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Constitutional Law Keyed to Stone
Legal Services Corp. v. Velazquez
Citation:
531 U.S. 533 (2001)Facts
The Legal Services Corporation (LSC) was established by Congress in 1974 to provide financial support for legal assistance to indigent clients in non-criminal proceedings. From its inception, Congress placed various restrictions on the use of LSC funds. In 1996, Congress added a restriction prohibiting LSC funding for any entity that “participates in any…way…in litigation, lobbying, or rulemaking…involving an effort to reform a Federal or State welfare system.” The restriction contained a proviso allowing representation of individual clients seeking specific relief from welfare agencies, but only if such representation did not “involve an effort to amend or otherwise challenge existing law.” As interpreted by LSC, this meant that attorneys could represent welfare claimants in cases involving factual determinations or interpretations of existing law, but could not accept cases designed to change welfare laws or argue against their constitutionality. If constitutional or statutory challenges became apparent during representation, LSC attorneys were required to withdraw from the case.
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