NC missing good investment by cutting civil legal aid

Resources are at the heart of access to justice, and we need to make funding for legal aid a priority.

Op-Ed (North Carolina)

Kirk Warner
News & Observer (Raleigh, NC)
October 1, 2015
READ THE FULL STORY HERE

Tags: Access to Justice Commissions, Benefits of Legal Aid: Economic, Funding: State & Local

Organizations mentioned/involved: North Carolina Equal Access to Justice Commission (NCEAJC)


DETAILS

Civil legal aid provides important return on investment for taxpayers, businesses and communities. A lack of access to justice for some is a burden to all. Strengthening civil legal aid saves taxpayers and businesses money, restores communities and boosts local economies.

In 2013, the N.C. Equal Access to Justice Commission, a commission of the N.C. Supreme Court, released a report demonstrating that the economic impact of legal aid is over $48 million annually. For every dollar spent by the state to provide legal services, nearly $10 flows into the economy.

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Legal aid is not only cost-effective, it also preserves the basic human needs of North Carolina’s most at-risk citizens – children, seniors, disabled veterans and our poor. Resources are at the heart of access to justice, and we need to make funding for legal aid a priority.