The San Diego Union-Tribune
Bridging the legal aid access gap
Karen A. Lash and Earl Johnson Jr.
Tuesday, December 10, 2002
Lash is associate dean at the University of Southern California
Law School. Johnson is a justice on California's Second District
Court of Appeal. Lash and Johnson are co-chairs of the California
Commission on Access to Justice. The full report can be viewed at
(www.calbar.org).
In her year-long odyssey through the California justice system,
Katherine, a 35-year-old single mother with three children,
experienced failure at every turn.
Leaving her abusive husband, she moved into the only apartment
she could afford, and soon discovered a broken toilet and non-
working oven, rats and roaches, and a fourthfloor landing with no
railing. She began withholding rent pending repairs her landlord
refused to make, but then her Medi-Cal benefits were cut off when
she could not provide rent receipts. She lost health care for her
children and herself, although she is a borderline diabetic in need
of medication and her children were suffering from rat bites.
Katherine tried to seek help through the courts. Representing
herself at an administrative hearing, she lost her appeal to
restore Medi-Cal benefits because she did not have proper
documentation of the rent account. When she went to a courthouse to
file a complaint against her landlord, she found the process so
confusing that she gave up and went home.
According to "The Path to Justice: A Five-Year Status Report on
Access to Justice in California," prepared by the California
Commission on Access to Justice, Katherine is just one of 4.6
million poor Californians whose basic civil legal needs -- often
involving such critical needs as housing, health care, education,
employment, safety and transportation -- are not being
addressed.
California has a critical dearth of legal services for the poor,
and, as this report makes clear, it is imperative that the state
join with the federal government and private funders to increase
resources so that all Californians, regardless of income, have
equal access to our justice system.
Our justice system is predicated on the assumption that both
parties will be represented by lawyers who act as gatekeepers and
guides through a complex legal system that would otherwise be
inaccessible to many of us. Unfortunately, the most vulnerable
members of our society are the least able to afford legal services.
California does have a strong network of legal aid organizations
that try to help meet the needs of the poor, but there's just one
legal aid lawyer available per 10,000 poor people. We may promise
"justice for all," but for those who can't afford a lawyer, that
promise is often a lie.
In its new report, the Commission on Access to Justice notes
some significant steps toward providing equal access to justice for
all Californians. In 1999, thanks to Gov. Gray Davis and leaders in
the Legislature, the state committed $10 million a year to legal
aid for the poor. In addition, California Supreme Court Chief
Justice Ronald George made "access to justice" issues a top
priority, and a growing community of judicial, legal and civic
leaders committed to expanding legal aid is working to ensure that
what little funding is available is used in the most efficient way
possible.
But resources are extremely limited. The combined federal and
state government support in California is at $84.5 million on legal
aid for the poor -- just $13.20 per poor person. The Commission on
Access to Justice says that government investment would have to
triple to match the investment made by comparable states and the
combined public/private investment must reach $533 million to
adequately meet the legal needs of the poor. That may sound beyond
financial reach, but it is actually only 2 percent of the amount
Californians spend on lawyers each year -- and that 2 percent would
be providing legal assistance to nearly 20 percent of the
population.
This isn't a controversial issue. Close to nine in 10 Americans
(89 percent) agree that legal help for civil matters should be
provided for low-income people, according to the commission's
report. Eight in 10 people even support the idea when it is
described as a government-funded program. Indeed, in many states
throughout the country, government funding for lega l aid doubles
or triples that of California. And democratic governments
throughout the world have recognized that government funding for
lawyers is as critical to a fair legal system as are judges, courts
and laws. For a state whose economy is the sixth largest in the
world, California should certainly be able to adequately fund free
civil legal aid.
More funding and more resources for legal services for the poor
must be a statewide priority. Recent achievements -- new government
funding, a growing community of legal aid advocates -- demonstrate
that the goal of equal access to justice for all Californians is
achievable and that the public as well as key leaders throughout
the state will support the effort.
The statistics might seem cold, but it's impossib le to remain
complacent after meeting someone like Katherine -- or a family who
has been left homeless by an illegal eviction, a senior who lost
his home to foreclosure from a crooked loan transaction, or a
domestic violence victim unable to navigate the courts to get a
restraining order. California can -and must -- do better.
