October 24, 2014

We must ensure everyone has access to equal justice – Globe OpEd

Neglected in today’s headlines, blogs, and talk radio is a silent, shameful crisis that inflicts suffering and costs the nation money, legitimacy, and decency. Our justice system has become inaccessible to millions of poor people and so every day, we violate the “equal justice under law” motto engraved on the front of the grand United States Supreme Court. Americans who cannot afford legal help routinely forfeit basic rights as a result. Because the law does not enforce itself, veterans seeking benefits the nation has guaranteed, victims of domestic violence needing legal protection, and tenants and homeowners pursuing their rights since the financial disaster all need advisors and guides through the law and its agencies and courts. Read more.

Martha Minow is dean of Harvard Law School, vice chair of the Legal Services Corporation, and a member of Boston Bar Association’s Statewide Task Force to Expand Civil Legal Aid in Massachusetts.