Without legal aid, domestic violence survivor Veronica Gonzalez was almost certain she would have been forced to return to her abuser in Washington state and lose custody of her child. Getting pro bono representation prevented that from happening, but at least hundreds of thousands of other domestic abuse survivors — and over 1 million other low-income Americans facing civil legal issues — are turned away from legal aid organizations each year due to a lack of funding. Gonzalez, Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Nathan Hecht, and two other witnesses sought to remedy this issue last week when they testified before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee to advocate for increased funding to Legal Services Corporation.
“The justice gap burdens society, the economy, businesses and taxpayers who must pick up the costs of people’s inability to make do because of unmet civil legal needs that study after study has confirmed,” Hecht said during his testimony.