Articles Tagged with Access to justice

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OJD iForms is an easy way for self-represented litigants to produce court documents in a variety of case types including Family Law, Landlord/Tenant, and Small Claims. According to the OJD brochure, iForms “generates a correctly completed form that you can either eFile, deliver by hand, or mail to the court.”

The process is a simple one, called Guide and File. With Guide and File, the user logs in to the site, chooses the form they want to file and answers a series of interview questions, after which iForms generates a form.

There are some interviews within Guide and File that have Spanish translations. The OJD website cautions that court documents must be filed in English, or the court may reject your filing.

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U.S. Representative Nadler (D-NY) introduced this bill in Congress on 7/19/21, with bipartisan co-sponsors. The bill has been referred to the Judiciary Committee. You can track its progress from Congress dot gov:

H.R.4501 (2021): To provide for the establishment of the Office for Access to Justice in the Department of Justice, and for other purposes.

Action: 7/19/2021 Introduced and then Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary

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Memorandum on Restoring the Department of Justice’s Access-to-Justice Function and Reinvigorating the White House Legal Aid Interagency Roundtable (MAY 18, 2021 • PRESIDENTIAL ACTIONS)

Excerpt: “By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and in order to increase meaningful access to our legal system and an array of Federal programs, it is hereby ordered as follows: ….” [Link to the Memorandum at the Whitehouse website or Briefing Room or at the Federal Register (and eventually the CFR) website.]

Legal Research Tips: Researching Administrative Law: Federal and State

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Comedian Hasan Minhaj put up the website dontgetkickedout.com [link removed, website is no longer functional] to help renters / tenants struggling during the pandemic. This site has links to sites that help renters see if their building qualifies for the federal eviction moratorium, review state eviction protections during COVID-19, and locate legal aid services in their state. This comes from the May 18 episode of Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj, which explores the looming rent crises from COVID-19 and the challenges tenants face in the legal system.

[Update: see I’m Having Issues with my Landlord, What can I do? for Oregon resources]

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From the Law Librarians & Access to Justice Blog:

The Law of Prison Law Libraries,” Lewis C. Zimmerman, 2/12/18, AALL SR-SIS

The LISP/SR BLOG: Law Librarians & Access to Justice (Legal Information Service to the Public and Social Responsibilities, Special Interest Sections of the American Association of Law Libraries.)

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TED Talk: How to Put the Power of Law in People’s Hands”

Summary:
What can you do when the wheels of justice don’t turn fast enough? Or when they don’t turn at all? Vivek Maru is working to transform the relationship between people and law, turning law from an abstraction or threat into something that everyone can understand, use and shape. Instead of relying solely on lawyers, Maru started a global network of community paralegals, or barefoot lawyers, who serve in their own communities and break the law down into simple terms to help people find solutions….” [Link to Vivek Maru’s TED Talk Reading List, and link to more TED Talks on justice, law, and crime.]

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New public law librarians (MLS & MLS/JD) and new public law library employees usually have to tackle questions of Unauthorized Practice of Law (UPL) and the dreaded “Forms” questions very early in their employment (or careers, if they are in it for the long haul*).

(Non-Oregon new public law library employees reading this blog post can locate similar resources within their own state’s public law librarian world.)

FIRST AND FOREMOST:

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We can “vote” 365 days of the year, not just on election days, at least as long as our U.S. Constitution remains intact:

Every Day is “Call Government Switchboard Day” or “Talk to Your Elected Representatives Day”:

Congress (use this one for contact info and this one for Congressional activities and documents), or:

Contact Information