Copyright (c) 2008 Civil Right to Counsel. All rights reserved. CRC News http://74.54.211.93/rss/ en-us 30   The inaugural issue of Civil Right to Counsel Update features articles on thinking strategically; developments in Alaska, Alabama, and Louisiana; and a recent report from the Boston Bar Association. http://74.54.211.93/news/recent_developments/14/ http://74.54.211.93/news/recent_developments/14/ Tue, 14 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0600   In September, the Alaska Bar Association's Board of Governors voted in favor of a civil right to counsel resolution that tracks the language of the 2006 ABA resolution. http://74.54.211.93/news/recent_developments/13/ http://74.54.211.93/news/recent_developments/13/ Tue, 14 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0600   A two-year fellowship at the Public Justice Center, to support the work of the National Coalition for a Civil Right to Counsel, has been funded by the ABA Section on Litigation. Working closely with NCCRC partners, the Fellow will help develop right to counsel reform efforts. The job description and information about applying are available here. http://74.54.211.93/news/recent_developments/12/ http://74.54.211.93/news/recent_developments/12/ Thu, 18 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0600   New York State Bar President Kate Madigan is featured in several radio spots produced as part of a campaign to increase public awareness of legal issues. One 60-second spot focuses on the need for a right to counsel in civil cases when basic human needs are at stake. To listen to the spot, click here. http://74.54.211.93/news/recent_developments/11/ http://74.54.211.93/news/recent_developments/11/ Tue, 16 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0600   The Boston Bar Association provides specific proposals on implementing a civil right to counsel in Massachusetts in a September 2008 report from its Task Force on Civil Right to Counsel. The report, Gideon’s New Trumpet: Expanding the Civil Right to Counsel in Massachusetts, proposes nine pilot projects in the areas of housing, juvenile, family and immigration law. [BR]     The projects would provide civil legal representation in specific scenarios, including:  parents in custody disputes where the other parent has counsel; mentally-impaired tenants facing eviction for reasons related to their impairment; low-income non-citizens seeking asylum or threatened with deportation; un-befriended seniors facing commitment to a nursing home. [BR]     The report estimates the cost of running these projects for three years at $9 million, but expects that they will demonstrate the social and economic benefits of providing civil legal representation. A press release on the report is available here. http://74.54.211.93/news/recent_developments/10/ http://74.54.211.93/news/recent_developments/10/ Tue, 16 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0600   The Judges' Journal, the quarterly publication of the ABA's Judicial Division, focuses primarily on a civil right to counsel and access to justice in the Summer 2008 issue. With an introduction by ABA President H. Thomas Wells Jr., this issue of the journal also contains contributions from former California Court of Appeal Justice Earl Johnson Jr., former California Supreme Court Justice Cruz Reynoso, and Montana Chief Justice Karla M. Gray, among others. To see the articles, click here. The discussion will continue in the Fall 2008 issue of the journal. http://74.54.211.93/news/recent_developments/9/ http://74.54.211.93/news/recent_developments/9/ Fri, 22 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0600   Attorneys have asked the Ohio Supreme Court to rule that an elderly low-income couple facing loss through foreclosure of their home of 22 years have a state constitutional right to appointment of counsel at state expense. The trial court denied the motion to appoint counsel, and the couple asked the state supreme court to hear the case. [BR]     They also asked the court to consolidate their case with all other pending foreclosure cases in their county. The following documents are posted here:  defendants' motion to consolidate, mandamus petition to supreme court, memorandum in supreme court, and motion for appointment of counsel and stay. http://74.54.211.93/news/recent_developments/8/ http://74.54.211.93/news/recent_developments/8/ Mon, 14 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0600   On July 7, 2008, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal signed into law Act 778, which provides for the appointment of counsel for a parent facing termination of parental rights in an intra-family adoption (an adoption action brought by a stepparent or family member), if that parent cannot afford an attorney. [BR]       Additionally, the act stipulates that a separate attorney will be provided for the children, that a special notice will be sent to a parent facing termination of parental rights in such a case, and that the burden of proof for the factors creating conditions for termination must be by "clear and convincing" evidence. All of these provisions had previously been in effect in Louisiana for state-initiated terminations, but not for private terminations brought about in the context of an intra-family adoption. [BR]       The statute in its final form passed both houses of the legislature without opposition. Read the full version of the act here.   http://74.54.211.93/news/recent_developments/7/ http://74.54.211.93/news/recent_developments/7/ Tue, 08 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0600   Justice Earl Johnson connects the history of legal aid in the U.S. to the effort to secure a civil right to counsel, in his keynote address at the 2008 Pathways to Justice Conference. Johnson links previous phases of the legal aid movement to what he sees as the next integral step – establishing more effective access to the courts through a guarantee of legal representation. The speech is available here. http://74.54.211.93/news/recent_developments/6/ http://74.54.211.93/news/recent_developments/6/ Tue, 08 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0600   On June 3, 2008, the North Carolina Equal Access to Justice Commission, appointed by former Chief Justice I. Beverly Lake, released a report on changes necessary to increase access to justice in the state. The commission noted that more than one-third of the state's population had incomes low enough to qualify for help from legal aid, and yet only 20 percent are able to obtain legal assistance because legal aid programs are stretched so thin. [BR]       It recommends, among other reforms, that the state increase funding for legal aid organizations and provide a statutory right to counsel in certain civil cases. http://74.54.211.93/news/recent_developments/5/ http://74.54.211.93/news/recent_developments/5/ Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0600   The Boston Bar Association’s Task Force on Expanding the Right to Counsel has been extremely active since it was launched by bar president Anthony Doniger in September 2007. Shortly thereafter, the task force became a joint effort of the Boston Bar Association and Massachusetts Bar Association. The task force began by organizing its work around the substantive areas where lack of counsel is a particular concern: family, housing, juvenile, immigration, and health and sustenance. [BR] The goal was to examine cases involving low-income parties in each substantive area, identifying the intersection of basic needs with cases in which lawyers would make a difference. The task force then surveyed judges, court personnel, private attorneys, and legal aid advocates, soliciting opinions on the types of cases in which representation is most crucial for maintaining fundamental rights. Based on this feedback, the task force developed proposals for pilot projects, examining various options for implementing right to counsel, considering delivery models, numbers of cases, cost estimates, cost savings, and stakeholder positions. [BR] Other tasks the group has undertaken include research on updating its memoranda on civil cases in which current law requires legal counsel, a memorandum on costs of counsel from the public defender’s civil docket, and updating of a list of Massachusetts fee shifting statutes. Task force members come from a variety of groups, including the state bar, women’s bar, legal aid, IOLTA, the courts, law schools, and private practice. For more information contact Jayne Tyrrell, Executive Director of the Massachusetts IOLTA Committee. http://74.54.211.93/news/recent_developments/4/ http://74.54.211.93/news/recent_developments/4/ Tue, 15 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0600   In New York City a bill is pending before the City Council that would guarantee counsel for low-income seniors threatened with loss of their homes due to eviction or foreclosure proceedings. To be eligible, the senior must be 62 years old or older and have a disposable household income of no more than $27,000. More than 20 city council members, a veto-proof majority, joined as sponsors. The City-Wide Task Force on Housing Court is coordinating advocacy on the ordinance. For more information, see the task force’s website, [BR] For video of an energetic press conference and rally held when the ordinance was introduced, click here. For press coverage of the ordinance, see this site. http://74.54.211.93/news/recent_developments/3/ http://74.54.211.93/news/recent_developments/3/ Thu, 10 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0600   An appeal is pending before the Alaska Supreme Court after a trial court ruled that the state had to provide counsel for a mother involved in a custody dispute with her child’s father, who is represented by an attorney. The mother contends she has a right to counsel under the due process clause of the state constitution. Alaskans already have a right to counsel in custody cases when one party is indigent and a public agency represents the other. [BR] The state’s Office of Public Advocacy represents people in this situation. The trial court ruled that the right extends to cases where one party is indigent and a private attorney represents the other. The case is Gordanier v. Jonsson; click here to see a copy of the court’s order granting the mother’s motion for appointment of counsel. http://74.54.211.93/news/recent_developments/2/ http://74.54.211.93/news/recent_developments/2/ Fri, 04 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0600