Nan Aron - Liberty and Justice for All: Public Interest Law in the 1980s and Beyond

Public Interest Law in the 1980s and Beyond

Nan Aron

with a foreword by
Shirley M. Hufstedler

First published 1989 by Westview Press, Inc.

Published 2018 by Routledge
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Copyright 1989 Taylor & Francis

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Aron, Nan.
Liberty and justice for all.
Includes index.
1. Public interest lawUnited States. I. Title.
KF390.5.P78A96 1989 349.73 88-17396
347.3

ISBN 13: 978-0-367-00703-4 (hbk)

"Liberty and justice for all" has been an expression of pious hope in America rather than a reality since the Republic was founded. Until well into this century, civil courts were primarily employed to settle the property disputes of the gentry, and criminal courts functioned to punish the transgressions of the unrepresented poor. In the past fifty years, countless people have struggled to transform millions of Americans' forlorn hopes for justice into real access to the justice system. It is doubtful that these changes would have happened without the efforts of public interest firms. Public interest lawyers opened the doors of courtrooms and legislatures to speak for those who were given no speaking parts and to speak for interests that will ever be speechless.

Despite the impact of public interest lawyers on society in general and on the justice system in particular, there is no book compiling the recent history of public interest law, describing the persons and institutions who practice it, and explaining how they do what they do. That is, there was none until Nan Aron wrote Liberty and Justice for All: Public Interest Law in the 1980s and Beyond. This book does all of that and more.

Liberty and Justice for All gives encouragement to law students to enter the field of public interest law. It is useful for anyone interested in American institutions; it is indispensable for those who practice with, for, or against public advocacy organizations. Finally, Liberty and Justice for All alerts the general public to the significant contribution of public interest lawyers to improving the quality of the decisions affecting all of our lives.

Shirley M. Hufstedler

JAMES WEILL, Children's Defense Fund
NANCY CRISMAN, Advocates for the Public Interest
NANCY DAVIS, Equal Rights Advocates
FRANCES DUBROWSKI, Natural Resources Defense Council
JOAN GRAFF, Employment Law Center
CARLYLE HALL, Center for Law in the Public Interest
GAIL HARMON, Harmon & Weiss
LaMAR HAYNES, National Education Association
ALAN HOUSEMAN, Center for Law and Social Policy
MARSHA LEVICK, NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund
JUDITH LICHTMAN, Women's Legal Defense Fund
LAURA MACKLIN, Institute for Public Representation
ARMANDO MENOCAL, Public Advocates
MARIO MORENO, Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund
DAVID NEUMEYER, Food Research Action Center
SUSAN CARY NICHOLAS, Women's Law Project
ALEXANDER POLIKOFF, Business and Professional People for the Public Interest
FLORENCE ROISMAN, Roisman, Reno & Cavanaugh
NORMAN ROSENBERG, Mental Health Law Project
ROBERT SCHWARTZ, Juvenile Law Center
MARK SILBERGELD, Consumers Union
BRUCE SILVERGLADE, Center for Science in the Public Interest
HENRY SOCKBESON, Native American Rights Fund
JANET STOTLAND, Education Law Center
JOEL THOMAS, National Wildlife Federation
LOUISE TRUBEK, Center for Public Representation
ELLEN VARGYAS, National Women's Law Center
JOAN VERMEULEN, New York Lawyers for the Public Interest
DURWOOD ZAELKE, Sierra Club Legal Defense and Education Fund

The intention of this book is to provide a better understanding of the mission of public interest lawyers and stimulate thought about ways to energize and build a movement that advances social justice. I could not have succeeded in this effort without the help and support of many individuals and institutions. I wish to express my appreciation for their assistance. I am very grateful to the Board of Directors of the Alliance for Justice for its wisdom in establishing the Alliance and for its continuing support for this book and other important projects.

I profited from discussion with many public interest lawyers, activists and foundation officers. These individuals, who are listed in , gave generously of their time. A few merit special attention. Charles Halpern and the staff at the Council for Public Interest Law, who wrote Balancing the Scales of Justice: Financing Public Interest Law in America, provided a wonderful model for me to follow.

I am grateful to Susan Kalish, who helped prepare some of the chapters, and to Monica Hauck for conducting the survey of public interest law firms. Nancy Broff, David Cohen, Frances Dubrowski, Henry Fleisher, Chester Hartman, Leslie Proll, and William Taylor gave useful advice and ideas. I thank Mary Searcy and Janet Lieberman for not only their help with proofreading and typing the manuscript but also their good humor. Joel Thomas and Muriel Ebitz were responsible for preparing the figures. David Altschuler provided invaluable assistance in analyzing the data survey. Finally, Veida Dehmlow deserves special thanks for copyediting the manuscript.

Several foundations made it possible for the Alliance to undertake this effort. They include the Aetna Life and Casualty, The Field, New-Land, Norman, and Charles H. Revson Foundations, and Rockefeller Family Associates. However, the views expressed and statements made in the book are solely my responsibility.

Finally, I owe special thanks to my family, Bernie, Nick, Emma, and Elena, without whose contribution this book would have been finished much sooner, but without whose support and encouragement it might not have been finished at all.

Nan Aron

Public Interest Law: An Essential Component of the American Legal System