Copyright (c) 2010 Civil Right to Counsel. All rights reserved. CRC News http://74.54.211.93/rss/ en-us 30 The Northwest Justice Project and various other organizations have filed a class action lawsuit against the United States arguing that, among other things, that the United States has an obligation to provide appointed counsel for mentally disabled detainees in immigration proceedings under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), the Fifth Amendment, and the Rehabilitation Act. http://74.54.211.93/news/recent_developments/45/ http://74.54.211.93/news/recent_developments/45/ Tue, 10 Aug 2010 00:00:00 -0600 June 2010 Civil Right to Counsel Update Litigation Update Texas Pilots NY Task Force Named ABA Model Act & Principles Events http://74.54.211.93/news/recent_developments/44/ http://74.54.211.93/news/recent_developments/44/ Wed, 30 Jun 2010 00:00:00 -0600 The first two sentences of Texas Chief Justice Wallace Jefferson's article in the Houston Chronicle are very supportive of the expansion of the right to counsel, as he writes, "Our legal system is best served when each litigant who comes to court is represented by a lawyer.  We often fall short of this ideal."  While he goes on to discuss current efforts in Texas to improve pro se assistance (including an upcoming symposium on that topic), he concludes by saying, "We will continue aspiring toward the ideal that all litigants should be represented by competent counsel." http://74.54.211.93/news/recent_developments/43/ http://74.54.211.93/news/recent_developments/43/ Wed, 05 May 2010 00:00:00 -0600 In a Law Day speech on May 3 Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman of the New York Court of Appeals called for a guarantee of counsel for low-income people when basic needs are at stake. According to New York Times coverage of the speech, Judge Lippman said that he was "not talking about a single initiative, pilot project, or temporary program" but rather an approach that is "comprehensive, multi-faceted [and] systemic." Judge Lippman plans to hold hearings around the state, beginning in the fall, on the nature and extent of the need for counsel. Recommendations will then be made to the state legislature. [BR] According to another report, from 1010 WINS news radio, Lippman has appointed Helaine Barnett to head a task force on a civil right to counsel. Barnett recently stepped down as president of the Legal Services Corporation. Previously, at a legislative hearing in January 2010 on the state's IOLA program and the crisis in civil legal services, Judge Lippman called on the state to uphold the principle of access to justice, noting that "the spirit of Gideon applies to the civil side." With great conviction Judge Lippman described the judiciary's dismay at the hardships experienced by the skyrocketing number of low-income litigants forced to "fight alone for life's basic necessities," as well as the increasing burden low-income litigants pose for the functioning of the courts. [BR] Judge Lippman's testimony is approximately at minutes 15-25 of the video, with questions from legislators extending his appearance through minute 38. At approximately 4 hours 15 minutes into the hearing the committee patched in California Assemblymember Mike Feuer by videoconference. Feuer, sponsor of California's recently passed Sargent Shriver Civil Counsel Act (A.B. 590), described for the committee the content of the legislation and the process of getting it passed. http://74.54.211.93/news/recent_developments/42/ http://74.54.211.93/news/recent_developments/42/ Tue, 04 May 2010 00:00:00 -0600 In Dec 2008, the ABA Section on Litigation sponsored a symposium on civil right to counsel and access to justice, which brought together social scientists as well as advocates. The February 2010 issue of the Fordham Urban  Law Journal is entirely focused on that symposium and contains papers presented there. http://74.54.211.93/news/recent_developments/41/ http://74.54.211.93/news/recent_developments/41/ Mon, 26 Apr 2010 00:00:00 -0600 Materials from the day-long symposium--Civil Legal Representation and Access to Justice:  Breaking Point or Opportunity for Change--are now available. The Symposium was sponsored by the Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equality at Seattle University School of Law, University of Washington School of Law, and Gonzaga University School of Law. [BR] It was held on Feb. 19, 2010. Panels addressed Why a Right to Representation:  Laying the Foundation, Addressing the Unmet Need:  How and Whereto, Special Populations and Proceedings and Access to Justice:  Representation to Overcome Special Access Barriers, and Modeling Justice:  Achieving Justice Through Standards Lessons Learned from the U.S. Indigent Defense Experience and Civil Representation Internationally. http://74.54.211.93/news/recent_developments/38/ http://74.54.211.93/news/recent_developments/38/ Thu, 25 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0600 The Washington Supreme Court heard oral argument on Jan. 19, 2010, on whether a child has a right to counsel at an initial truancy hearing. For more information see this site's litigation page. http://74.54.211.93/news/recent_developments/35/ http://74.54.211.93/news/recent_developments/35/ Tue, 26 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0600 A New Year's Day op-ed in the New York Times by California Chief Justice Ronald M. George and New Hampshire Chief Justice John T. Broderick, Jr. describes the "unbundling" of legal services--offering clients less than full representation at a reduced cost--as one tool to address the explosion in the ranks of "the self-represented poor." http://74.54.211.93/news/recent_developments/34/ http://74.54.211.93/news/recent_developments/34/ Mon, 04 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0600 California Assembly Bill 590, which will create pilot projects to appoint counsel for low-income Californians in cases affecting basic human needs, was signed into law by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in the wee hours of the morning on Oct. 12. Named the Sargent Shriver Civil Counsel Act, the bill passed the California legislature last spring but was then caught up in California's budget crisis. However, reports of its death proved to be exaggerated; the fact of its dedicated funding source from court fees no doubt contributed to its resurrection. The projects will begin operating on July 1, 2011. AB 590 had wide support, including from both parties in the legislature and editorial support from The New York Times. And California [BR] advocates worked tirelessly to keep it prominent on the governor's radar screen. Since it became law, the legal blogosphere has trumpted the bill's significance. See, e.g., the post by Jonathan Smith, Exec. Dir. of the Legal Aid Society of DC, on makingjusticereal.org, "California takes a big step towards Civil Gideon" and John Marshall Law School Professor Steve Schwinn's post on the Constitutional Law Prof Blog, "Schwarzenegger Signs Equal Access to Justice Bill." Since it was signed, the bill has continued to receive media attention. An article appeared in The Wall Street Journal on Oct. 26, "'Civil Gideon' Trumpets Legal Discord," and the Los Angeles Times on Oct. 17 published a 1000+-word  [BR] article entitled "California Gives the Poor a New Legal Right." LA's legal newspaper, the Los Angeles Daily Journal, published a front-page article on Oct. 13: "Law Creates New Right to Counsel in Civil Cases." The legal blogosphere has also been trumpeting the bill's significance. See, e.g., the post by Jonathan Smith, Exec. Dir. of the Legal Aid Society of DC, on makingjusticereal.org, "California takes a big step towards Civil Gideon"; John Marshall Law School Professor Steve Schwinn's posts on the Constitutional Law Prof Blog: "Equal Access to Justice in California" and "Schwarzenegger Signs Equal Access to Justice Bill"; Rebecca K. Blemberg, Marquette U. Law School Faculty Blog, "California Moves Towards Civil Right to Counsel." http://74.54.211.93/news/recent_developments/32/ http://74.54.211.93/news/recent_developments/32/ Thu, 15 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0600 Legal advocates, doctors, patients rights groups, and other public interest organizations--77 in all--wrote a letter  to Attorney General Eric Holder urging him to appoint counsel for all immigrants with mental disabilities who are in removal proceedings. The signatories cite international standards favoriing a right to counsel in immigration proceedings, quote an Amnesty International report from March 2009 that found 84% of detained immigrants are unrepresented, and urge appointed counsel as a matter of due process and fundamental fairness. For more information contact Greg Pleasants, Mental Health Advocacy Services. http://74.54.211.93/news/recent_developments/30/ http://74.54.211.93/news/recent_developments/30/ Fri, 18 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0600 U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder reversed a January policy change implemented by former Attorney General Michael Mukasey, according to which noncitizens had no constitutional right to effective counsel in removal (deportation) proceedings. The Mukasey ruling, in turn, had reversed a 15-year-old precedent established in Matter if Lozada, which recognized a 5th amendment due process right to a new hearing in the case of ineffective assistance of counsel. Holder ordered the Executive Office for Immigration Review to "initiate rulemaking procedures ... to evaluate the Lozada framework and to determine what modifications should be proposed for public consideration." To read the Holder ruling click here. For a New York Times article on the Holder reversal click here. http://74.54.211.93/news/recent_developments/28/ http://74.54.211.93/news/recent_developments/28/ Fri, 05 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0600 The Massachusetts Bar Foundation hat granted $125,000 to support "Providing a Right to Counsel in Certain Eviction Cases: A Cost/Benefit Pilot Project." THe foundation hopes the project will show that assuring counsel results in both fairer case outcomes and a cost saving for the state. The project is also funded by the Boston Bar Foundation and will support staff at both Greater Boston Legal Services and Neighborhood Legal Services in Lynn. http://74.54.211.93/news/recent_developments/27/ http://74.54.211.93/news/recent_developments/27/ Wed, 06 May 2009 00:00:00 -0600 National Coalition participant Steve Schwinn, professor of law at The John Marshall Law School in Chicago, muses about—and recommends—an article from the Touro Law Review issue on civil right to counsel:  Gideon Meets Goldberg:  The Case for a Qualified Right to Counsel in Welfare Hearings, by Stephen Loffredo and Don Friedman. For the blog post click here. To view the entire Touro civil right to counsel issue click here. . http://74.54.211.93/news/recent_developments/26/ http://74.54.211.93/news/recent_developments/26/ Tue, 14 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0600 Click here to read the article. http://74.54.211.93/news/recent_developments/24/ http://74.54.211.93/news/recent_developments/24/ Tue, 24 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0600  Click here for more information. http://74.54.211.93/news/recent_developments/23/ http://74.54.211.93/news/recent_developments/23/ Tue, 24 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0600   The Washington State Court of Appeals ruled on Jan. 12, 2009 that due process requires that a child be represented in a truancy proceeding and vacated a finding of truancy because the child had not had counsel.  In its ruling the appellate court relied heavily on the lesser capacity of children than of adults to understand legal proceedings and to advocate their own interests. Click here for the court of appeals opinion. http://74.54.211.93/news/recent_developments/22/ http://74.54.211.93/news/recent_developments/22/ Tue, 13 Jan 2009 00:00:00 -0600   The New York State Bar Association House of Delegates adopted a report from the President's Committee on Access to Justice in November 2008. The report, titled "Toward a Right to Counsel in Civil Cases in New York State" is available here.Additionally, the House of Delegates approved proposals urging the state legislature to enact legislation to provide counsel for low-income people facing foreclosure or eviction proceedings, and to expand the right to counsel in unemployment insurance cases. Read the resolution here. http://74.54.211.93/news/recent_developments/17/ http://74.54.211.93/news/recent_developments/17/ Wed, 10 Dec 2008 00:00:00 -0600   An amicus brief filed by the ABA supports a right to counsel in custody disputes where one party is indigent and a private attorney represents the other party. The brief concerns an appeal that is pending in the Alaska Supreme Court in the case of Gordanier v. Jonsson. A trial court previously ruled that the state had to provide counsel for a mother involved in a custody dispute with the child's father, who is represented by an attorney. Click here to see a copy of the court's order granting the mother's motion for appointment of counsel.     [BR]     The ABA amicus brief is available here. http://74.54.211.93/news/recent_developments/16/ http://74.54.211.93/news/recent_developments/16/ Wed, 10 Dec 2008 00:00:00 -0600   The prospects for expanding a civil right to counsel in Minnesota are analyzed in a white paper prepared by the law firm of Dorsey & Whitney. The paper will help guide the work of the Minnesota State Bar Association's Civil Gideon Task Force. The paper is available here. http://74.54.211.93/news/recent_developments/15/ http://74.54.211.93/news/recent_developments/15/ Fri, 21 Nov 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   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