Copyright 1999 Newsday, Inc.
Newsday (New York, NY)
March 4, 1999, Thursday, ALL EDITIONS
SECTION: VIEWPOINTS; Page A46
LENGTH: 310 words
HEADLINE:
EDITORIAL / NEW YORK'S POOR NEED ASSURED ACCESS TO JUSTICE
BODY:
Equal justice under law is so fundamental to
the nation's jurisprudence that it's inscribed above the entrance to the U.S.
Supreme Court. But what if you have no money? Increasingly in New York, that can
mean no lawyer, no meaningful access to court and little chance of equal justice
in civil matters such as eviction and collection of delinquent child support.
What's needed is an assured revenue stream to provide indigent people with
lawyers. State court officials have fashioned a plan for just such an
access-to-justice fund. It deserves legislative support.
New York has a
noble history of providing legal counsel for the poor. Lawyers in the state
donate two million hours a year in pro bono service. Augmenting that is federal
Legal Services Corp. money and the interest from lawyer's
escrow accounts that are too small, or held too briefly, to bother complying
with income-reporting laws. Banks collect that interest and pay it to a board
that distributes it to legal-service providers.
Unfortunately, those two
sources generated only $ 28 million last year, $ 40 million less in
inflation-adjusted dollars than in 1992. As a result, poverty-law programs have
been losing lawyers, closing offices and turning away clients. A dedicated
funding stream would arrest the deterioration and provide stability.
For
revenue, court officials suggest tapping abandoned property - the bulk of it
money from unclaimed bank accounts - that now goes into the state's general
fund. Last year the state collected $ 289 million in unclaimed cash and returned
$ 60 million to people who came forward with legitimate claims.
Chief
Judge Judith Kaye wants $ 40 million of the unclaimed money to be routed
annually into the fund for legal services. That's reasonable, unless legislators
can come up with a better way to fund equal justice for all.
LOAD-DATE: March 4, 1999 
