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| Supreme Court Commission Releases Report on Public Forum Series Exploring Access to Justice |
| By State of Montana |
| Published: 12/29/2016 |
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HELENA – The Montana Supreme Court’s Access to Justice Commission is calling for action in four primary areas after concluding a year-long statewide series of public forums designed to evaluate the state of access to the civil justice system in Montana. The public forums were held in Kalispell, Great Falls, Billings, Missoula, Bozeman, Butte, and Helena between October 2015 and October 2016. The Commission brought together judges, legislators, community leaders, and organizations that serve Montanans needing assistance with legal issues to discuss pressures on Montana courts and the problems people face when they encounter barriers in gaining access to our legal system. In a report released today, the Commission found that many low- and moderate-income Montanans face legal crises arising out of housing problems, parenting and custody disputes, domestic violence, and debt collection. Montana’s veterans, a growing population of seniors, Native American communities, domestic violence victims, children, and people with disabilities all are affected by legal and non-legal problems that often go unaddressed because people do not understand how those problems are related and do not know where to go for help. Complicated paperwork, limited literacy skills, lack of education and awareness, and poor prior experiences lead to a fear of the legal system for many people. In addition, many Montanans—including many senior citizens—live in isolated and rural areas without ready access to services. The Commission report lauded successes across the State, including the Court Help Program—which has provided thousands of Montanans with “self-help” services for addressing their problems in court—and non-profit legal aid providers like Montana Legal Services Association and Aging Services’ AAA Legal Developer program, which provide legal advice and representation with online, phone, and in-person assistance to low-income residents and senior citizens. Individual Montanans voiced appreciation for these programs, and testified that they were able to overcome their legal challenges after receiving the assistance of a qualified attorney. The report found a clear consensus that more needs to be done to get legal help to people when they need it. “Access to legal assistance can help prevent people from defaulting on court notices and other legal obligations, keep them in their homes and in their jobs, find them safe shelter, provide legal protection for their children, and resolve their legal issues without burdening Montana’s court system,” the report says. Supreme Court Justice Beth Baker, who chairs the Access to Justice Commission, said the forum series also helped bring awareness to the network of resources available in different communities. “It is gratifying to see the number of Montanans working all across the state to help their neighbors,” Baker said. “At the same time, we heard consistently how their efforts fall short of making sure every Montanan has a fair shake in getting problems resolved in a fair and timely way.” Baker said these are problems that involve essential human needs—like food, shelter and health care. She added that the forums showed the need to make better use of services that currently exist and to expand the number of legal professionals available to provide needed advice and representation. The report points out that, with many legal problems like housing and domestic violence, receiving legal help at the critical time can prevent a major crisis. It recommends the following actions:
The report, and more information about the Commission, may be found on the Commission’s website, http://courts.mt.gov/supreme/boards/a2j. |
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