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November 17, 2011
NEW YORK STATE BAR ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT DOYLE SAYS
CUTS TO LSC ERODE ACCESS TO JUSTICE FOR THE POOR
"With more Americans recently pushed into poverty, cutting the Legal
Services Corporation (LSC) budget by a proposed $56 million will further
erode their access to justice and damage the legal system, "said New
York State Bar Association President Vincent E. Doyle III, after a joint
Congressional conference committee agreed to a $348 million
appropriation.
The House of Representatives was expected to approve the measure Nov.
17.
"Without adequate funding for legal services, the 'justice gap' in
the United States will continue to grow," Doyle said.
Legal services programs funded by LSC help clients deal with serious,
non-criminal legal matters such as child custody, domestic violence,
apartment evictions, bankruptcy, and accessing unemployment, Social
Security and health benefits. Today, LSC recipient organizations also
must address the increasing legal needs of veterans, active duty
military personnel and their families.
Doyle noted that, according to LSC, 63 million Americans have incomes
that are low enough to qualify for legal assistance, a 17 percent
increase since 2008.
The New York State Bar Association has supported President Obama's
$450 million funding request for LSC. The Senate approved a $396 million
appropriation for the fiscal year beginning October 1; the House, $300
million. This week, a joint conference committee agreed to $348 million.
(LSC currently receives $404 million.)
"Even at $450 million, the legal needs of most low-income people in
New York and the nation will not be met," said Doyle of Buffalo (Connors
& Vilardo, LLP). "A $450 million appropriation would be far less
than what Congress approved in 1995, which in today's dollars would be
equivalent to $605 million."
The 77,000-member New York State Bar Association is the largest
voluntary state bar association in the nation. It was founded in
1876.
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