Civil justice lacking for Idahoans
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June 30, 2013 |
Tens of thousands of low to moderate income
Idahoans are not getting their legal needs met,
according to a University of Idaho report
released June 21.
The study, performed by the College of Law and
the Social Science Research Unit, is the first
step in identifying needs and working to make
improvements. The college and other policy
makers will use the results to make decisions
regarding how to meet the needs of underserved
populations in Idaho.
“This study confirms what many of us in the
profession have long suspected: access to civil
justice is an ideal we are far from realizing
here in Idaho,” said Michael Satz, College of
Law interim dean. “It is my intention to use
this information to show the continued need for
a strong state College of Law and the need to
provide the opportunity to train as lawyers in
the State Capitol, bringing that knowledge back
to the communities our students come from.”
The study assessed the legal needs of Idahoans
in the last year in non-criminal matters. The
study found that households with lower incomes
were less likely to get legal help than those
homes with higher incomes. Specifically, in
Idaho, households at or below 200 percent
federal poverty levels were found to be twice as
likely as the general population to have unmet
legal needs.
The study also found that Idahoans needed the
most assistance in accessing public benefits and
debt collection matters. Significant levels of
unmet legal needs were also identified in family
law cases, especially custody and child support,
housing matters, and consumer transactions.
“Providing more legal services to these Idahoans
would have a profound impact on their most basic
human needs, such as food and shelter, and the
opportunity to parent their children,” said
Patrick Costello, legal needs study coordinator
at the College of Law. “Solving this problem is
something all of us need to work toward.”
The assessment report was based on telephone
responses from 879 Idaho households, selected at
random from wireless and landline numbers,
regarding the types of civil legal needs the
respondents had in the past 12 months, whether
they obtained an attorney help to meet the needs
they had, and, if they were unable to, why they
could not.
In addition, 156 stakeholders, such as judges,
attorneys, court clerks, victim advocates and
court assistance officers, completed an online
survey as part of the needs assessment study.
More than 80 percent of the stakeholders
concluded that cost was the main reason Idahoans
were unable to obtain legal services with their
civil matters, and a majority felt that lack of
such services led to lengthening and delaying
court proceedings, and to adverse outcomes for
the parties lack attorney assistance.
State support for legal services was ranked by
respondents as the best option for addressing
unmet civil legal needs. Now that the
information is available, the College of Law and
policy makers can look at addressing those
needs.
The full report can be read at
web.cals.uidaho.edu/ssru/files/2013/06/LegalNeedsReport1.pdf.
For more information, contact emeritus professor
Patrick Costello, legal needs study coordinator
at the College of Law; Michael Satz, Interim
Dean of the College of Law; University of Idaho
Interim President Don Burnett (Dean of the
College of Law when the study was undertaken);
or Social Science Research Unit Project Manager,
Stephanie Kane. |
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