Thread by @RepJoeKennedy

Ok, Twitter. Let’s talk about Civil Gideon.

Buckle up. (1/23)

Rightfully, much of the justice reform conversation in this country centers on criminal justice.

This is a reckoning that is needed and overdue. (2/23)

But for millions of Americans, their interactions with our legal system come in the places that don’t make headlines – housing courts, family courts, bankruptcy claims, domestic violence cases, and small claims that are anything but small for low-wage workers. (3/23)

In 1963 Gideon vs. Wainwright established a right to counsel in criminal cases, understanding representation as essential to protecting every American’s 6th Amendment right to a fair trial. (4/23)

But no such right exists for civil cases. So families facing eviction, domestic abuse survivors seeking protection, workers fighting wage theft are forced to stand in court alone. While their landlord, employer, insurer, or abuser has an expensive lawyer by their side. (5/23)

(Now is the time to state the obvious: We want a system with no wage theft, no families without shelter, no domestic abuse, no medical debt. And we are fighting like hell for the kind of big reforms those issues demand – few as critical as Medicare for All.) (6/23)

But as we fight, hundreds of thousands of low-income families face a legal reckoning, today. Medical bankruptcy, today. Eviction, today. Nearly ¾ of low-income houses had some kind of civil legal problem, from housing to health care to divorce. (7/23)

Our country established @LSCtweets in 1974, to help fund civil legal aid for low-income families. But its been targeted for decades; Trump even tried to eliminate it entirely. Half of those who qualify for assistance today don't get it. That’s why we need a “Civil Gideon.” (8/23)

I was a legal aid volunteer in Boston Housing Court during the foreclosure crisis. I saw the same thing over and over: Tenants dutifully paid rent. But the landlord fell behind on mortgage. So the lender delivered eviction notices to families that had done nothing wrong. (9/23)

And those families showed up in court, to face a justice system that is supposed to be an equalizer, a backstop, a protector. Instead they found an endless and impossible maze, built only for people who could afford to hire expensive lawyers to lead them through it. (10/23)

For those who have not experienced that power imbalance, 'right to counsel' can sound odd.

Lawyers for all? (Though, the legal aid attorneys I know are some of the most brilliant and hardworking lawyers I've met – I’d guess that most folks in law would say the same) (11/23)

But it's hard to overstate what counsel means when your livelihood is at risk. In MA, 2/3 of families in eviction proceedings without representation lose their homes. Nationally, 2/3 of domestic abuse survivors fail to get restraining orders without a lawyer. (12/23)

Yet our country’s commitment to civil legal aid is as bone-thin as it is for public defenders.

So there remains a stubborn asterisk to the American promise of equal justice under law: If you can afford it.

(13/23)

Right now, we once again face an economic crisis and all the ugly words that come with it: eviction, bankruptcy, foreclosure, debt.

And once again, the poor and working class are being left defenseless as our recovery takes shape.

(14/23)

We need Medicare for All. We need shelter and sustenance for all. We need jobs and childcare and clean air and clean water for all. We also need justice for all. (15/23)

Civil Gideon does not replace bold, progressive reforms: It fortifies them. (16/23)

(Worth noting that problems with public benefits are one of the largest sources of legal aid need. When we get Medicare for All - which we will - a strong Civil Gideon will ensure patients have recourse if and when bad actors try to deny them care.) (17/23)

Right now a lack of access to basic legal services puts a price tag on our justice system. It says these protections apply only if you can afford representation. (18/23)

That’s why I started the Access to Legal Aid Caucus five years ago. It’s why my colleagues and I have fought for increased funding for civil legal aid every single year. (19/23)

And it’s why we introduced our Civil Gideon resolution this week, which I’m really proud of. We’ve got some powerful progressive voices like @RepJayapal @RepBarbaraLee @Ilhan & @repmarkpocan on it. (20/23)

We’ve also got bipartisan support with folks like @SusanWBrooks & @RepFredUpton.

And support from Congressional leaders like @BobbyScott & @RepJerryNadler (21/23)

And we’ve also got some fantastic organizations with us: @NLADA @TheNCCRC @NCLRights @WashLaw4CR @janedoe @endsxlviolence @NETWORKLobby @shrivercenter @NHLP @NLCHPhomeless @APBCo @LawyersComm @MassLawReform @BostonBar @ABAesq @NCADV @NACCchildlaw @LambdaLegal @GLADLaw (22/23)

For generations the profound injustice the poor and working class face in our civil courtrooms has persisted in the shadows.

I’ll take all the tweets in the world. Let the sunlight in.

We need a Civil Gideon.

(23/23)