Legal-aid Crisis
Author | : Barbara Mantel |
Publisher | : |
Total Pages | : 24 |
Release | : 2011 |
ISBN-10 | : OCLC:777803174 |
ISBN-13 | : |
Rating | : 4/5 ( Downloads) |
Download or read book Legal-aid Crisis written by Barbara Mantel and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page 24 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: More than one in seven Americans lives below the poverty line, the highest proportion in nearly two decades, and many cannot afford a lawyer to resolve non-criminal legal problems involving such issues as spousal abuse, eviction, child custody and consumer fraud. Government-financed legal-aid programs have long helped fill the gap, but the weak economy and enormous pressure on state and federal budgets are putting those programs at risk. The Legal Services Corp., a nonprofit that distributes federal funding to civil legal-aid programs nationwide, faces potentially steep budget cuts in Congress, and some conservatives want to end the program altogether. As money for legal-aid programs shrinks, a growing number of poor people are representing themselves in court -- often to their own detriment. Meanwhile, debate continues about whether the nation's 1 million private lawyers should be required to provide free legal help to the poor.