History of Access to Justice Appropriations

When the Commission was created in 2005, the District was in a small minority of jurisdictions that did not provide public funds to address the civil legal needs of indigent residents. The Commission made its first priority the creation of a public funding stream for legal services, and in 2006 persuaded the D.C. Council to establish a landmark annual appropriation of public funds entitled the Access to Justice Program. Over the last five years, that program has infused over $15 million of urgently needed funds into the legal services network. Those funds have supported more than 30 lawyers who provide direct services to residents with acute legal issues. The program has enabled several legal services providers to establish or expand offices in the most underserved areas of the city, and more than doubled the number of attorneys working east of the Anacostia River.

Since 2009, the District's financial challenges have repeatedly imperiled these vital funds. Before the economic downturn, funding for the Access to Justice Program had climbed to $3.6 million for the fiscal year. In 2010, the program was twice slotted for severe funding cuts that would have undermined the important progress we had made in closing the justice gap. Mayor Fenty's proposed budget for fiscal year 2011 slashed the program to 50% of its fiscal year 2009 level. In response, the Commission mounted a community–wide campaign to preserve the funding. Because of these efforts, the Chief Judges of the D.C. Court of Appeals and the Superior Court, the President of the District of Columbia Bar, and twenty–five former Presidents of the District of Columbia Bar submitted letters urging the Council to preserve the funds. Group and individual letters were also submitted by nearly sixty different legal and non–legal organizations. In addition, the Litigation Section of the Bar, joined by nine other Bar sections, issued a public statement urging the Council to protect the program. Under the Commission's leadership, the District's legal community demonstrated its broad support for equal access to justice. This led the Committee on Public Safety and the Judiciary to take the unprecedented step of issuing a separate Committee Report on the importance of the Access to Justice Program. Most important, the Council restored the funding level to $3.5 million.

The Access to Justice Program was again threatened with drastic cuts in December 2010 when Mayor Fenty's Budget Gap Closing Plan proposed to cut the already–appropriated funding by more than 50%. The Commission again mobilized the legal community, persuading leaders in many legal spheres—including Stephen Zack, the President of the American Bar Association—to urge the Council to restore the funding. Again, as a result of these efforts, the Council restored most of the funding, to a level of $3.1 million for fiscal year 2011.

In 2011, the Commission's targeted advocacy with the Executive Branch helped to ensure level funding for the Access to Justice Program for fiscal year 2012. At the Commission's request, both Chief Judges of the District of Columbia Courts, the D.C. Bar President, and members of the Mayor's Transition Team sent letters to Mayor Gray urging him to preserve funding for the program. During Council budget negotiations, Councilmember Phil Mendelson, a longtime champion of the Access to Justice Program, succeeded in restoring funding to $3.2 million—the level at which the program was funded at its inception. In 2012, targeted advocacy with the Executive Branch again ensured level funding for the program for fiscal year 2013. During Council budget negotiations, Councilmember Mendelson again championed the program resulting in an increase in funding to $3.5 million.

Click here for a more detailed history of the Access to Justice Program.
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