{"id":11559,"date":"2012-12-01T13:16:34","date_gmt":"2012-12-01T18:16:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sidebarforplaintiffs.naomifein.net\/?p=11559"},"modified":"2012-12-05T07:49:18","modified_gmt":"2012-12-05T12:49:18","slug":"tipping-the-scales-in-housing-court","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sidebarforplaintiffs.naomifein.net\/?p=11559","title":{"rendered":"“Tipping the Scales in Housing Court”"},"content":{"rendered":"

The night after I appeared in Housing Court, I read this terrific opinion piece in the Times by a guy named Matthew Desmond<\/a>, an assist prof of sociology and social studies at Harvard, whose special concentration (and he’s writing a book on it) is urban poverty and eviction.<\/p>\n

When you go to Housing Court, you live among what Professor Desmond is describing: poor people whose landlords are evicting them. The landlords themselves don’t show up; they send their lawyers. The poor people, though, usually have no lawyers. It is simply awful to see.<\/p>\n

My lawyer and I have talked about the problem of being poor, with a civil court case, and the near-impossibility for poor people (law forms and courts often use the rather elegant and stigmatizing Latin expression, in pauperis<\/em>) to find lawyers to represent them in civil matters. The various Legal Aid offices are hard-pressed to represent criminal defendants and usually have no resources to represent civil defendants. It’s heartbreaking and foolish.<\/p>\n

Thanks to Gideon v. Wainwright<\/a> (1963), indigent defendants in criminal cases have a right to be represented by a lawyer, as Prof. Desmond says, “on the grounds that a fair trial was virtually impossible without a lawyer.”<\/p>\n

A subhead insert in this powerful piece reads Represent poor tenants, reduce evictions. <\/strong>Yes.<\/p>\n

I intend to do fierce research into the problem of how people who can’t afford paying a lawyer can pursue a lawsuit. I have some information now, but not nearly enough. I’ll be gathering specific legal resources for people without money. That doesn’t mean I’ll come up with a lot but I will come up with something.<\/p>\n

That doesn’t solve the problem. What will is governmental funds for Legal Aid offices and personnel specifically designated to represent poor people in civil cases.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The night after I appeared in Housing Court, I read this terrific opinion piece in the Times by a guy named Matthew Desmond, an assist prof of sociology and social studies at Harvard, whose special concentration (and he’s writing a … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[337],"tags":[436],"class_list":["post-11559","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-legal-news","tag-law-and-the-courts"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t