A

LEGAL SERVICES

The Great Society and Legal Assistance

The Office of Economic Opportunity began to fund lawyers for poor people in 1965. While legal-aid programs already existed in many cities, they were poorly funded and often unable to meet requests for help. The federally funded legal-services programs were designed to coordinate the provision of legal aid and to help the poor by working for social change through law. They also represented the poor in their ordinary legal troubles, such as conflict with landlords or family problems. The efforts of legal service attorneys to benefit the poor were extremely controversial. Congress regularly considered cutting back the cases that the attorneys could take.

The California Story

California legal-services attorneys, particularly the California Rural Legal Assistance (CRLA) program, brought many of the lawsuits that expanded legal protections for poor people. The CRLA also tried to work with farmworkers for better conditions in agricultural labor. They worked extensively with Cesar Chavez, a leading organizer of the United Farmworkers' Organization. Organizing for agricultural laborers was extremely controversial because of the political power of California farm owners. The CRLA was therefore the target of much criticism. The CRLA was successful in challenging cuts to public medical care in California and in challenging the use of alien farm laborers in California. In 1970 Gov. Ronald Reagan vetoed appropriation of __BODY__.8 million to the CRLA from the federal government because he objected to the program. He charged it with misuse of funds.

Response

In response to Governor Reagan's complaints President Richard Nixon appointed a commission to investigate the CRLA in January of 1971. In June the Office of Economic Opportunity made the report public, calling Governor Reagan's charges "unfounded, without merit, unfair and irresponsible." Under pressure from President Nixon, Governor Reagan reinstated the CRLA's funds. But the face-off had received national attention and provided the pretext for congressional attempts to reorganize the Legal Services Program.

Limits on Work

In 1974 Congress and President Nixon enacted limits on what legal-services attorneys could do. They could no longer represent undocumented workers, which specifically impacted California Rural Legal Assistance. Nor could they be involved in any school desegregation or abortion cases. They also could not organize low-income people or participate in demonstrations.

Politics and Organization

Congress also reorganized the Legal Services Program into the Legal Services Corporation (LSC). Sponsored in part by the American Bar Association, the reorganization was an attempt to insulate legal assistance from the dismantling of antipoverty programs that President Nixon began in the 1970s. The reorganization also gained support from those who wanted to limit the work of legal-services attorneys. They halted funding designed to meet poor communities' needs. Instead, the LSC distributed legal aid money on a per capita basis. Legal-services programs now subsidized routine legal services for poor people rather than seeking to act as a source of social change.