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ABA President William H. Neukom Urges Increase in Proposed Legal Services Funding
CHICAGO, May 27, 2008 – Providing adequate funding for the Legal Services Corporation is essential to providing access to legal representation and to the American system of justice for all.
The ABA believes that the American system of justice must be accessible to every citizen regardless of income level. We also believe that ensuring access is financially prudent because legal services can prevent more serious, costlier problems from developing. For example, every dollar spent increasing representation for victims of domestic violence saves governments about $9 that they would have to spend to deal with the consequences of ongoing abuse.
Right now, this country is meeting the needs of only 20 percent of its poor through a combination of Legal Services programs and pro bono efforts by the private bar. As a society that considers itself just, we cannot afford to shortchange our fellow citizens by failing to increase funding for the Legal Services Corporation.
We urge the Senate Committee on the Judiciary to recommend an increase in funding for the Legal Services Corporation.
Editor’s Note: Judge Lora J. Livingston, a member of the ABA Standing Committee on Legal Aid and Indigent Defense, gave testimony on behalf of the Association before the U. S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary.
The cost reduction example comes from a study by the LaFollette School of Public Affairs at the University of Wisconsin done from the Final Report of the Wisconsin Access to Justice Commission in December 2006.
Media Contacts: Warren Hazelton at 312-988-6141 or hazeltow@staff.abanet.org; or Barbara Power at 312-988-6147 or powerb@staff.abanet.org.
