History and function of legal services of america - Research Paper Example

This paper is in the view that inequities in the delivery of U.S. legal assistance ought to be dealt with. It is therefore recommended that a young generation of advocates for legal assistance be promoted plus the establishment of a mission of incorporating legal assistance into the promotion of human rights campaign. History and Function of Legal Services of America Legal service refers to the help or free service in the law field. In its different decisions, the Supreme Court has declared flatly that legal aid is a responsibility of a welfare state and should not at any time be viewed as a charity.

From as early as the late 1800s and all through the early 20th century years, the American legal profession conveyed its dedication to the idea of free legal aid for the poor. This would be in form of bar association, legal aid committees and legal aid societies. Since 1964, the government of the United States has backed its dedication to equal justice under the law through offering federal financing for civil legal assistance to individuals with low-income (Auerbach, 1977). . This was the first agency that offered legal aid to people no matter their sex, race or nationality (Auerbach, 1977).

Other municipalities also followed in this direction and most major cities had new legal aid offices in the first decades of the twentieth century. Legal Services Corporation (LSC) A corporation controlled by a nonpartisan, independent Board was created by the LSC Act. It was appointed by the President and affirmed by the Senate. Of the eleven members, there were no more than six members belonging to the same political party. Attorneys had to make a majority of the board and it was to be inclusive of persons who would actually be qualified for legal services.

Additionally, the board was to in general represent the organized bar, lawyers offering legal aid to the poor and the public at large. The corporation was entitled to obtain federal financing and make grants to local legal services programs that were independent (Subrin & Woo, 2008). President Gerald Ford appointed the first LSC Board which was confirmed in mid-1975. The decisions made by the board on the major policy issues expressed a desire to make sure that the individuals who were poor had legal representation that was effective and an appreciation of the merits that the existing delivery system had.

Most of the effort by the corporation initially went into acquiring more financing from Congress in order to expand the reach of the legal services program. In 1977, without substantial argument, the Corporation was reauthorized for three more years. There was clarification as well as lifting of some restrictions. LSC started focusing on making the local programs more effective through the improvement of the evaluation and monitoring systems. By 1981, the LSC was