Law Day recalls importance of access to justice for all
The message of Law Day, “Separate Branches, Balanced Powers,” has seldom been as timely and important as in the troubled year of 2006. The legal profession is under attack, and resources for access to justice by the poor and disadvantaged are strained. Following are excerpts from a Law Day article that was provided by the Legal Aid Bureau of Metropolitan Family Services, which is celebrating its 120th anniversary.
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The idea that everyone should have equal access to our justice system, regardless of income or status, was a radical one in 1886. Today, we accept this as one of the hallmarks of a democratic society.
Reflecting this change, 23 providers currently offer free or low-cost legal services to the unemployed and working poor in Illinois. Similar programs exist across the country.
The private bar donates countless hours to helping these agencies. Many Chicago area law firms now have full-time pro bono coordinators to manage their volunteer work.
In spite of this, only one out of six low-income households in Illinois is able to obtain assistance for the legal problems they encounter, according to a recent legal needs study done by the Lawyers Trust Fund of Illinois. A national study conducted by the Legal Services Corp. mirrors those findings.
Under pressure from the organized bar in Illinois, the state's proposed budget includes increased funding for the Illinois Equal Justice Fund, which helps support this vital work.
Legal services programs have not only provided high-quality representation to those who could not afford attorneys, but have actively fought to improve the systems that serve us all.
The Legal Aid Bureau was instrumental in founding Chicago's current municipal court system in the 1880s to replace the corrupt justice of the peace system, and worked with Jane Addams and Northwestern University School of Law to create one of the country's first law school clinics.
The bureau partnered with Northwestern and the Chicago Bar Association in 1907 to provide representation to persons accused of crimes until the office of the public defender was formed in 1930.
Federal funding for the 40-year-old Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago originally came to Chicago through the Legal Aid Bureau.
Other legal service providers, local bar associations and the private bar have been equally active in improving access to justice for all citizens, pioneering progressive legislation, working to make our court systems accessible, and demanding better services from government agencies.
Together, we have supported legislation to punish crimes against children, limit the work day, protect worker's pay and safety on the job, modernize the adoption process, provide for consumer credit reform, protect against payday loan scams, race and gender discrimination, unfair collection tactics and substandard housing, and have created real protections for victims of domestic violence.
Law Day reminds us that it is in everyone's interest to support the programs and the people who dedicate their lives to ensuring that “and justice for all” is not an empty phrase, but a promise fulfilled.