NCJ Number
127476
Date Published
1988
Length
30 pages
Annotation
This discussion of whether low-income people in the United States should have access to a minimal level of legal services concludes that access to legal services is a right under our democratic form of government.
Abstract
Equality before the law holds a privileged place in our political system, and denying equality before the law undermines the legitimacy of the system. Access to minimal legal services is necessary for access to the legal system, and access to the legal system is necessary for equality of legal rights. In addition, this equality is necessary to the legitimacy of our form of government, and a government must grant to all its citizens whatever is necessary to its legitimacy. Footnotes and discussions of several United States Supreme Court decisions