THIS WEEK'S HEADLINES

1. New York-Based Challenge to LSC "Private Money Restriction" and "Physical Separation Requirement" Will Go Forward in Trial Court as U.S.Supreme Court Denies Certiorari

2. Farmworkers' Suit Alleges that Farm Violated Guest-Worker Laws by Denying Pay, Forcing Work for Arkansas Highway Department, and Retaliating for Assertions of Labor Rights

3. Twenty Families Fight Public Housing Evictions with Assistance from Legal Aid

4. To Deal With Justice Gap, "A2J" Software, Designed at Chicago-Kent College of Law, Will Ask Questions and Then Produce Papers that Law Students Can File with Court

5. New Civil Gideon Task Force Created by Minnesota State Bar Association

THIS WEEK'S STORIES

FEATURE STORY

1. New York-Based Challenge to LSC "Private Money Restriction" and "Physical Separation Requirement" Will Go Forward in Trial Court as U.S.Supreme Court Denies Certiorari

Press Release, Brennan Center for Justice, October 1, 2007

A Brennan Center press release states, "The United States Supreme Court today declined to review a case concerning the constitutionality of a federal rule that severely restricts access to lawyers for low-income people. The case now returns to the District Court. At issue in the case, Legal Services for New York City v. Legal Service Corporation, is whether legal service providers may be allowed to spend their non-federal dollars on services such as representing clients in class action lawsuits, claiming court-ordered attorneys' fee awards, or providing assistance to certain categories of legal immigrants. Under the rule, the only way for a legal aid office to use its own money to do the restricted types of work for its clients is to establish a physically separate facility, with separate staff . . . . The plaintiffs are represented by the Brennan Center Justice at NYU School of Law and private counsel." Read more about the case.

LEGAL SERVICES ACTIVITIES AND ACHIEVEMENTS

*Employment*

2. Farmworkers' Suit Alleges that Farm Violated Guest-Worker Laws by Denying Pay, Forcing Work for Arkansas Highway Department, and Retaliating for Assertions of Labor Rights

Nancy Cole, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, September 29, 2007

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports, "A federal judge in El Dorado on Thursday certified for collective action a lawsuit filed in April [2007] by six Mexican farmworkers against a Hermitage farm that employed them through a federal guest-worker program. Recruited to harvest peppers in Bradley County, the farmworkers claim that the defendants paid them less than the federal minimum wage, failed to pay them on time, used them for such unauthorized work as collecting trash for the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department, and retaliated against workers who tried to claim their labor rights." The farmworkers are represented by Tennessee-based Southern Migrant Legal Services, a project of LSC-funded Texas RioGrande Legal Aid.

*Housing*

3. Twenty Families Fight Public Housing Evictions with Assistance from Legal Aid

S.A. Reid, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, October 4, 2007

As recounted by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "About 20 families face possible eviction from public housing in a dispute with the Atlanta Housing Authority (AHA). Residents of Bowen Homes in northwest Atlanta say they're being kicked out for failing to comply with the agency's work rules. But AHA officials say they simply didn't pay their rent . . . . [LSC-funded Atlanta] Legal Aid lawyers are scheduled to interview them later today [October 4, 2007] on the specifics of their individual cases."

LEGAL SERVICES STRUCTURE

*Issues in Legal Services Delivery*

4. To Deal With Justice Gap, "A2J" Software, Designed at Chicago-Kent College of Law, Will Ask Questions and Then Produce Papers that Law Students Can File with Court

Ny Jon Van, Chicago Tribune, September 24, 2007

As the justice gap in the United States persists, innovative thinking is underway about how to provide legal assistance to low-income people who are unable to afford legal counsel. Some civil justice advocates have turned to technology as an alternative avenue to provide legal advice. As the Chicago Tribune reports, "A tool called A2J, for access to justice, grew out of a study conducted seven years ago by faculty and students at the Chicago-Kent College of Law. The A2J software, built by the Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction, is a spinoff from software designed to help teach law students. It asks questions in plain English and assembles information used to produce a legal document that can be filed in court . . . ." Partial funding for A2J was provided by LSC's Technology Initiative Grants. Read more about A2J.

CIVIL GIDEON

5. New Civil Gideon Task Force Created by Minnesota State Bar Association

Based on original reporting by Brennan Center staff

A new Civil Gideon Task Force, created by the Minnesota State Bar Association (MSBA), will explore the feasibility of developing a civil right to counsel in Minnesota. The Task Force will examine ways in which a right to counsel would affect Minnesota's existing legal services providers, the public defense system, the role of the county attorney, and the state courts. MSBA previously endorsed the American Bar Association's 2006 resolution in support of a right to counsel in high stakes civil matters. Brian Melendez, the president of MSBA, will appoint members over the coming months with the hope of convening the Task Force and commencing work in January 2008.