Are legal organizations going soft? The answer depends on who’s answering the question.
Yes, say prisoners. This is due to legal organizations rarely interested in inmates’ legal claims. Law firms routinely state in defense that prisoners’ legal claims are controversial, premature, or unfounded referring them to different law firms. An alternative defense is their legal organization is understaffed.
What if a prisoner’s case meets the criteria for representation? It doesn’t mean you’ll get representation but possible representation. In other words, your claim can’t be controversial.
Scared
Are legal organizations scared to oppose the government? Yes. This answer isn’t based off statistical research but my personal experience with legal organizations.
I’ve written the ACLU, ALLAN ELLIS, P.C. LAW, BYNUM & JENKINS LAW, COREY R. POLLARD LAW, EQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE, LAWYERS FOR CIVIL JUSTICE, and NAACP to no avail. They’re reluctant to assist me after explaining in detail with supporting documentation that I was wrongfully convicted and suffered from constitutional rights and human rights violations.
Law firms will protect their brand from scrutiny by all means necessary. But if the government is responsible for constitutional rights and human rights violations, why not aid prisoners in exposing them? Legal organizations are deterred from helping prisoners because of the public perception of felons. They refuse to be identified for being compassionate towards criminals, despite their organization being created solely for that purpose. Basically, they avoid upholding their entity mission statement for fear of backlash by the public. Their brand supersedes judicial corruption.
Unimportant
Misconduct and wrongdoing by the government will usually be unchallenged by legal organizations. T he basis for this belief is from courts considering some deplorable conditions and misconduct acceptable because it’s the result for being convicted. It derives from being unimportant to society. And if it’s not the prisoner then it’s the legal claim unimportance. Although, a legal claim is unimportant doesn’t mean it’s meritless. This is the beef I have with civil and human rights organizations. Most law firms are only interested in class-action lawsuits or high-profile criminal cases demanding media attention. What about vindication for injustice for a single individual that’ll affect people in similar circumstances in the future via case law?
Premature
What bothers me with legal organizations is the procrastination in representing clients. They require for you to exhaust remedy in direct-appeal criminal cases and to prevail at the motion to dismiss stage in a civil litigation. Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project, The Exoneration Project, UVA Innocence Project, and Centurion fails in that category. Why not intercede in midst of judicial corruption instead of letting it continue?
Review my innocence petition on https://chng.it/RBFfshdzQG and badjurist.com. This is why I think they’re going soft.
I agree with you! The problem is the government making it so hard for law firms and non profits to litigate these issues.
Most law firms are for profit and have a lot of expenses. So, if the case won’t bring in enough money to cover their overhead they probably won’t take the case.