June 7, 1999

The Honorable Judd Gregg
Chairman
Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, State, the Judiciary and Related Agencies
Committee on Appropriations
United States Senate
S-146A Capitol
Washington, D.C. 20510

Dear Mr. Chairman:

Soon your Subcommittee will mark up the Commerce, Justice, State appropriations bill for FY 2000. The American Bar Association urges you and your colleagues to provide adequate funding for two essential programs that help guarantee equal access to justice: the Legal Services Corporation (?LSC?) and the Federal Judiciary's Defender Services Program.

The ABA requests that your Subcommittee fund the LSC at no less than $340 million for FY 2000. The LSC, established twenty-five years ago during the Nixon Administration, is a vital component of our democratic system of government, providing access to the legal system for millions of poor Americans.

In 1997, LSC funded 269 local programs serving every county and Congressional District in the country. These programs provide direct services to individuals and families who struggle to get by on incomes below or near the poverty line as established by the Department of Health and Human Services. LSC clients include the working poor, veterans, family farmers and people with disabilities. Many beneficiaries of LSC funding were formerly middle class, but became poor because of age, natural disaster, unemployment, illness or the breakup of a family. Historically, more than two-thirds of LSC clients have been women, most of them mothers with young children. Local legal services programs make a real difference in the lives of millions of poor Americans by helping them resolve such family law cases as domestic violence, child support and divorce, and such benefit cases as wrongfully denied social security and veterans' benefits.

We understand that the Subcommittee is required to adhere to the spending caps imposed by the 1997 Balance Budget Agreement, P.L. 105-33, and, as a result, must again make tough choices with scarce resources. Nevertheless, the ABA strongly urges the Subcommittee to increase LSC's appropriation because low-income individuals and families have already borne the brunt of budget-cutting efforts in a highly disproportionate manner. While LSC received a six-percent increase in FY 99, this level of funding does not come close to meeting the national need for legal services. Even with the ever-increasing commitment of pro bono time by lawyers nationwide, surveys in most states show that only 20 percent of the legal needs of the poor are being met. Therefore, we strongly endorse the Corporation's request for $340 million for FY 2000 as a modest step toward restoring the federal contribution to a more adequate level.

The ABA also requests that your Subcommittee approve the federal judiciary's request to implement a $75 hourly rate for Criminal Justice Act (CJA) "panel" attorneys in FY 2000.

Panel attorney hourly rates, currently $45 out-of-court and $65 in-court in most judicial districts, have been increased only once since 1986 - by $5. As a result, the "real dollar" value of these rates has declined by 35% over this period. This increase to $75 per hour is critically needed now to help ensure that competent attorneys continue to take CJA cases and to avoid unnecessary delays and retrials based upon ineffective assistance of counsel challenges. We agree with the concerns expressed by Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist in The 1998 Year-End Report of the Federal Judiciary that "inadequate compensation for panel attorneys is seriously hampering the ability of judges to provide effective representation."

Your support for adequate funding for both the Legal Services Corporation and the Judiciary's Criminal Justice Act panel attorney program would be most appreciated.

Cordially yours,

Philip S. Anderson
President, American Bar Association

106th Congress Letters Home

 ·  ·  · 
Letters to the 106th Congress
Letters and Testimony
Legislative and Governmental Advocacy
ABA Home