Justice for all

Legal aid deserves support

Justice is and always has been a fundamental American value. The framers of our Constitution were explicit in declaring that one of the main reasons for having a constitution was “to establish justice,” listing it ahead of “insure domestic tranquility” and “provide for the common defence.” They recognized how central this value is to a free and fair society worth defending.

We know that when someone is charged with a crime, that person has the right to an attorney. But what about a woman who needs an order of protection after her abuser gets arrested for punching her in front of their small children? Or a family defrauded by a scam artist who promised to repair their flood-stricken home? People who face serious crises like these have no right to a court-appointed attorney and usually do not have the financial resources to hire an attorney.

Arkansas’ two legal aid programs— the Center for Arkansas Legal Services and Legal Aid of Arkansas—deliver life-changing legal help to families in every county of the state. Together, these programs help more than 10,000 of our neighbors each year with a combined staff of only 50 attorneys.

They leverage private support for their efforts: In 2016, they recruited 533 attorneys to take pro bono cases at an estimated value of more than $1.3 million. And they use technology to provide information to the public so that people can understand their rights and better navigate the court system if they cannot afford an attorney.

Unfortunately, the demand for legal aid far outstrips the resources that our state’s programs have. Arkansas receives less than $11 in funding for every legal-aid-eligible Arkansan each year. If we had the resources of our neighboring states, legal aid would be able to almost double the number of families it helps.

For now, tens of thousands of people in our state must fend for themselves in court, creating major inefficiencies in our justice system and reducing the chances that legal problems will be resolved on their merits. If this problem continues, the public will lose trust in our courts and their capacity to deliver fair results.

Rural communities will especially suffer as the number of private lawyers who live there dwindles. Fewer law school graduates are returning to the towns where they grew up. That can leave towns with no one to help with the kinds of everyday legal problems that most Arkansans face at some point. Legal aid is often the only remaining source of help available to fill the void.

We should all support a robust system of legal aid. Members of Congress should fully fund Legal Services Corporation, which provides the majority of financial support for civil legal aid in the nation and in Arkansas. According to the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, Legal Services Corporation “pursues the most fundamental of American ideals and it pursues equal justice in those areas of life most important to the lives of our citizens.”

Despite broad bipartisan backing, federal funding for legal aid has been steadily declining since 2010, while the number of people who qualify for legal aid has grown. In addition, while most states provide general revenue funds to support the delivery of legal aid, Arkansas does not.

Finally, the Arkansas Access to Justice Commission’s initiatives deserve our attention and support. We must face the growing reality that most people who have legal problems are no longer hiring private attorneys. Whether it’s that they do not recognize their problem to be legal in nature or because of ample low-cost online alternatives, it is clear that the market is changing in ways that we must adapt to and embrace.

The commission has proposed rule changes that give attorneys the ability to provide “limited scope” representation as an alternative for those who would otherwise forgo legal representation altogether. Our court has adopted several of these proposed rules, clearing the way for viable business models that make legal representation more affordable and accessible for ordinary folks, and that offer paying work for lawyers in a largely untapped market of prospective new clients.

As the Arkansas Supreme Court’s liaison to the commission, I am proud of the progress that we are making and am grateful for the tremendous work that our staff and commissioners have undertaken to advance the cause of justice. I am especially thankful for the work that pro bono attorneys and the dedicated staff of our legal aid programs do every day to bring hope to Arkansas families who would otherwise have nowhere to turn.