is a diverse group of more than 170 organizations and individuals committed to ensuring that poor people throughout Massachusetts have access to the courts when they have a civil (non-criminal) legal problem.
The Coalition includes representatives from the private bar, legal services programs, community organizations, business, health care, labor, government, religion, law, and many other fields. EJC members are united in the belief that adequate funding for civil legal aid is needed to make the constitutional imperative of "justice for all" a reality.
The EJC works to increase the state appropriation (budget line item 0321-1600, the Massachusetts Legal Assistance Corporation) for civil legal aid. EJC staff and volunteers educate the public, lawmakers and news media about the cost savings and benefits to the Commonwealth resulting from its investment in legal aid.
After Congress imposed severe cuts and restrictions on legal aid programs in 1996, an ad hoc Commission on Equal Justice was established in Massachusetts to assess the impact of the federally imposed changes on low-income Massachusetts residents. The Commission recommended increased funding for legal aid.
The EJC was created by the Massachusetts and Boston Bar Associations and the Massachusetts Legal Assistance Corporation in 1999 to implement the Commission's recommendations. The EJC has focused on expanding access to justice through support for state funding for legal aid.
2009 marks the 10th anniversary of the EJC's advocacy efforts. Over the past 10 years, the EJC-led funding campaigns have been successful in protecting the legal aid appropriation when the Governor vetoed the entire line item in 2003 as well as, in better years, increasing the appropriation by more than a million and a half dollars. |
