Administrative law and the American regulatory process across government levels

¶ … Liberty, Justice for All," is found in the Tennessee Bar Association Journal this month (January, 2007). It was written by Becky Rhodes and Suzanne Craig Robertson.

A new program in Memphis connects immigrants with pro bono legal help. Immigrants coming before Tennessee's single immigration court in Memphis had no representation. Not only did this make it hard for the immigrants, it also slowed the workings of the court," is how the article begins (Rhodes 35). The article starts off with the thesis and theory to be explored.

The legal access coordinator for the U.S. Department of Justice's Executive Office for Immigration Review, Steve Lang, feels the courts have a duty to conduct an efficient judicial proceeding, and that a better informed respondent is better for all concerned. But Memphis Area Legal Services (MALS) were limited in who it could serve, because it receives Legal Services Corporation money. Prohibited from serving undocumented immigrants, pro bono attorneys were frustrated by the system. The answer came about through cooperation. The Community Legal Center (CLC), MALS and the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law and private attorneys came together to support the Immigrant Justice Program.

The CLC was always serving people who were not within MALS guidelines, working with a social service agency to provide a more holistic approach to legal services, setting up a pro-se divorce clinic when the courts were jammed with pro-se filers, or serving clients whom MALS could not serve because they were undocumented. The CLC does not receive funding from the Legal Services Corporation so had no restrictions against serving undocumented people. Volunteer attorneys are assigned to the cases. The EOIR lists attorneys who have previously volunteered for immigration pro bono. "The number of private attorneys is greater than what you'll see in equivalent-sized courts in other parts of the country," Lang says. "And the attorneys on that list are very dedicated to providing pro bono services. They have a life-long commitment to this kind of work."

The people who call are in dire straits, very difficult situations, sad stories," says the program's coordinator, Tatine Darker. "These are people who have been productive members of society for years, then are summarily expelled from the country. We try to find ways to help some of these people out," she says.

The ideas outlined in the article reflect how several groups of attorneys who are dedicated to helping out people who are in desperate need of attorneys as they face deportation, often after years of living in the United States. These minorities are too poor to hire their own attorney, so they need pro bono legal aid to keep families, homes and jobs together.