 The Center for American Progress released a Report entitled And Justice for All: Prioritizing Free Legal Assistance During the Great Recession!
According to the release site:
The Center for American Progress suggests the following in order to help manage this crisis:
- Congress should increase fiscal year 2010 appropriations for the Legal Services Corporation. They should match the corporation’s request for $485.1 million or at the very least implement the House-passed figure of $440 million. Congress should also lift current restrictions on legal services organizations when it passes appropriations legislation because the restrictions waste resources and hinder the pursuit of justice.
- Congress should pass H.R. 1728 and S. 718, which are pieces of legislation designed to expand the resources available to legal aid organizations.
- States must avoid making cuts to legal aid programs while seeking creative solutions that actually increase funding for these vital services.
- The private bar should continue to expand current efforts that are leading to increased amounts of pro bono service.
In addition to the report information, it reminds us all why public interest attorneys are necessary – to allow people of low-income or those of moderate means to access goods and services that they need to thrive, and in some instances, simply to survive.
-RFW
Filed under: 1, Law, Legal, access to justice, access to justice blog, indigent, legal aid, poverty, public interest attorney , And Justice for All: Prioritizing Free Legal Assistance During the Great Recession, appropriations legislation, Congress, Legal Services Corporation, Recession, Report, The Center for American Progress
