Deja Kemp-Salliey

Why Financially Supporting Civil Legal Services is Critical to Community and Societal Stability

Why Financially Supporting Civil Legal Services is Critical to Community and Societal Stability

Under the United States Constitution, a person facing a criminal charge is granted the right to an attorney (generally termed a “public defender”) that is paid for by the government. However, no such constitutional protection for civil legal matters exists—even if the outcome of the civil legal matter is as potentially life-changing as a prison sentence would be. For civil legal matters in the U.S., individuals must pay for their own lawyer or represent themselves, though most people cannot adequately do either. A fact: people facing civil legal challenges are far more likely to win their legal cases when they have an attorney.