Budget Cuts Series: Legal Aid

The Budget Cuts Series continues an examination of the White House proposed budget cuts to uncover some critical underreported defunding proposals.  We will later update based on Congressional budget proposals and actions.  This post examines the Legal Services Corporation ("LSC"), also known as Legal Aid.

Trump's budget-slashing proposals to defund Planned Parenthood and PBS have received plenty of attention. Dangerously under the radar is the threat to eliminate federal funding for the Legal Services Corporation, which distributes billions to local organizations that help provide lawyers for the poor.  Access to the civil courts to seek justice cannot be a luxury available only to those who can afford to hire a lawyer.   Preserving funding for the Legal Services Corporation should be a priority.

Trump's proposed budget would cut all funding for the Legal Services Corporation, which in recent years has provided nonprofit legal groups with billions of dollars in grants to assist low-income people.  LSC's federal funding for the current fiscal year is $385 million, but the group would be completely defunded under a plan released by the White House....

...the federal government provides $375m a year, through a 1970s-era agency called the Legal Services Corporation, to help such clients across the country. The funding has survived repeated Republican efforts to eliminate it on the grounds that it’s too costly or that the services aren’t essential...

Everyone should have competent legal advice when they need help securing veterans benefits, seeking lost wages, fighting eviction from an apartment or coping with domestic abuse.

The American Bar Association is “outraged” that the Trump administration is calling to eliminate funding for the LSC and is calling upon members of Congress to restore it, ABA President Linda Klein said in a statement.... Klein noted that LSC offices are in every congressional district and help 1.9 million people annually.

Also supporting the LSC are the heads of more than 150 U.S. law firms, who told Trump in a letter that eliminating funding would hamper their ability to provide pro bono representation because they partner with legal aid groups receiving LSC funding.  “Eliminating the Legal Services Corp. will not only imperil the ability of civil legal aid organizations to serve Americans in need, it will also vastly diminish the private bar’s capacity to help these individuals,” the letter stated. “The pro bono activity facilitated by LSC funding is exactly the kind of public-private partnership the government should encourage, not eliminate.”

Don Saunders, vice-president of civil legal services at the National Legal Aid and Defender Association and an expert on civil legal issues, said on Thursday morning that “LSC forms the backbone of the civil justice system in the United States that serves low- and moderate-income people.  You will see veterans and victims of domestic violence, victims of natural disasters, seniors – a growing population with tremendous legal needs. You will see greatly reduced resources available to make critical legal needs across the United States.”

Effective access to the civil courts requires a competent lawyer and those who cannot afford to hire a lawyer should not be shut out.

Source:

http://www.reuters.com/article/trump-legalservices-idUSL2N1GT24C
http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/trump_budget_eliminates_funding_for_legal_services_corp/
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/mar/16/legal-aid-services-cut-trump-budget-proposal