January 2001

And Justice for All

by Jan Eric Peterson, WSBA President

As this legislative session opens in Olympia, it will be with the usual fanfare, including the presentation of colors and the Pledge of Allegiance. Will the legislators fulfill that pledge, which states that our national flag stands for "one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all"? 

It does not say liberty and roads for all, nor health services, nor even education. We pledge liberty and justice. Those are the highest priorities, and it is the justice system that protects the freedoms and provides the justice. In our democracy we pledge justice for all; it must be funded accordingly.

We can't deliver on government's most fundamental promise without sufficient courts, judges, staff, lawyers and jurors. If the system is overcome with the weight of the demands on it, and if a significant percentage of the population is unable to effectively access the justice system, we will have failed and the people will have lost faith in democracy. 

The symptoms are there already: voter apathy, pathetic jury-summons response, flagging financial support, ignoring court orders and warrants, derision and lack of respect, and ultimately, growing violence. The third branch of our constitutional democracy is in trouble, and it needs the support of the legislative and executive branches.

The courts, through the Board of Judicial Administration, are recommending steps to modernize the system for greater efficiency and responsiveness. They have brought forth legislative proposals for unified family courts, maximizing the use of all judges, calendar controls, courthouse facilitators and much more. The jury commission study responds to the pathetic 20 percent summons response rate with calls for needed jury-friendly measures, beginning with at least a minimum wage of $45 a day, shorter jury terms, parking, note taking and much more. The counties, saddled with much of the burden (on average, 62 percent of counties' general fund budgets are for law and justice), might have to ask for a filing fee increase ($150?). We should support all of these efforts.

However, none of it means much to citizens without meaningful access to the system. Realistically, without professional help, a citizen doesn't get much justice. The Bar has been doing its part by supporting courthouse facilitators; opening the business of legal services to nonlawyers by proposing court rules to allow the establishment of limited practice officers; paying the interest on lawyers' trust accounts to legal services; generously supporting LAW Fund; supporting the Access to Justice Board, which coordinates legal services programs; donating millions of dollars of free legal services through pro bono work across the state; and establishing the Young Lawyers Division GAAP program of low-fee services for the working poor not eligible for below-the-poverty-line legal services. But it is not our job alone. Funding of civil legal services is the only real cost-effective solution. Many lawyers are willing to work in legal services programs for low pay, but not for no pay.

An estimated 1.2 million poor and vulnerable people in our state lack the resources or ability to resolve civil legal problems that threaten their physical safety, shelter, access to fundamentals of health care, food, decent living and working conditions, and their basic civil and human rights. They can't even afford legal help to protect children from domestic violence, eviction and homelessness, or the elderly from abuse and consumer fraud. 

The civil legal services system that we have developed is in crisis because it lacks the resources to serve more than 20 percent of those people in need. This crisis has been years in the making; eligible client populations have nearly doubled, while the legal services system capacity has been reduced by nearly 50 percent during the same timeframe. In 1980, there were 36 legal services offices in Washington with 160 attorneys, for a ratio of one to every 4,219 eligible poor people. In the year 2000, we have only 10 offices with 96 attorneys, for a ratio of one to 12,389 poor citizens. 

Financial support from the state in the current biennium is $10.8 million. An additional $4 million is needed to maintain existing levels of operation and begin the process of restoring at least to the 1980 level, when there were offices that no longer exist in Walla Walla, Moses Lake, Ellensburg, Colville, Longview, Aberdeen, Port Angeles, Mount Vernon, Bremerton, Clarkston and Port Townsend. Do the poor people of those communities not deserve legal services? Civil legal services desperately need the state's support of $14.8 million.

Legislators are well-intentioned, hard-working and underpaid public servants, and they do care what their constituents think. If enough of us speak up, we will be heard. Our legislative effort, headed by President-elect Dale Carlisle (253-620-6401); Governors Jenny Durkan, Bill Hyslop, Ken Davidson and Lucy Isaki; and our legislative advocates, John Fattorini and Gail Stone, needs volunteers. Contact Gail Stone by phone (206-733-5925), e-mail (gails@wsba.org), or mail (WSBA, 2101 Fourth Ave., Fourth Fl., Seattle, WA 98121-2330) if you are interested in helping.

The pledge of justice for all must be kept. Let's show our legislators they have constituent support for funding the third branch of government and providing justice for all. Now is the time!