50 Years after the 'War on Poverty': Evaluating the Justice Gap in the Post-Disaster Context

17 Pages Posted: 25 Sep 2014

See all articles by Davida Finger

Davida Finger

Loyola University New Orleans College of Law

Date Written: September 24, 2014

Abstract

The Legal Services Corporation (“LSC”), formed as part of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty, was one of many initiatives aimed at providing low-income individuals with equal access to justice. Today, the increasing number of people living in poverty, coupled with decreased funding for legal services, has resulted in a significant justice gap in the provision of civil legal services. Poor people do not have the kind of access to legal services that was envisioned when the LSC was created. This justice gap is no more apparent than in the post-disaster context. For example, following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, legal services programs in Louisiana could not handle as much as ninety percent of the legal needs of low-income individuals. To more meaningfully provide legal services post-disaster, we must re-examine the entire system in which post-disaster legal services are provided.

Keywords: disaster law, law and poverty, legal service corporation

Suggested Citation

Finger, Davida, 50 Years after the 'War on Poverty': Evaluating the Justice Gap in the Post-Disaster Context (September 24, 2014). 34 B.C. J.L. & Soc. Just. 267 (2014), Loyola University New Orleans College of Law Research Paper No. 2014-13, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2500934

Davida Finger (Contact Author)

Loyola University New Orleans College of Law ( email )

7214 St. Charles Ave., Box 901
Campus Box 901
New Orleans, LA 70118
United States
504-861-5596 (Phone)

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