mortality, electrical weapons have risks as- sociated with their usage, including eye in- juries and falls,” that report says. “With sufficient probe spread, an uncontrolled fall to the ground typically occurs along with the possibility of a fatal brain injury.” The researchers initially found 24 cases meeting their criteria. They excluded five of those cases because they appeared to in- volve intentional jumps, instead of acciden- tal falls caused by the use of an electrical weapon. Out of 19 cases, the researchers wrote, “We found 16 probable cases of fatal brain injuries induced by electronic control from electrical weapons.” ▼ DEBT FIGHTING FORGIVENESS I A LAWSUIT FILED IN TEXAS SEEKS TO HALT STUDENT LOAN FORGIVENESS. BY JACOB VAUGHN f everything stays on track, the U.S. Depart- ment of Education will be issuing applica- tions for President Joe Biden’s Student Debt Relief Plan any day now. Designed to for- give up to $20,000 for certain student loan holders, the plan is facing several legal chal- lenges across the country, the latest coming from the Dallas/Fort Worth area. As first reported by The Associated Press, Job Creators Network Foundation, a small- business advocacy group based in Addison, filed a federal lawsuit against the Depart- ment of Education, claiming it didn’t follow procedures when approving the relief pro- gram. Specifically, the group argues in its le- gal filing that the Biden administration violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) by not taking public comment on the program before it was approved. “The Department of Education has fla- grantly violated the APA’s notice-and-com- ment requirements,” the group’s suit read. “Behind closed doors, the Department pro- mulgated a new Debt Forgiveness Program that will affect tens of millions of Americans and cost more than 400 billion dollars.” The Congressional Budget Office esti- mates the program will cost $400 billion over the next 30 years. To justify the program, the Biden admin- istration used a law passed after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that gives “sweeping authority” to reduce or eliminate student debt during national emergencies. In a legal opinion from the U.S. Justice Department in August, the administration cited the pan- demic as the national emergency. But the suit argues that because there was no opportunity for people to comment on the program before its approval, it leaves some people out. The suit was filed on behalf of two people: one won’t see the full benefit of the plan and the other won’t see any. The plan provides up to $20,000 in debt relief to Pell Grant recipients and up to $10,000 to those who didn’t receive Pell Grants. To be eligible for relief, one’s indi- vidual income must be less than $125,000 or $250,000 for households. Myra Brown, one of the plaintiffs in the case, doesn’t qualify for any relief because the forgiveness program doesn’t cover com- mercially held loans that are not in default. The other plaintiff, Alexander Taylor, doesn’t qualify for the full amount of debt forgiveness because he didn’t receive a Pell Grant when he was in college, according to the suit. Brown got her undergraduate degree from the University of Texas at El Paso in 1993 and attended graduate school at the Cox School of Business at Southern Meth- odist University. Graduating from SMU in 2002, she received student loans through the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFEL) totaling more than $17,000. Initially, the Department of Education said these pri- vately held loans were also eligible for relief if borrowers consolidated them into the Di- rect Loan Program. On Sept. 29, though, the Department of Education changed its guidance on the loan relief, saying Federal Family Education Loan Program and Perkins loans were no longer el- igible for forgiveness. Borrowers with these loans who requested they be consolidated into the Direct Loan program before Sept. 29 “are eligible for one-time debt relief.” The new guidance excludes some 800,000 from relief, according to NPR. However, some of these loan holders, about 1.5 million, have borrowed from both the Federal Family Education Loan Program and the Direct Loan program, and will still qualify for some relief. But the department said it was still look- ing for ways to offer relief for borrowers like Brown. “[The Education Department] is as- sessing whether there are alternative path- ways to provide relief to borrowers with federal student loans not held by [the depart- ment], including FFEL Program loans and Perkins Loans, and is discussing this with pri- vate lenders,” the new guidance said. Taylor got his undergraduate degree from the University of Dallas using loans from the Direct Loan Program. He now has four loans totaling more than $35,000. He didn’t have a Pell Grant, so he’s eligible for only up to $10,000 in relief. “Ms. Brown believes it is irrational, arbi- trary, and unfair to exclude her from the program because her federal student loans are commercially held and not in default,” the suit says. “Mr. Taylor believes that it is ir- rational, arbitrary, and unfair to calculate the amount of debt forgiveness he receives based on the financial circumstances of his parents many years ago.” The suit says they both want a chance to comment on “any proposal from the depart- ment to forgive student loan debts.” Because they weren’t given this opportunity, the suit argues the Department of Education shouldn’t be allowed to roll out the program. In a statement to The Associated Press on Monday, White House Spokesperson Abdullah Hasan defended the program. Hasan said in the statement, “While oppo- nents of our plan are siding with special in- terests and trying every which way to keep millions of middle-class Americans in debt, the President and his Administration are fighting to lawfully give middle-class fami- lies some breathing room as they recover from the pandemic and prepare to resume loan payments in January.” In an emailed statement to the Observer, Elain Parker, president of Job Creators Net- work Foundation, cited a lack of public in- put as one of the group’s main reasons for opposing student loan forgiveness BEST HAIR SALON DALLAS OBSERVER 18-TIME WINNER BEST COLOR SALON ALLURE MAGAZINE overset BEST EXPERIENCE D MAGAZINE BEST IN THE USA HARPER’S BAZAAR BEST BRAZILIAN WAX LUCKY MAGAZINE Thank you for voting us Best of Dallas West Village 214-750-5667 • www.avalon-salon.com 9 9 dallasobserver.com dallasobserver.com CLASSIFIED | MUSIC | DISH | CULTURE | UNFAIR PARK | CONTENTS | CONTENTS | UNFAIR PARK | SCHUTZE | FEATURE | NIGHT+DAY | CULTURE | MOVIES | DISH | MUSIC | CLASSIFIED | DALLAS OBSERVER DALLAS OBSERVER OCTOBER 13-19, 2022 MONTH XX–MONTH XX, 2014
