NCJ Number
61057
Journal
Massachusetts Law Review Volume: 63 Dated: (JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1978) Pages: 9-13
Date Published
1978
Length
5 pages
Annotation
THE HISTORY, CURRENT STATUS, AND ISSUES TO BE CONFRONTED REGARDING LEGAL AID TO THE POOR IN MASSACHUSETTS ARE DISCUSSED.
Abstract
FROM 1921 UNTIL THE MID-1960S, LEGAL AID SPREAD THROUGH THE USE OF FULL-TIME LAWYERS IN LEGAL AID OFFICES FUNDED PRIMARILY BY PRIVATE CHARITY. IN THE LATTER PART OF THE 1960S, IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE FEDERAL THRUST TO AID THE POOR, PUBLIC FUNDING OF LEGAL AID EMERGED, AND A STRATEGY DEVELOPED FOR NOT ONLY HANDLING INDIVIDUAL CLIENT CASES, BUT REDUCING THE NUMBERS OF INDIVIDUAL CASES THROUGH JUDICIOUSLY SELECTED TEST CASES AND CLASS ACTIONS. ON THE CIVIL SIDE, THE ORGANIZED DEFENDER MOVEMENT HAS ALSO BEEN GROWING FROM A SMALL GROUP OF VOLUNTARY PRIVATE CHARITIES TOWARD A NATIONWIDE SYSTEM OF PUBLIC DEFENDERS SUPPORTED ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY BY PUBLIC FUNDS. THE USE OF LEGAL AID SERVICES HAS BEEN SPURRED BY RECENT COURT DECISIONS (GIDEON AND ARGERSINGER) WHICH HELD THAT INDIGENTS HAVE A RIGHT TO COUNSEL IN BOTH FELONY AND MISDEMEANOR CASES AT PUBLIC EXPENSE. THE IMMEDIATE RESULT OF THESE DECISIONS HAS BEEN AN IMPOSSIBLE OVERLOAD ON PUBLIC DEFENDERS AND A LARGE SPILLOVER TO PRIVATE ASSIGNED COUNSEL. AS CURRENTLY ADMINISTERED, IN GENERAL AND IN MASSACHUSETTS, THE INTERRELATION OF PUBLIC DEFENDERS AND ASSIGNED PRIVATE LAWYERS IS UNORGANIZED AND INEFFICIENT. ONE OF THE MOST EFFECTIVE MECHANISMS FOR INVOLVEMENT OF THE PRIVATE BAR IN LEGAL AID HAS BEEN THE LAWYERS' COMMITTEE FOR CIVIL RIGHTS UNDER LAW, WHICH WAS CREATED FOR THE DUAL PURPOSE OF RECRUITING PRIVATE LAWYERS AND LAW FIRMS TO DO PRO BONO WORK IN THE BROAD AREA OF CIVIL RIGHTS AND CHANNELING APPROPRIATE CASES TO THEM. STILL, WITH ALL THE EFFORTS TO AID THE LEGAL NEEDS OF THE POOR, A 1977 BOSTON STUDY SHOWED THERE IS STILL A SUBSTANTIAL QUANTITY OF UNMET LEGAL NEEDS AMONG THE POOR, FUNDING IS INADEQUATE AND UNCOORDINATED, PRIVATE PRACTITIONERS, LAW STUDENTS, AND PARALEGALS ARE UNDERUSED AS SUPPLEMENTARY RESOURCES, AND THERE IS NO OVERALL COORDINATION OF CURRENT AND POTENTIAL RESOURCES. (RCB)