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Shadow Report to the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

In 2007 advocates submitted a “shadow report” to the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, arguing that people of color, being disproportionately poor, are disproportionately harmed by the lack of civil counsel and that access to counsel is a critical component of access to justice. Structured as a Response to the 2007 Periodic Report of the United States of America on Compliance with the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the report, entitled Access to Civil Justice:  Racial Disparities and Discriminatory Impacts Arising from Lack of Access to Counsel in Civil Cases, is available here.

A Right to Counsel for Children in Abuse and Neglect Cases

The American Bar Association Section of Litigation Children’s Rights Litigation Committee (CRLC) is actively involved in the effort to ensure a child’s right to counsel in dependency cases—those in which the state has or may remove children from the custody of their parents following charges of abuse or neglect.

In the summer of 2007 the CRLC commissioned research into whether a right to counsel for children could be found in the constitution of each state and, if not, the likely success of a legislative approach in the state.

The CRLC is also working with advocates to draft a model law on the representation of children in abuse and neglect cases and has convened a strategy group to discuss the most effective ways to promote a child’s right to counsel.

Developments that preceded the work of the CRLC include the 2005 federal district court ruling in Kenny A. v. Perdue that the Georgia constitution, which mirrors the U.S. Constitution, gives children a right to counsel in abuse and neglect proceedings.

Another important development was the convening in January 2006 of children’s law experts from around the country at the conference Representing Children in Families: Child Advocacy and Justice Ten Years After Fordham.

Finally, in April 2007 First Star released a Report on a Child’s Right to Counsel that kicked off a national campaign to establish a child’s right to counsel.  To learn more, contact Cathy Krebs.

Resources:

A Child's Right to Counsel: First Star's National Report Card on Legal Representation for Children. First Star, 2007.

Expediting Permanency: Legal Representation for Children in Palm Beach County. Chapin Hall Center for Children at the University of Chicago, 2008.

Children's Constitutional Right to Counsel in Dependency Cases." Erik Pitchal. Temple Political & Civil Rights Law Review, Summer 2006.

Legal Representation for Immigrants and Refugees

 The vast majority—some 80 percent—of the more than 300,000 immigrants detained for civil immigration removal proceedings are not represented by attorneys. These immigrants face proceedings that are adversarial and pit the detainee, who is likely to have minimal education and limited English proficiency, against a trained prosecutor before an administrative law judge. Victims of persecution and torture are forced to pursue asylum claims on their own, as are immigrants seeking the protection that federal law confers on trafficking victims and victims of domestic violence.

Representation makes a critical difference. According to Department of Justice data, immigrants represented by counsel were eight times as likely as unrepresented claimants to be granted asylum.

Advocates have succeeded in lobbying Congress for significant funding for pro bono programs to recruit, train, supervise and mentor pro bono attorneys in immigration removal cases, including the legal orientation program administered by the executive office for immigration review through a subcontract with the Vera Institute of Justice. For more information, contact Christopher Nugent.