are being phased in this year, and the quicker path to cancellation was originally scheduled to take effect later this summer. But the Biden administration accelerated that benefit and started canceling loans for some borrowers in February. Biden said it was meant "to give more borrowers breathing room so they can get out from under the burden of student loan debt." Instead of creating a new plan from scratch, the Education Department amended existing plans through federal regulation. Supporters saw it as a legal maneuver that put the plan on firmer grounding, anticipating a challenge from Republicans. But in the new lawsuit, Kobach argues that Biden needed to go through Congress to make such significant changes. The states argue that Biden's plan will harm them in many ways. With such a generous repayment plan, fewer borrowers will have an incentive to go into public service and pursue the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, the states argue. They predict more state employees will leave their jobs, and it will worsen public schools' struggles to recruit and retain teachers. They argue the plan will inject hundreds of billions of dollars in loan relief into the U.S. economy, which would require states to increase fraud protection efforts. The plan "will create enormous opportunities for fraudsters to exploit student debt borrowers that would not otherwise exist," according to the suit. If successful, it would effectively kill the last remnant of Biden's first attempt at widespread student loan relief. After the Supreme Court blocked his wider plan last year, Biden ordered the Education Department to craft a new plan using a different legal justification. The agency is now pursuing a more limited plan for mass cancellation.

City pays wrongfully imprisoned man 8-figure settlement; $25 million settlement

Action: Civil rights violation Injuries alleged: Wrongful conviction and resulting imprisonment for more than 44 years and infliction of emotional harm on plaintiff Case name: Long v. City of Concord, et al Court/case no.: Eastern District of North Carolina / 5:21-CV-201-D Judge: James C. Dever III Mediator: Bill Brazile Amount: $25 million Date: Jan. 9, 2024 Attorneys: Chris Olson of Olson Law, Raleigh, and David Rudolf and Sonya Pfeiffer of Pfeiffer Rudolf, Charlotte (for the plaintiff) Plaintiff, a Black man then 20 years old, was wrongfully convicted in 1976 for the rape of a white widow at her home in Concord. No physical evidence linked him to the crime. The case was built upon the purported identification of plaintiff after a contrived and highly suggestive courtroom ID procedure. Substantial exculpatory evidence was collected but unlawfully concealed by investigators. Evidence of that misconduct by law enforcement would trickle out over the next 40 years, leading to plaintiff's exoneration in August 2020 and him being granted a pardon of innocence in December 2020. A lawsuit was filed in May 2021 against the city of Concord and several of its police officers. After the lawsuit was filed, plaintiff’s counsel received documents for the first time indicating that State Bureau of Investigation personnel also were involved in the investigation.  An amended complaint naming SBI personnel as defendants was filed in June 2021. Claims against the SBI defendants were resolved for $3 million in March 2023. The remaining claims against Concord and its police defendants were settled for $22 million in January 2024. In addition to the monetary damage, the city agreed to issue a formal apology to plaintiff and his family for the wrongs done to them.