Opinion: Congress Should Loosen Restrictions on Legal-Aid Funds

The House of Representatives should be applauded for its efforts last week to secure money for the Legal Services Corporation, a nonprofit group that supports legal aid to low-income people, but Congress needs to further loosen restrictions on how that money can be used, argues The Washington Post in an editorial.

The Legal Services Corporation, created by Congress in 1974, makes grants to legal-aid charities around the country, groups that have seen an influx of clients as the foreclosure crisis and other effects of the recession continue.

The House approved a $440-million budget on June 18 for the corporation, up from the $50-million budgeted for 2009 and allowed legal-aid lawyers who win their cases to recover lawyer’s fees from the losing party. The Post editorial says the Senate should go further and lift federal restrictions on how local legal aid groups use private donations of grants from state or local governments.

See The Chronicle’s article on the money problems facing legal-aid charities.

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