Legal Help for W.Va.’s Indigents Threatened
This is going to hurt West Virginia State’s indigent clients.
A new law passed by Congress entails reductions in federal government spending in programs such as agriculture, science, commerce and justice for the incoming year 2012. Specifically on justice, the so-called emergency “minibus” bill approved on Nov. 14 threatens to cut federal allocation on Legal Aid by nearly $500, 000.
Legal Aid offers free legal assistance to poor citizens who do not have the money to finance their own private lawyers. Most of the cases are about domestic issues, disagreement with landlords, bankruptcy, and claims on government benefits.
Says Adrienne Worthy, Legal Aid Executive Director, the agency is “…inevitably going to be reducing” the number of its workers if no other available funding comes in lieu of the foreseen reductions.
Worthy reveals that they have not yet agreed on which parts of the program will bear the greatest brunt of the cuts adding that they spend heavily on domestic violence. The latter tops the types of cases they handle.
The budget cut comes as West Virginia’s justice branch of government conducts statewide action towards the removal of barriers which the low-income, disabled, and illiterate face when attempting to access the state’s legal system. Led by W.Va. Supreme Court Justice Brent Benjamin, the “Access to Justice Commission” ended its six-part fora one day after Congress approved the minibus bill.
While several commission members took note of the progress accomplished through Legal Aid, the minibus bill’s passage may be putting these achievements at a screeching halt.