Philadelphia Bar Chancellor Joins Chorus for Civil Right to Counsel

Gaetan Alfano, the new Philadelphia Bar Chancellor, said in a speech to the bar that civil right to counsel is a priority for his term.  In his speech, he said:

Next year this Association, if we accomplish nothing else, will draft and advance a bill to make civil Gideon the law of this Commonwealth. We cannot allow our elected officials to ignore civil Gideon, simply because they may view it as too expensive or too much work. These two excuses - we can't afford it or it is too difficult - always go hand in hand with complacency. We have to fight past those excuses because persistence in pursuing a fundamental right eventually pays off.

Read more in the Philadelphia Inquirer and Legal Intelligencer.  

Philadelphia joins Connecticut's Bar in stating that civil right to counsel will be a priority in 2016.