Access to justice.

• Author: Kaimowitz, Gabe
• Position: Letters - Letter to the editor

In their solutions to give the lower classes "access to justice," the Florida Supreme Court chiefjustice and the Florida Bar president are trying to lead us where this organization tried and failed to go more than 45 years ago. They once again are envisioning a state answer to a national problem. See Russell Troutman et al., v. Sergeant Shriver, director of the Office of Economic Opportunity ("OEO") and the United States of America, 273 F. Supp. 415 (M.D. Fla. 1967), affd, 417 F.2d 171 (5th Cir. 1969).

Troutman, who became a Florida Bar president, wanted "the privilege and obligation of providing legal services to those who could not otherwise obtain representation but he did not want to compete with federally funded attorneys." Several local Florida bar associations agreed. All were denied standing to object to creation of a federally funded legal services program.

The plaintiffs clearly were not happy with the limited role of Bar organizations in the federal law: "The (OEO) Director shall make arrangements under which the State bar association and the principal local bar associations in the community to be served by any proposed project authorized by this paragraph shall be consulted and afforded an adequate opportunity to submit, to the Director, comments and recommendations on the proposed project before such project is" "approved or funded, and to submit, to the Director, comments and recommendations on the operations of such project, if approved and funded. 42 U.S.C.A. 2809(a)(3)."

In those OEO years, several Florida Bar members, including former Attorney General and U.S. Congressman Bill McCollum (R-Fla) worked to limit federal funding and curtail the activities of the lawyers serving the poor. Gov. Claude Kirk (R-Fla)...