Courting Justice, A Listening Tour to Improve Access to Justice

Judicial leaders from across the country will gather several times this year to engage in a dialog with the communities they serve. This series of town hall meetings, called Courting Justice, is a partnership between the NCSC and PBS. All sessions will be broadcast in Tavis Smiley's regular programming slot. In Houston, Tavis Smiley airs on Friday evenings at 9:00 pm on PBS Channel 8.

Community leaders from disenfranchised groups and others who work in the areas of social justice and advocacy will participate in the discussions. Small business owners, faith leaders, and members of local and national bar associations will also take part. This unprecedented opportunity for judges to engage with their constituents will give voice to those who feel neglected, ignored, or denied access to the justice system. Restoring faith and trust in the judicial process will be the goal.

Future dates and locations for several additional town halls will be announced shortly. The next air dates are September 28 and 29.

Power Up at the Library

Today is Power Up Day at the Library. This initiative of the Texas Library Association was developed to raise the profile of libraries as vital technology hubs within communities.

Libraries are often thought of as repositories for books, but advances in technology and the explosion of digital content has transformed the traditional library from a purely analog institution to an innovative center of activity and services where people, ideas, and technology intersect. At the Harris County Law Library, we bring these facets together in number of ways. In general, we offer access to legal materials, in both print and digital formats; we instruct users in the selection of appropriate tools for their legal needs; we suggest strategies for locating and evaluating legal information; and we refer patrons to resources in the community when appropriate. These are the traditional roles of libraries and librarians, but performing them in fulfillment of our mission achieves, we hope, a greater good, namely, access to justice.

We recognize that navigating the legal system is difficult and daunting, and that barriers to both access and engage with the system are great, especially for those of modest means. We are committed to reducing these barriers and to facilitating the best use of our library in any way we can. Not only do we provide access to legal information resources, i.e., the substance of the law, we also guide our patrons in the use of those resources as a means to an important personal end. 

Any individual with a legal issue to resolve must learn how to access the materials in our collection and how to use them in the context of the legal system, but neither of these tasks can be accomplished without also knowing how to use technology. For many people, opportunities to use and feel comfortable with technology are limited, yet increasingly, digital literacy is a prerequisite to engaging with the legal system. Without some degree of tech proficiency, one challenge -- learning how to file a petition in civil court -- becomes two. This double deficit created by the digital divide and the justice gap is our focus. Providing basic technology skills training is one way to reduce it, and this is just one example of how we Power Up at the Harris County Law Library, bringing people, resources, and technology together to facilitate access to justice. It's what we do. 

Interpreters in the Courts, or Do you Speak Q’anjob’al?

Immigration Law Resource Month at the Harris County Law Library runs through the end of September. Until then, we will highlight immigration stories, issues, trends, and developments in the law. The lack of qualified interpreters in U.S. Courts is one such topic, which we address briefly in today's post. 

In recent weeks, several news outlets have reported on the growing need for qualified interpreters in U.S. Courts. Throughout the justice system, the shortage of those who are fluent in a second language is a problem of increasing concern. It is also a matter of equal rights, as those with Limited English Proficiency cannot engage with the legal system on an even footing. The consequences can be dire: a simple traffic offense may be misconstrued as a rape charge; an asylum-seeker facing death threats in her native Guatemala may be deported; or the misunderstanding of one’s Miranda rights may lead to self-incrimination and a denial of justice. 

The United States is one of the largest Spanish-speaking countries in the world, second only to Mexico, so the need for Spanish-language interpreters is especially great. In border states, which are common points of entry for immigrants from Central America, officials have identified another trend -- increasing numbers of immigrants who speak languages indigenous to their countries of origin. In many cases, finding translators for the regional languages of Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador is next to impossible, and justice cannot be served.

In 2014, Immigration and Customs Enforcement published a Language Access Plan, stating its commitment to serve individuals with Limited English Proficiency. Recognizing the need for interpreters who speak indigenous languages is a positive step, but actually locating third-party translators for these languages is a challenge they are still trying to meet. 

Lawyers at the Law Library

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Houston Bar Association President Neil Kelly visited the Harris County Law Library and Houston Volunteer Lawyers on September 4. In the photo from left are Parker Lee, HVL volunteer and associate with Andrews Kurth LLP; Stephanie Sommerlatte, HVL Staff Attorney; Patrick Yarborough, HVL volunteer and associate with Andrews Kurth; County Attorney Vince Ryan; Law Library Director Mariann Sears; Neil Kelly; and Alissa Rubin, Executive Director of HVL.

Source: Harris County Law Library, Photographer Joe Strange

The Harris County Law Library is pleased to announce a new program that helps litigants with limited means to speak with an attorney within steps of the courthouses in Harris County, Texas. In collaboration with Houston Volunteer Lawyers, volunteer attorneys and law students are now meeting with self-represented litigants every Wednesday and Friday from 9a.m. to 12p.m. at the Law Library's downtown Houston location. The Law Library provides support services to both the volunteer attorneys and limited-means clients by offering research and technology support, computers where self-represented litigants can access and create documents, and information about navigating the downtown courthouse complex.

Wednesday Clinics

Each Wednesday, faculty and students from Houston College of Law help self-represented litigants determine the legal information and documentation they need to represent themselves in court. The purpose of these clinics is multifaceted. Students gain professional experience and an awareness of the depth of the access to justice problems many individuals face while self-represented litigants receive assistance that makes their legal process more efficient both for them and the courts hearing their cases.

Friday Clinics

On Fridays, associates from Andrews Kurth, LLP staff clinics at the Law Library. Andrews Kurth is a Houston-based firm that is frequently recognized for its commitment to pro bono service and is listed as an Equal Access Firm by Houston Volunteers Lawyers. Additional members of Houston's legal community have pledged to staff Friday clinics at the Law Library to ensure that services remain available for those in need.

A Collaborative Effort

The initial plan to bring volunteer lawyers to the Law Library began as a collaboration between Harris County Attorney Vince Ryan and the Houston Bar Association several years ago. When the Law Library joined the County Attorney's Office in 2011, plans were laid to build out a new space for the Law Library on the first floor of Congress Plaza (1019 Congress Street) complete with offices for volunteer attorneys on the lower level. With all services operational, including those provided by the volunteer attorneys, the Law Library is more useful to the residents of Harris County than ever before and has become a great resource for anyone who must go to court without an attorney.

ABA President-Elect Embraces Legal Tech and Promotes Access to Justice

At the annual meeting of the American Bar Association, held earlier this month in San Francisco, Hilarie Bass was selected to serve as president-elect. She will take the helm of the organization in 2017 and intends to focus on two major issues -- closing the justice gap and promoting use of technology in the practice of law. She will also focus on the legal education system, working to update the existing model with more innovative approaches to learning.

Addressing the ABA House of Delegates, Ms. Bass discussed these areas of concentration in detail. She also referenced the ABA Commission on the Future of Legal Services, which was just released on August 6th. Among its many recommendations, the report advises that all members of the legal profession adapt to changes in the delivery of client services. Legal practitioners must be aware of relevant technology and know how to use it effectively, allowing for more efficient workflows and increased protection of privileged data. Innovations in technology are the key to remaining relevant in an age of rapid change, when process improvement is critical and technological proficiency is a must.

In addition to tech skills, Ms. Bass discussed the need for restored faith in the justice system, particularly among low-income citizens and those who belong to minority demographic groups. Ms. Bass feels strongly that race, gender, religion, and income should not determine one's ability to access to the legal system, and she's already taken steps to help mitigate the effect that our own implicit biases based on these characteristics can have on the administration of justice. As a member of the ABA Section on Litigation, Ms. Bass helped create the Implicit Bias Initiative, a resource to assist legal professionals in identifying their personal biases.  At the center of this initiative is a video produced by The Judicial Branch of California. It challenges viewers to examine the hidden factors that influence their decisions, exploring both the neuroscience and psychology behind the choices we make. (This is just one of many excellent videos in the California Courts Video Archive, a resource worth exploring.) 

The legal profession is changing rapidly. New approaches to the practice of law and the delivery of legal services are desperately needed. Under the leadership of Hilarie Bass, the ABA will strengthen its focus on legal education, legal tech, and the justice gap.