29 Mar, 2024
2 mins read

Why legal aid matters | opinion







wherry

When I speak to civic groups about Alpine Legal Services, I’m surprised how many people have heard of us but aren’t sure what we do.

People also tell me they don’t realize the right to legal representation applies mostly to criminal cases. They didn’t know that those facing a life-altering civil legal matter — an eviction, a protection order from abuse and violence, a custody case, an emergency guardianship — are most often not entitled to an attorney. That’s where civil legal aid comes in. That’s what we do.

Alpine Legal Services has been around in one form or another since 1987. A group of lawyers saw the need to uphold justice for people who had strong cases but didn’t know how to present them and couldn’t afford to hire an attorney. They saw people walking away from our justice system feeling powerless and resentful. They realized that if you want to live in a safe and stable community, you can’t have people thinking our system of justice is not for them. They knew a true system of justice required not only fair and impartial judges, but advocates on both sides, to get to the truth and uphold the law, regardless of someone’s ability to pay a lawyer, or social status.

Right now, you can think of Alpine Legal Services as an emergency room for legal aid. We get more requests for aid than we can handle, so our necessary and calculated response is to triage the most critical civil legal aid cases and help get people stabilized. We are short-staffed (spoiler alert: legal aid attorneys who can afford to live in our area are not easy to come by), so our main criteria for meeting with a client at this time is whether someone is at risk of

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The insurance industry is hiring

In Friday’s national jobs report, you’ll see the number of people employed at insurance carriers and related activities went up last month, with 15,000 new jobs. There are now just under 3 million people employed in that industryabout 3% more than during the Before Times, in February 2020.

There are a few reasons for this growth. One is that, as the pandemic moves into a new phase, Americans are more worried than they used to be that things will go badly. Another is, when it comes to weather in particular, things have been going badly.

How badly? Well, forget April showers. this year, there was April hail, March tornadoes and February flooding. All of which caused massive damage.

“We’re seeing in response to that, companies are looking to add employees, particularly around staffing their claims,” said Jeff Rieder, who leads Ward Benchmarking, an insurance consulting practice that’s part of the company Aon.

For example, insurers might need to hire more adjusters to go out into the field to look at the damage caused by all that weather. Meanwhile, Rieder pointed out that there have been a lot of increases in insurance pricing.

“Many companies are experiencing revenue growth that’s supporting their staffing,” he said.

The pandemic has also made people more attuned to the likelihood of bad events happening, which can make them more inclined to buy insurance.

“It just grows the need, or the perception of the need, for the product,” said Matthew Palazola, an analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence.

That demand for insurance products is driving the need for more underwriters, the people who assess risk and determine how much to charge for policies, along with agents and brokers to sell those policies.

There are also potential jobs in the industry for people who understand

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Our View: Civil legal aid is falling short, hurting all of us

Too many Maine residents aren’t able to get the legal representation they need.

No, we’re not talking about those charged with crimes — though we absolutely could be.

Instead, we’re talking about people who need civil legal aid to help them entangle a variety of messy problems with the potential to upset their lives.

Legislators are struggling to fix an indigent criminal defense program that they’ve been allowed to fall apart. Filling the gaps in aid for civil complaints, however, is much easier.

A bill before the Legislature is asking for $11.2 million over the next two years to be distributed through the Civil Legal Defense Fund, which supports the work of providers of civil legal services in Maine.

Unlike the criminal side, there is no constitutional right to representation in civil matters. Still, these organizations provide crucial legal aid to tens of thousands of Mainers in every county every year.

They help folks who otherwise could not afford to fight eviction and foreclosure, or at least to improve the terms. They advocate for Mainers with disabilities when they are discriminated against in housing, employment and education. They make sure veterans and others get access to the services and programs they qualify for. They help protect victims of domestic violence and sexual assault so that they can feel safe at work or school. They help people recover money they’ve lost through scams and exploitation.

Without them, more Mainers would be struggling to get by. More would be left without the resources they need to stay housed, fed and engaged in their lives.

Ultimately, that all costs far more than simply making sure that laws are followed and that people have access to state and federal assistance, which we know lifts people out of poverty and gives them the breathing room

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Legal Assistance of Olmsted County celebrating 50 years of service – Post Bulletin

ROCHESTER — Legal Assistance of Olmsted County is marking five decades of providing meaningful access to justice to people who need it most.

Since 1973, volunteer lawyers, board members and staff with LAOC have helped thousands of people through difficult life events — eviction, domestic violence, custody disputes — ensuring poverty does not stand in the way of having a legitimate voice in the legal system.

Legal Assistance of Olmsted County is one of only two single-county legal organizations in Minnesota helping people in poverty and those who are marginalized to resolve critical life-altering legal issues.

“The legal assistance that LAOC provides to those in poverty is critical to our community,” LAOC Executive Director Karen Fairbairn Nath said in a statement regarding the anniversary. “Our goal is to improve legal outcomes and stability for families and individuals living in poverty in the community. Providing civil legal aid services strengthens and stabilizes not only the individual and the family, but the community as a whole.

“There is no doubt that the impact of providing legal aid has a deep, far reaching and lasting impact on the individual and family and has a ripple effect on the community itself as a whole. This community is only as strong as its weakest link.”

To recognize five decades of service, LAOC will host a ribbon-cutting with the Rochester Area Chamber of Commerce at 4 pm March 23 at 1700 N. Broadway Ave., Suite 124.

LAOC is also marking its 50th anniversary with a year-long fundraising campaign, with the goal of raising $50,000 to support the critical work it does in the community. Even though LAOC was able to assist more than 2,400 people in 2022, the organization continues to experience a waitlist.

“Now more than ever legal aid is critical for those in need,”

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10 Types of Great Prospects You Can Find All Around You

Insurance agents have a major advantage over financial advisors. Most financial advisors are looking for prospects who have assembled a substantial nest egg. You often hear “$250,000 minimum” mentioned. In our town, one financial advisory firm has lettering on its front window that includes “Starting at one million dollars.”

Insurance agents do not have the same prerequisites. They might also carry investment products and they can work with clients who can buy coverage and build wealth through their monthly cash flow.

Isn’t that a down market? Isn’t everyone going upmarket today? Years ago, The Economist magazine ran the obituary for Kemmons Wilson, who started the Holiday Inn chain. When asked by friends why he was not opening luxury hotels for wealthy people, but setting up “motor lodges” for regular families on driving vacations, he said something like, “The good lord made more of them.”

Let’s get back to insurance agents and building businesses. Insurance agents know they have many products at their fingertips. There are people with needs all around them. It’s time to identify people with needs and see if you can help them.

Check out the gallery for 10 types of people who are all around you that can benefit from your help.

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US court strikes down domestic violence gun law

Protesters holding signs against gun violence

Protesters holding signs against gun violence

A US court has struck down a 30-year-old law that barred people under domestic violence restraining orders from owning guns.

The court, as part of the ruling, dismissed charges against a Texas man found guilty of harassing and stalking his girlfriend and also in possession of arms despite a ban.

The decision follows a Supreme Court ruling in June expanding gun rights.

The US justice department is expected to appeal against the order.

Attorney General Merrick Garland said that Congress had determined the law “nearly 30 years ago”.

“Whether analyzed through the lens of the Supreme Court precedent, or of the text, history, and tradition of the Second Amendment, that statute is constitutional,” Mr. Garland said in a written statement. “Accordingly, the Department will seek further review of the Fifth Circuit’s contrary decision.”

In the case of New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v Bruen, the Supreme Court ruled that restrictions against gun owners must be “consistent with this nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation”.

Although 5th Circuit Judge Cory Wilson said banning people under domestic violence restraining orders from owning firearms was intended to “protect vulnerable people in our society”, he said the Bruen ruling essentially nullified that consideration.

The ban as it applies to this case, Mr. Wilson said, was something that “our ancestors would never have accepted”.

Police in Texas had found guns at the home of Zackey Rahimi who was subject to a civil protective order that banned him from harassing, or threatening his ex-girlfriend and their child. The order also barred him from keeping firearms.

A federal grand jury indicted Mr Rahimi, who pleaded guilty. He later challenged his indictment, arguing that the law that prevented him from owning a gun was unconstitutional.

A federal court ruled

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NY immigrants need legal services, healthcare, advocates say

ALBANY — Immigration advocates want more from Gov. Kathy Hochul’s plan to address the rights of people seeking shelter in New York amid an ongoing influx from the southern border and war-torn countries like Afghanistan and Ukraine.

Hochul’s proposal mainly extends funding to existing programs, such as those run by the state‘s Office of New Americans, that provide free legal and employment services for asylum-seekers, and refugee resettlement programs, which partners with nonprofits statewide to house refugees.

Programs that provide employment training and help with job placement will also receive more funding, according to the 278-page briefing book that accompanied Hochul’s State of the State speech on Tuesday.

But her plans didn’t address the major reforms that advocates have championed heading into the legislative session: a statewide right to legal representation for people facing deportation.

The bill backed by the New York Immigration Coalition would make New York the first state in the nation to ensure immigrants have a lawyer when undergoing frequent labyrinthine immigration court proceedings. Because those courts deal with civil cases, people are not guaranteed a lawyer the same way they would be in a criminal court.

“When they go into these proceedings, ordinary folks are up against a government-trained attorney whose sole purpose is to get them out of the country,” said Murad Awawdeh, executive director of the coalition.

According to a 2018 analysis published in the Fordham Law Review, undetained asylum-seeking immigrants with a lawyer won in 74 percent of their cases, while those without a lawyer won only 13 percent of their cases.

State Assemblywoman Catalina Cruz, who represents parts of Queens with high concentrations of undocumented immigrants, is sponsoring what’s been called the Access to Representation Act. “We want to take advantage of immigrant labour, but when it comes to defending

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After 32 years in prison, the woman was released with help from a new CA law, the non-profit group Unite the People

It’s a moment 50-year-old Ranza Marshall never thought would come.

“I’m just blessed to still have my parents and I’m just so happy to be able to start over again,” Ranza said.

On Friday she walked out of the California Institution for Women after serving 32 years behind bars for her role in an armed robbery of a jewelry store where the owner was shot.

“First, I just want to go home and just really take in my parents because they’ve been here since day one,” Ranza said.

In 1990 Ranza was convicted of charges including robbery and attempted murder even though she never pulled the trigger.

Ceasar McDowell, CEO of Unite the People, a non-profit organization that promotes social justice said, “She got caught up in something that she shouldn’t have but it was something she didn’t do.”

Unite the People provided affordable legal services to Ranza to help get her out of prison.

Rosemary Chávez, chief counsel for Unite the People, said, “There’s so much potential in that building and in this person. People are not disposable.”

Under a new California law, McDowell said Ranza’s attempted murder conviction could be dismissed because she was not the shooter and never meant to kill anyone.

Last month a judge represented Ranza and granted her parole.

McDowell said, “The opportunity they give us when they come to us to help reunite them with their family, that’s big for all of us.”

Ranza’s mother, Arwilda Marshall said, “She’s here now so from today we go forward.”

Ranza said, “New start, new mindset and I want to give back to my community and I want to be successful.”

Unite the People plans to be by Ranza’s side during the entire re-entry process back into society which will include her going back to school

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Court: UK plan to send asylum-seekers to Rwanda is legal

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s High Court ruled Monday that a plan to send asylum-seekers on a one-way trip to Rwanda is legal but the government must consider the circumstances of each case before deporting anyone, a judgment that sets the controversial policy up for further legal battles.

Eight asylum-seekers, aid groups and a border officials’ union filed lawsuits to stop the Conservative government acted on a deportation agreement with Rwanda that is intended to deter migrants from trying to reach the UK on risky journeys across the English Channel.

The UK plans to send some migrants who arrive in the UK as stowaways or in small boats to the East African country, where their asylum claims will be processed. Those granted asylum would stay in Rwanda rather than returning to the UK

“The court has concluded that it is lawful for the government to make arrangements for relocating asylum-seekers to Rwanda and for their asylum claims to be determined in Rwanda rather than in the United Kingdom,” said Clive Lewis, one of two justices who made the ruling.

But he added that the government “must decide if there is anything about each person’s particular circumstances” which means they should not be sent to Rwanda. He said the government had failed to do that for “the eight individual claimants whose cases we have considered.”

The British and Rwandan governments welcome the ruling. UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman — who has called the Channel crossings an “invasion of our southern coast” — said the government would press on with the plan and “defend against any further legal challenge.”

“Our groundbreaking migration partnership with Rwanda will provide individuals relocated with support to build new lives there, while disrupting the business model of people-smuggling gangs putting lives at risk through dangerous and illegal small

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Julie Gunnigle can keep us safe and keep people out of prison

With contradictory abortion bans on the books – one from 1864 and another from earlier this year, neither with exceptions for rape or incest – the election underway right now is more critical than ever.

Extremist health-care bans are not what Arizonans want. When I am elected county attorney, I will not – not now and not ever – waste taxpayer resources by prosecuting anyone for seeking, supporting or providing private and personal health care, including abortion.

By contrast, for several months, my opponent was deliberately unclear about his own stance, contributing to the fear and confusion over Arizona’s dueling bans, and indicating in multiple settings that all options are on the table when it comes to prosecuting people for abortion services.

Then one month ago, my opponentmaricopa-attorney-candidate-debate-mcqzmk/” data-t-l=”:b|e|inline click|$u” class=”gnt_ar_b_a”lost her cool in a debate, insisting that having a position in advance was inappropriate. Only a couple weeks later, she herself took an advance position, admitting that since neither Arizona law allows for women to be charged, she won’t seek charges against them.

I’ll hold the county attorney’s office truly accountable

Julie Gunnigle, the Democratic candidate for Maricopa County Attorney, stands in The Arizona Republic's studio during a debate with her republican opponent Rachel Mitchell in Phoenix on Tuesday, Oct.  4, 2022.

It’s anyone’s guess what she says next time.

But what my opponent left unsaid is the most important part: She’ll still go after the doctors and nurses administering abortions, which means, you guessed it, there will be no medical professionals willing to perform these procedures in the state of Arizona – life saving or not.

She’ll make it a risk too great. Women will die.

another view:Progressive prosecutors like Gunnigle only bring chaos

My opponent’s legacy of misleading the public and wasting resources is in line with the broader pattern of waste, corruption and misguided priorities in her office.

while making sweetheart deals for the privileged like former state

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