Pro Bono News

Judges Across The Country Are Shaking Down Poor People

Wednesday, August 24, 2016

"All 50 states and Washington, D.C. have laws that say filing fees should be waived for indigent litigants?—?anyone too poor to afford them?—?so that they can still access the courts. “It’s a very universally accepted notion that if a person can’t afford even to get into court, that’s a significant barrier to justice,” said Martha Bergmark, executive director of Voices for Civil Justice.

But there’s a lot of disagreement about who counts as “poor.”

Five states have the clearest boundaries: anyone who receives government benefits and/or is represented by a legal aid group?—?given that legal aid organizations only represent people who meet certain financial criteria?—?is automatically considered too poor to pay, while another seven and Washington, D.C. give the presumption just for those on public benefits.

In another 13 states, including Montana, only those represented by a legal aid attorney are automatically assumed to be low-income. But given the dearth of legal aid groups, those are going to be pretty rare cases.

Offices across the country have had to try to do more with less in recent years as Congress has repeatedly cut funding for the Legal Services Corporation, which gives grants to programs across the country. Many have had to lay off attorneys or eliminate offices altogether. At the same time, more and more low-income people have been trying to access the courts by representing themselves. There are just 0.24 legal aid attorneys for every 10,000 poor people across the country..."

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