Don't kill the Legal Services Corporation: Christian lawyer

The battle over the budget proposed by the Trump administration is just beginning, with hot debates over cuts to programs like the Public Broadcasting System. Unfortunately, one of the casualties getting less attention is the Legal Services Corporation (LSC), which provides free legal representation and access to the law for those who can’t afford it. The Trump budget would completely defund it.

The end of our Pledge of Alliance accurately states our desire for America as a society, “with liberty and justice for all.” The reality is that there is not justice for all. The lack of access to affordable legal help has reached crisis proportions in our country. Each year, millions of Americans face injustice when they cannot find affordable help for crucial life issues. Many of them are left to fight abusive spouses, unscrupulous landlords and oppressive debt collectors completely on their own.

These legal issues, in turn, lead to other critical problems such as health and medical issues, homelessness and poverty. Consider the too common plight of a single mother who receives a few traffic tickets and cannot afford to pay the fines. Without the money to pay a lawyer to appear in court to represent her, she can be arrested and serve jail time. This can cause her to lose her driver's license, job and home, causing serious harm to her child, resulting in a downward cycle of poverty.

The need for legal aid attorneys across the nation is enormous. Currently, there is barely one legal aid attorney for every 10,000 people in poverty in America. The LSC estimates 80% of the legal needs of the poor go unmet. The result is a crisis of justice.

“Justice for all” should mean justice for all Americans, not just those who can afford it. Otherwise, we will create a class of people who must live in the shadows of society, unable to protect themselves or others through the law. They will always be victims living in fear without the ability to thrive and prosper.

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It is easy to see why so many misunderstand legal aid in America. People are cynical about lawyers and have strong feelings about how to care for the poor and needy. Americans can all agree that the poor need food, shelter and other services, but do the poor really need a lawyer?

Given the high cost of legal help, the answer is yes. These vital services came into existence in part because of the always-rising costs of hiring an attorney. Even in the recent years of economic downturn, attorneys’ fees have risen 3% to 4% a year, with attorneys in top law firms charging upwards of $1,500 an hour. Justice should not be a luxury item.

At one point, the LSC did have a history of political activism, especially during the Reagan years. This caused many conservatives to look at it with skepticism. However, under the Republican Congress in the 1990s, rules were changed to address that overreach, and the LSC is now only permitted to help individual clients with their day-to-day legal concerns. Since then, it has been an organization that helps people get access to justice when they have no other means.

In the end, it is the lives that are changed every day in courts across the country that are witness to the need of the poor. And often, monumental problems can be solved with just a phone call.

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I've seen up close how successful such altruistic efforts can be. One case I worked on in law school involved a kitchen worker who changed jobs, but his former employer refused to issue his last check. He and his family needed the money to survive until his new job yielded income, but it would have cost him all the money owed him to retain a lawyer. Thankfully, it took only a phone call from a legal aid lawyer to convince his former employer to pay him.

Some say that lawyers and law firms just need to step up and volunteer more. But the LSC-funded legal aid groups provide the vital structure through which the law firms donate their pro bono work. If we kill the LSC, most law firms are not likely to set up their own legal aid programs.

The ramifications of defunding the LSC will only hurt those who are already vulnerable. America needs legal aid staff attorneys and places where other attorneys can volunteer to help the poor and needy in our cities and neighborhood. Otherwise, our country's principle of "equal justice for all" is just a sham.

AttorneyDavid Nammo is the executive director and CEO of the Christian Legal Society, which includes the national Christian Legal Aid program.Neither entity receives federal or state funding. 

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