Page 13 - Impact: Collected Essays on Expanding Access to Justice

WhY A rIGhT: The right to Counsel and the ecology of housing Justice
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Andrew scherer1
“[T]he good we secure for ourselves is precarious and uncertain . . . until it is secured
for all of us and incorporated into our common life .”
Introduction
– Jane Addams2
There are many reasons why establishing a right to counsel for low-income tenants who face eviction in New York City would change the lives and communities of its low-income residents for the better and be good for the city . The right to counsel would help people keep their families together and stay in their homes and communities . The right to counsel would stem the loss of affordable housing . It would keep people out of homeless shelters and save them from the trauma and long-term consequences of eviction and homelessness . The right to counsel would address growing economic inequality . And the right to counsel would save government money because the cost of legal assistance would be greatly offset by the savings in keeping families together, preserving communities and preventing homelessness . These points have been made by others, as well as by me, in law review articles and in other writings .3 Arguably, many of these benefits could be achieved, albeit in the short term and to a lesser degree, by increasing the availability of counsel and not guaranteeing a right . However, this essay addresses the question of why it is so important to establish a right to counsel in eviction proceedings .
The context for this essay is the very real possibility that the New York City Council and Mayor will adopt legislation that would make New York City the first jurisdiction in the United States to
1 Policy Director, Impact Center for Public Interest Law, New York Law School and Director of the Impact Center’s Right to Counsel Project as well as author, residenTial landlord-TenanT law in new york (Thomson-Reuters 2015- 2016). The author wishes to thank the following tenant leaders from Community Action for Safe Apartments (CASA) for their thoughtful contributions to the ideas that are discussed in this essay: Joseph Cepeda, Fitzroy Christian, James Fairbanks, Paulette hew, Althea Matthews, Evelyn I. Rivera, Sigilfredo Roman, Aaron Scott and Gwynn Smalls. These ideas, expressed at a group consultation/focus group conversation that was videorecorded at CASA on November 17, 2015, are quoted and referenced throughout this essay. And this essay is dedicated to these individuals as well as the other tenant leaders and activists at CASA and other organizations throughout New York City who are advocating for a right to counsel in eviction proceedings for themselves and their fellow New Yorkers.
The author also wishes to thank the law firm Orrick for transcribing the November 17 discussion.
2 Social and political activist, author and lecturer, community organizer, public intellectual (b.1860, d.1935). Jane Addams, The Subjective Necessity for Social Settlements, in Jane addams, TwenTy years aT hull-house wiTh auTobiograPhical noTes 113, 116 (1912), available at http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/addams/hullhouse/ hullhouse.html.
3 A number of articles making these points can be found on the website of the Right to Counsel Project of the Impact Center for Public Interest Law at New York Law School. Right to Counsel Project, imPacT cenTer for Public inTeresT law, http://www.nyls.edu/impact-center-for-public-interest-law/projects-and-institutes/right-to-counsel- project/. An even more comprehensive listing of articles, reports and other documents related to the civil right to counsel can be found on the website of the National Coalition for a Civil Right to Counsel. Civil Right to Counsel Bibliographies, naTional coaliTion for a righT To counsel, http://www.civilrighttocounsel.org/resources/bibliography (last visited Mar. 9, 2016).
Specific Areas for Reform: Housing