Republicans Seek to Eliminate Legal Aid Program for the Poor

From [HERE] Buried the billions in sharp cuts to federal spending proposed by the House GOP is a $75 million reduction for legal aid to the nation's poor that would leave millions vulnerable to fradulent foreclosures and other problems, according to the nonprofit organization that provides such assistance.

In addition to cuts to the clean energy initiatives, the Environmental Protection Agency and other programs for the remainder of the current fiscal year, Republicans would cut support to the Legal Services Corporation (LSC) by 17 percent from the White House's budget request of $435 million for LSC, and a 14 percent decline from LSC's current funding level, $420 million, the LSC says in a statement.

Established in 1974, LSC is an independent, nonprofit corporation that receives an annual appropriation from Congress to promote equal access to justice and to provide for high-quality civil legal assistance to low-income individuals and families. About 95 percent of the appropriation is distributed as grants to the 136 legal aid programs, LSC says. The programs provide legal services to persons at or below 125 percent of the federal poverty guideline. 

In a statement denouncing the proposed budget cut, the LSC says the decrease would "decimate civil legal aid to low-income Americans at a time when it is most needed by the tens of millions suffering economic hardship." 

"The Constitution calls for establishing justice in its very first line, even before mentioning the common defense. Our Pledge of Allegiance proclaims our national commitment to 'justice for all.' Hard times test our values, and we cannot sacrifice equal access to justice to any year's fiscal pressures," LSC President James Sandman says. 

The proposed cut could result in the layoffs of at least 300 legal aid staff attorneys who help victims of domestic violence, keep families in their homes by averting unlawful foreclosures and evictions, help veterans and the disabled obtain benefits, protect the elderly and others from consumer fraud, and provide other services in civil cases, the LSC statement says. Programs would be forced to turn away cases except for those involving immediate issues of safety and security, and many programs serving rural areas would be forced to close offices, it adds.

Fradulent foreclosures have been a particularly pernicious problem in recent months, as news reports have indicated.

Since the 2008 recession, LSC-funded programs have been overwhelmed with requests for legal assistance by low-income Americans at risk of losing their livelihoods and their homes, the organization says. A cut in federal funds would come at a time when legal aid programs have seen significant reductions in other sources of funding, such as Interest on Lawyers' Trust Accounts and state-based resources. The LSC says the programs it funds touch the lives of about 8 million Americans annually.

LSC Board Chairman John Levi says, "Justice is a hollow promise without LSC. The Corporation and its national legal services network turn the abstraction of equal access to justice into a living, everyday reality for millions of low-income Americans. They are the most vulnerable in our society, and it is our responsibility as a country to make sure that our justice system works for them irrespective of the state of the national economy."