Page 11 - Impact: Collected Essays on the Threat of Economic Inequality

Insuring Civil Justice for All: Meeting the Challenges of Poverty
9
Honorable Fern Fisher1
There are 45 .3 million persons living in poverty in the United States .2 Poverty creates numerous challenges for individuals . Lack of affordable and livable housing, adequate healthcare, and sufficient food, and the inability to access and complete a quality education are common difficulties faced by persons living below the poverty line .3 But do persons who live in poverty fare the same as middle class and wealthy individuals when contact with the civil justice system becomes necessary? This essay discusses the particular challenges persons who live in poverty face when they encounter the civil justice system and the need for the justice system to address those challenges . Finally, some possible solutions are suggested to insure that, regardless of income level, all individuals have equal access to justice as well as actual justice .
The Scope of the Challenge
The initial problem for the courts in addressing poverty-related challenges is the lack of data regarding the demographics and backgrounds of litigants in court .4 Courts do not track income, race, ethnicity, or origin of birth . Most courts only have estimates on the numbers of unrepresented litigants . However, estimates by state courts of the numbers of litigants who appear without lawyers are indicative of the numbers of low-income individuals interfacing with the justice system;5 unrepresented litigants most often appear pro se because they cannot afford attorneys .6 Records on the use of interpreters by some courts indicate that a substantial number of court users come from many different countries and have limited English proficiency .7 While hard data is not available, it is widely known that low-income people have unique problems that the justice system must address . Collecting data in the future is essential to defining the problem fully .
1 Director, New York State Access to Justice Program and Deputy Chief Administrative Judge, NYC Courts.
2 See carmen denavas-walT & BernadeTTe d. procTor, income and poverTy in The uniTed sTaTes: 2013 12 (2014), available
at http://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2014/demo/p60-249.pdf.
3 Marlene Kim, Problems Facing the Working Poor, U.S. dep’T of laBor (June 15, 1999), http://www.dol.gov/dol/
aboutdol/history/herman/reports/futurework/conference/workingpoor/workingpoor_toc.htm.
4 “No reliable method exists for tracking the composition of the civil litigant population. Neither the gender nor the race and ethnicity of parties are recorded. For information on this subject, therefore, the Committees were required to rely largely on the impressions of the judges, attorneys, and members of the clerks’ offices. Solid statistical evidence by race and gender of litigants is available only with regard to criminal matters.” Report of the Second Circuit Task Force on Gender, Racial, and Ethnic Fairness in the Courts, 1997 ann. surv. am. l. 124, 167 (1997).
5 The Task force To expand access To civil liBerTies services in new york, reporT To The chief Judge of The sTaTe of new york 1-2 (2010), available at http://www.courts.state.ny.us/ip/access-civil-legal-services/PDF/CLS-TaskForceREPORT.pdf.
6 Id.; See also Jessica K. Steinberg, Demand Side Reform in the Poor People’s Court, 47 conn. l. rev. 741, 752 (2015) (stating that “most studies that have examined the characteristics of unrepresented litigants conclude that poverty is the primary force driving individuals to represent themselves in court”).
7 naTional cenTer for sTaTe courTs & sTaTe JusTice insTiTuTe, a naTional call To acTion: access To JusTice for limiTed english proficienT liTiganTs 2-3 (2013), available at http://www.ncsc.org/~/media/Files/PDF/Services%20and%20 Experts/Areas%20of%20expertise/Language%20Access/Call-to-Action.ashx.
The Challenge of Economic Inequality