Civil Right to Counsel
"If you are unable to afford a lawyer, one will be appointed for you." This guarantee of counsel—a bedrock of the American criminal justice system—is conspicuously absent from the nation’s civil justice system even in cases that involve the most important aspects of people’s lives, such as child custody and shelter. Fewer than 20 percent of low-income families with civil legal needs are ever able to obtain the services of counsel to help them gain access to the courts. Without the assistance of lawyers, these families are simply unable to obtain a meaningful day in court. In its failure to ensure access to lawyers in these cases, the United States stands in sharp contrast to many other countries that guarantee a right to counsel in a wide variety of civil cases.
The Brennan Center provides leadership and support to the National Coalition for a Civil Right to Counsel, and to its members in more than 31 states. We litigate cases, advance public policy campaigns, and conduct original research. We are dedicated to advancing the growing movement in the United States to ensure that low-income people have a right to counsel in high stakes civil matters.
One technique we have used to advance the right to counsel in civil cases is to participate in submissions to international bodies arguing that the United States' failure to provide legal representation to low-income people in certain categories of cases violates the United States' international obligations.
For the website of the National Coalition for a Right to Counsel, click here.
This case tests the ambit of the protection afforded by the Sixth Amendment of right to counsel.
The Brennan Center filed an amicus brief in this case is support of a right to counsel claim by an indigent parent seeking child custody.
Inter-American Court of Human Rights - Immigrant Rights
The Brennan Center participated in an amicus brief in support of a Mexican government petition to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights alleging that various types of U.S. discrimination against undocumented immigrants violate international human rights instruments.
A Legal Practice Well Worth Doing
Community lawyering models get a boost from this new study of one legal services provider.
Congress Boosts Funding for Legal Services Corporation
In tough economic times, the LSC will receive a $40 million increase in funding for FY 2009....
A Little Representation Would Go a Long Way
Signed into law today, the $787 billion stimulus package places our bets for the economy’s health on a plan promising job creation, government investment, and tax cuts....
Illustrations by Risko
The “State Basic Access Act” is a model for a narrow right to counsel which attaches only to certain high priority basic needs, defined in the Act as shelter, sustenance, safety, health, and child custody.
A task force of the California Commission on Access to Justice developed a draft statute to be used by states considering implementing or expanding the statutory right to counsel.
The Economy and Civil Legal Services
This page documents examples of the economic downturn’s impact on civil legal services for the poor.
Current Developments in Advocacy To Expand the Civil Right to Counsel
Around the country, state and local bar associations, access to justice commissions, and local advocacy groups are working to expand the right to counsel in their jurisdictions.
The Existing Civil Right to Counsel Infrastructure
A discussion of the ways in which to use existing legal infrastructure to expand the right to counsel in civil cases appeared in The Judges’ Journal.