2019 Regular Session ENROLLED
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 105
BY SENATOR LAFLEUR
A RESOLUTION
To designate Wednesday, May 1, 2019, as Civil Legal Aid Day at the Louisiana State
Capitol.
WHEREAS, indigent citizens have no right to counsel in civil matters, yet the
outcome of civil legal matters often results in life-altering consequences; and
WHEREAS, equal access to a court system is a basic tenant of a just society and is
essential to fairness in our civil justice system; and
WHEREAS, access to legal services is a foundation of our legal system, regardless
of the ability to pay; and
WHEREAS, Louisiana's poverty rate is among the nation's highest at almost twenty
percent with estimates that two hundred thirty thousand poor Louisiana citizens will
experience a legal need each year; and
WHEREAS, in 2018, Acadiana Legal Service Corporation and Southeast Louisiana
Legal Services Corporation provided forty-eight thousand eight hundred sixty-seven people
with increased access to safety, employment, and security; and
WHEREAS, Louisiana civil legal service providers Acadiana Legal Service
Corporation and Southeast Louisiana Legal Services Corporation are cornerstones to
ensuring equal access to justice for all by providing legal representation in merited civil
cases to Louisiana's poor; and
WHEREAS, these organizations ensure that constituents in Louisiana are served,
including veterans seeking service benefits, victims of domestic violence seeking protection
from abusers, seniors fighting consumer fraud, homeowners opposing unlawful foreclosure,
and parents seeking child support; and
WHEREAS, Louisiana is one of only four states in the nation in which the state
provides no statewide appropriation nor dedicated statewide fines or fees to support
Louisiana's civil legal aid providers; and
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WHEREAS, it is the responsibility of all stakeholders in Louisiana's justice system
to ensure access to justice for all, and each year Louisiana attorneys provide hundreds of
thousands of hours in volunteer legal services; and
WHEREAS, a study commissioned by the Louisiana Bar Foundation found that the
total net social return on investment for Louisiana's civil legal aid programs during the 2018
fiscal year was nine hundred thirteen percent, or stated differently, for every one dollar
invested in Louisiana's civil legal aid providers, these programs deliver $9.13 in immediate
and long-term consequential financial benefits; and
WHEREAS, investments in civil legal aid causes a ripple effect that affects the
families served and the community at large, meaning that schools, businesses, government
agencies, and the state as a whole benefit from the resolution of civil legal problems.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
does hereby designate Wednesday, May 1, 2019, as Civil Legal Aid Day at the Louisiana
State Capitol and does hereby recognize the monumental impact of civil legal aid both for
Louisiana citizens directly receiving services, as well as the state which reaps immediate and
long-term consequential financial benefits.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
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