News Story (NATIONAL)
Lucy Westcott
Newsweek
March 16, 2017
READ THE FULL STORY HERE
Tags: Funding: Federal
Organizations mentioned/involved: Voices for Civil Justice
DETAILS
“Americans believe in justice for all, not just for those who can afford it. That’s why civil legal aid is vital and why the Legal Services Corporation has enjoyed broad bipartisan support for decades,” Martha Bergmark, former president of the Legal Services Corporation, said in a statement on Thursday. “President Trump promised to help the ‘forgotten’ America, but eliminating LSC would do just the opposite. Among the many it would harm are people in red states with large rural areas, who already struggle to find the legal help they need.”
Richard Thornburgh, former Republican governor of Pennsylvania and U.S. attorney general under presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, said: “Fairness in the justice system should not depend on how much money a person has. Any proposal to cut the Legal Services Corporation would devastate the ability of civil legal aid programs to serve people in crisis, often facing wrongful evictions, mortgage foreclosures, wage claims, child custody disputes or denial of essential benefits.”