Directory of Idaho Legal Services Federal Court Pro Bono Program
Expanding Access to Justice for Diverse Litigants in Federal Court
In Harper Lee’s book To Kill a Mockingbird, her character, Atticus Finch, delivers a courtroom speech that articulates the paradigm for our judicial system. In his closing argument to the jury Atticus says:
“[T]here is one way in this country in which all men are created equal– there is one human institution that makes a pauper the equal of a Rockefeller, the stupid man the equal of an Einstein, and the ignorant man the equal of any college president. That institution, gentlemen, is a court. . . . Our courts have their faults, as does any human institution, but in this country, our courts are the great levelers, and in our courts all men are created equal.”
Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird 188 (Lippincott 1960).
In the U.S. District Court – District of Idaho, we are working to achieve equal access to justice through the Court’s Pro Se Pro Bono Program. The purpose of the program is to locate and appoint pro bono counsel for pro se cases which appear to have meritorious claims. The cases referred to the Pro Bono Program are previously screened by the Judges and staff attorneys prior to the appointment of counsel. The pro bono appointments provide an opportunity for attorneys to research and litigate issues involving Constitutional and federal statutory law. Accepting a pro bono case is also an excellent opportunity for less experienced attorneys to litigate in federal court.
The Court does not expect pro bono counsel to bear the cost of litigation expenses in these cases. Attorneys can initially request $1,500 to cover litigation costs, and then subsequent requests for additional costs will be granted upon a showing of good cause. Although the Program funds are not unlimited, the amount provided to pro bono counsel is typically adequate to cover the major litigation costs in a case. Attorneys are requested to reimburse the fund if they obtain a costs award in the case.
For cases involving inmate litigants, the issues on which counsel have been appointed fall mainly within violations of the Eighth Amendment right to adequate medical and psychiatric care. For example, a newly admitted attorney in eastern Idaho agreed to represent an indigent inmate who was facing imminent deportation. The inmate had been injured in a car accident while being transported to an immigration hearing, and the Defendants allegedly failed to provide medical care for the inmate. Some vertebra in the inmate’s neck had been broken in the accident. The attorney agreed to take the case with only three weeks to prepare for trial, and he was able to negotiate a generous settlement on the eve of trial. Other Eighth Amendment cases have involved the failure to diagnose and treat cancer and the failure to treat hepatitis C. The Court has also appointed counsel to represent inmates on disability discrimination claims under the Americans with Disabilities Act, involving such issues as the failure to provide hearing aids and wheelchair repairs.
Pro Bono attorneys have also represented inmates in First Amendment claims and for violations of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. The religious discrimination cases involve the issue of an inmate’s right to designate his religion and then be accommodated in his religious worship observances and rituals.
The Court also appoints pro bono counsel for cases filed by non-prisoner pro se litigants, seeking relief in employment discrimination claims and appeals of social security disability determinations. There is always a substantial need for pro bono attorneys who are fluent in either a foreign language or sign language in both the prisoner and non-prisoner cases.
Pro Bono attorneys have also been appointed for the limited purpose of attending a mediation or settlement conference on behalf of an inmate, researching and briefing a complicated legal issue, or assisting in trial preparation. For example, an attorney recently agreed to accept a limited appointment to prepare a motion for summary judgment in a case where an IDOC facility failed to follow the state barbering statutes, requiring sterilization of barbering equipment. Another attorney agreed to take a limited appointment for the purpose of drafting an opposition to a motion to dismiss based on a statute of limitations defense.
Once an attorney agrees to a pro bono appointment, the Court can provide names of other attorneys who have represented pro se litigants and who would be willing to provide assistance. The Pro Se Staff Attorneys will also provide research and jury instructions they have generated in other pro se cases, as a way to assist appointed counsel. For further information on pro bono opportunities in federal court, please contact the Pro Se Unit at (208) 334-9067. For pro bono opportunities in Idaho state court, please contact the Idaho Volunteer Lawyers Program.
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