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Cuts to legal aid harm the justice system |
01/12/2012 |
Op-Ed piece appearing in the Harrisburg Patriot-News by PLAN Board President Gerald A. McHugh and PLAN Board Member James DeAngelo outlining the effects of recent cuts to legal aid funding. |
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Legal Aid: The need is there, so should the funding |
11/21/2011 |
This editorial from the Harrisburg Patriot-News appeared on Sunday, November 20, 2011. The editorial discusses upcoming funding cuts for legal aid in Pennsylvania and urges the creation of a stable funding strategy for legal aid so the poor and needy have access to attorneys. |
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After 8 years, woman has murder charge expunged from her record |
10/20/2011 |
This article in the York Daily Record discusses the expungement of an eight-year old murder charge from the criminal record of a woman represented by MidPenn Legal Services, who represented her under its Barriers to Employment Project. The woman was charged and held for nine months without bail only to have the charges dropped a month before the trial of three others charged with the murder. The woman had been unable to find employment due to the charge appearing on her record.
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Benefits For Severely Disabled Children Scrutinized |
08/18/2011 |
This story from National Public Radio features comments from Attorney Rebeccas Vallas of Community Legal Services in Philadelphia about the possible ramification of eliminating or curtailing the SSI program for disabled children.
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Legal Aid: Changing Lives one Case at a Time |
07/21/2011 |
This feature from WGNtv.com in Chicago tells the story of a single mom with a child in college and a five-year old who was helped by Legal Aid in Chicago when faced with the termination of electric service, an electric bill of over $5,000 and threatened eviction and loss of her Section 8 voucher.
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Legal Services Corp. Faces Potential 26% Budget Cut; ABA President Voices Concern |
07/20/2011 |
This article in the American Bar Association Journal voices the concerns of ABA President Stephen N. Zack about proposed funding cuts for the Legal Services Corporation. Zack issued a statement on July 7 that criticized a subcommittee vote to slash funding stating, “Here is an important question to ask in the wake of today’s vote: The next time a major natural disaster strikes, where should its victims turn for legal assistance in putting their lives back together?” he asked. “Because today’s cuts will decimate the operations of the local legal aid providers that normally step in to help. … Congress should look for savings in programs that don’t work. LSC works for millions of Americans across the country every year.”
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The Budget-Slashing Hysteria's Latest Victim: Legal Aid for the Poor |
07/12/2011 |
This article from Mother Jones describes the possible effects of the House Appropriations Committee proposal to cut $104 Million from legal aid. If the proposed cuts do take effect, the Legal Services Corporation estimates that 235,000 people eligible for help will be turned away.
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Pa. budget brings mixed news for courts and legal services |
07/12/2011 |
This story from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette features comments from Sam Milkes, Executive Director of PLAN, about the 10 percent decrease in general state funding for legal services in Pennsylvania. Milkes described the next year as, "right there with one of the most challenging years we've experienced in the nearly 40 years of the statewide legal aid system." |
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Legal Help for Indigent Parents |
06/27/2011 |
This editorial in the New York Times responds to the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision finding an indigent parent does not automatically have a right to a court-appointed lawyer in child support collection cases and that procedural safeguards could suffice. It expresses the opinion that the Supreme Court’s ruling does not go far enough in ensuring fairness since, in civil contempt proceedings, a court may not impose punishment if it is clear that the individual is unable to comply with the order, but without a lawyer, it is very hard for defendants to show that they cannot comply.
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N.J., Pa. act to cope with insolvency in unemployment funds |
06/13/2011 |
This story by Jane M. Von Bergen from Phily.com features comments from Sharon Dietrich of Community Legal Services on the negative impact on low-income workers of a proposed system overhaul being currently negotiated by Pennsylvania legislators that would cut unemployment spending $140 million a year by curtailing eligibility, reducing the number of weeks of benefits, and making people use work severances before they can collect benefits.
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