Author Archives: richardzorza

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About richardzorza

I am deeply involved in access to justice and the patient voice movement.

High Lifetime Chance of Being Poor Suggests a New Legal Aid/ATJ Funding Argument

Posted on July 26, 2015 by richardzorza

For decades we have been struggling with the fact that we think that many, perhaps most, people are resultant to fund legal aid, and particularly means-tested community-based legal aid because they think that it will never help them. (Incidentally, every … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget Issues, Communications Strategy, Legal Aid, Political Support, Poverty | 7 Comments

Research Suggests “In Court, Your Face Could Determine Your Fate”

Posted on July 19, 2015 by richardzorza

NPR picks up on recent research about the relationship between facial appearance and sentencing. (Full study here.) Individuals who are deemed to have untrustworthy faces are significantly more likely to be on death row compared with other people convicted of … Continue reading →

Posted in Criminal Law, Public Defender, Research and Evalation | 5 Comments

Announcing the Access to Justice Blog Board of Commentators

Posted on July 13, 2015 by richardzorza

I am pleased and proud to announce that fifteen thoughtful and distinguished friends of access to justice have agreed to become members of this blog’s Board of Commentators.  I am particularly pleased that not all are lawyers, since we have … Continue reading →

Posted in Access to Justice Generally, This Blog | Comments Off on Announcing the Access to Justice Blog Board of Commentators

The Nighmare of Website Bias — Lack of Specific Intent, And Hard to Prevent

Posted on July 12, 2015 by richardzorza

Back in the early civil rights days, the strongest argument against effective civil rights enforcement was the claim that employment discriminators, for example, were merely following the demands of the market when they hired the most “appealing” staff.  (For a … Continue reading →

Posted in Discrimination, Poverty, Technology | 1 Comment

Love’s Promises — Wonderful Book on Shaping Marriage and Family To Reflect Choice

Posted on July 11, 2015 by richardzorza

Everyone in the access to justice community knows Karen Lash as a dedicated and brilliant deputy director of the DOJ ATJ Office. Now she may be about to be even better known as the loving and loved family member portrayed … Continue reading →

Posted in Family Law, LGBT, Love, Self-Help Services | 3 Comments

World Bank Working Toward Legal Aid Outcome Measures Including Impact on Poverty

Posted on July 6, 2015 by richardzorza

This is news that might have a major long term impact.  As this blog by World Bank Senior Public Sector Specialist Paul Prettitore reports: JCLA [Jordanian CSO Justice Center for Legal Aid] and the World Bank are now designing a … Continue reading →

Posted in International Models, Outcome Measures, Poverty, Research and Evalation | 2 Comments

Mixed Thoughts on Arguments Against Comparability of Data and Goal Setting

Posted on July 2, 2015 by richardzorza

A few days ago, I blogged about recent massive reductions in heart attack deaths, and the contribution that the establishment of required reporting of comparable data, and the setting of clear goals, contributed to those improvements. While doing so, I … Continue reading →

Posted in LSC, Research and Evalation | 7 Comments

Perhaps the Most Important Thing of All About The Marriage Decision Is That It Was a Movement Victory

Posted on June 30, 2015 by richardzorza

As the plates of law and society shift under our feet, there are a thousand things to celebrate (even if some occur in the context of deep mourning). I think that for me however, after decades in which there were … Continue reading →

Posted in Political Support | 2 Comments

Reasons for Thirty Eight Percent Reduction in US Heart Attack Deaths in Ten Years Have Obvious and Detailed Implications for Access to Justice Reform

Posted on June 21, 2015 by richardzorza

It’s an amazing statistic: in just ten years, the US heart attack rate has been reduced by 38%, as reported in a wonderful and hightly suggestive article in the June 21, NYT, here. Perhaps most hopefully, in this week of … Continue reading →

Posted in Court Management, Forms, Legal Aid, Medical System Comparision, Mixed Model, Triage | 2 Comments

A Different Approach to Integrating Litigant Services and Security Screening

Posted on June 16, 2015 by richardzorza

This from Mental Floss on a better way to security screen — in this case in airports: Since 2007, the TSA has been pouring $200 million a year into agents trained to spot suspicious behavior in passengers. The program, called … Continue reading →

Posted in Security, Self-Help Services | 1 Comment

Every Community Should Have a Civil Justice Coordinator and Coordinating Council

Posted on June 13, 2015 by richardzorza

The New York City Council recently passed a bill to create an Office of Civil Justice Coordinator. The bill, which was co-sponsored by Councilman Mark Levine, would create an office within the Human Resources Administration and have a budget of … Continue reading →

Posted in Access to Justice Boards, Access to Justice Generally, Bar Associations, Budget Issues, Legal Aid, Triage | Comments Off on Every Community Should Have a Civil Justice Coordinator and Coordinating Council

Noting the Range and Significance of NSF Research Grants into Access to Justice

Posted on June 13, 2015 by richardzorza

Regular readers of this blog will not have been able to avoid the drumbeat of attention to the importance and potential of DOJ’s bringing NSF to the access to justice table.  But, I have not as yet explicitly listed or … Continue reading →

Posted in Dept. of Justice, Judicial Ethics, Plain Language, Research and Evalation, Self-Help Services, Triage, Usabilty | Comments Off on Noting the Range and Significance of NSF Research Grants into Access to Justice

Rapid California Court Rule Action Shows Momentum is Building on Fines and Fees Issue

Posted on June 8, 2015 by richardzorza

Here is the story.  On May 1, the Fresno Bee ran a story under the headline: ACLU: Traffic-ticket policy by Valley courts unconstitutional.  The core of the story follows: A court policy of making Valley traffic offenders pay fees upfront … Continue reading →

Posted in Chasm with Communities, Court Fees and Costs, Court Management, Poverty | 2 Comments

Counsel Who Won Bail Affordability Case Guest Blogs on “Human Beings in cages because they can not afford to pay money bail”

Posted on June 5, 2015 by richardzorza

This is an important post by Alec Karakatsanis, of Equal Justice Under Law, counsel in a recent victory in a case dealing with unaffordable cash bail.  The lawsuit was brought by Equal Justice Under Law and ArchCity Defenders, a non-profit … Continue reading →

Posted in Bail, Chasm with Communities, Court Fees and Costs, Public Defender, Reentry | 1 Comment

The DOJ Access to Justice Research Workshop Is An Important Achievement And A Milestone

Posted on June 4, 2015 by richardzorza

The recent Research Workshop was sponsored by NIJ (National Institute of Justice) and ATJ (Access to Justice Initiative) within the Department of Justice, and by the National Science Foundation (NSF).  Attorney General Loretta Lynch both spoke and blogged about it … Continue reading →

Posted in Access to Justice Generally, Dept. of Justice, Research and Evalation | 1 Comment