4.1 What Will Happen to Americans Who Can't Afford an Attorney?

1. What does the Legal Services Corporation do? This corporation helps poor Americans to get an attorney in civil cases, which is important the poor communities, where crime is rampant.

2. How is this different than the role played by public defenders? Public defenders must help everyone going through issues with the criminal justice system, but civil legal aid programs get their funding from parties, and private organizations to fill the gaps in public defense.

3. Which types of states end up getting the most help from this agency? States with poor funding to their legal defense system have the most help from this agency.

4. What types of cases are they typically involved in? They are typically involved in civil cases, but also in criminal ones. These are cases such as veterans benefits, domestic violence, foreclosures, and scams.

5. How do these services help save communities money? These groups help save money because then the communities' legal fees do not have to be directly paid. Also the homeless population gets cut down, which raises values of living.

6. Why can't the lawyers who work for the program advocate for the program? Lawyers cannot advocate because they are prohibited by federal laws from lobbying. Furthermore, they have to help their individual clients.

7. Why is this more prominent in rural areas than urban areas? This is more prominent in rural areas because rural areas are poorer, with poorer people, not as many resources, and more need for aid. Urban areas have more organizations and money to take care of their people.

8. Explain how this agency can be seen as an extension of 6th Amendment civil liberties. The 6th Amendment is that everyone has the "right to counsel," and this agency provides right to counsel to the underprivileged. Thus, the agency can be seen as an extension of the 6th Amendment.

9. Explain how this agency can be seen as an unnecessary government expenditure. This agency can be seen as unnecessary because it does not benefit all people and gets federal and taxpayer funding. It only benefits one group of people--the underprivileged, whom the privileged don't always want to support.