A recent study by the state courts administrator’s research unit presents a stark view of the plight of the poor and their need for legal services.
Today, nearly 900,000 Missourians are impoverished. Twenty-one percent of those are children. Since the preceding census, the number of those falling below the poverty line increased by more than 39 percent. Of those, nearly 44 percent have jobs; another third are disabled; about 9 percent are 65 years or older.
There are about half a million veterans living in Missouri, most of whom served during war time. Nearly 8 percent live below the poverty line, and of those, nearly 39 percent have a disability. This research also illustrates that most of them have legal problems that affect their survival. Domestic violence, homelessness, mental health issues, poor health care and educational problems create a need for legal representation.
Legal services organizations seek to provide services to those in need but only can deal with approximately 80,000 problems a year. About half of those individuals who seek vitally important services from legal aid have to be turned away.
Since the economic downturn in 2007, state courts average about 10-percent more cases associated with economic hardship.
As Leon Higginbotham, judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, once said to a graduating class, “I will make two requests of you. They are, that you always attempt to see those human beings who become invisible to most people, and that you always try to hear the pleas of those persons who, despite their pain and suffering, have become voiceless and forgotten.”
But even with the help of the volunteer lawyers and the extraordinary staff in the legal services offices, we are only touching the surface. And although it cannot fill the void, many Missouri lawyers are engaging in pro bono work.
As the need to assist the public defender system has grown, creative solutions are being explored by The Missouri Bar, local bar associations, public defenders, prosecutors and judges throughout Missouri. Our courts have the inherent authority to promote the administration of justice and the constitutional responsibility to ensure that criminal defendants have adequate representation. Partnering with the courts are the local attorneys who are working diligently to deal with the dramatic shortage of representation for criminal defendants.
Service by and for members of the Bar is not confined to the courtroom. President Lynn Ann Vogel, President-elect Pat Starke and Vice President Jack Brady have worked very hard to preserve what I believe is Missouri’s greatest gift to democracy: that is, the Missouri Nonpartisan Court Plan.
This will be my last address to you as chief justice. I will continue to serve as your chief justice for the next eight months, after which I hand the reins over to my wonderful colleague, Judge Mary Russell. I look forward to many years after that as a judge on your Supreme Court.
To paraphrase Lou Gehrig: “Today I believe I am the luckiest man on the face of the earth.”
Edited from an address to the Judicial Conference of The Missouri Bar during the St. Louis annual meeting October 18.
Richard B. Teitelman is Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Missouri.
