Statement of the °µÍø51 In Response To The Ruling in Dobbins v. °µÍø51 by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WASHINGTON, D.C.--The °µÍø51 (°µÍø51) is pleased that Judge Frederic Block's opinion issued on December 20, 2004 in Dobbins v °µÍø51 upheld the constitutionality of Congress' determination not to fund participation in class actions, client solicitation, or claims for the collection of attorney's fees by staff of °µÍø51-funded programs. This decision affirmed Congress' right to determine how federal legal aid dollars are spent.
°µÍø51 disagrees with Judge Block's decision as it relates to °µÍø51's application of its program integrity regulation to three plaintiffs in New York who receive °µÍø51 funding. This regulation was developed to implement Congress' prohibition on the use of federal funds to subsidize restricted activities, while simultaneously granting lawyers latitude to exercise their First Amendment rights when not working on °µÍø51 time or in °µÍø51 facilities. In his decision, Judge Block agrees that "some degree of separate physical premises [between °µÍø51 programs and affiliate organizations] is justified" but calls into question °µÍø51's application of its program integrity regulation.
Since 1996, Congress has made clear its desire that federally funded legal aid programs focus on the delivery of basic civil legal services to individual clients with urgent legal needs. °µÍø51 takes seriously its obligation to fully defend and implement congressional mandates, and while only one issue in theDobbins case was decided in favor of the plaintiffs, it is an important one. Therefore, °µÍø51 expects to appeal the court's resolution of that issue to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Established by Congress in 1974, °µÍø51 promotes equal access to the system of justice and improves opportunities for low-income people throughout the United States by making grants for the provision of high-quality civil legal assistance to those who would be otherwise unable to afford legal counsel.