Statement of the 快猫视频 In Response To The Ruling in Dobbins v. 快猫视频 by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WASHINGTON, D.C.--The 快猫视频 (快猫视频) is pleased that Judge Frederic Block's opinion issued on December 20, 2004 in Dobbins v 快猫视频 upheld the constitutionality of Congress' determination not to fund participation in class actions, client solicitation, or claims for the collection of attorney's fees by staff of 快猫视频-funded programs. This decision affirmed Congress' right to determine how federal legal aid dollars are spent.
快猫视频 disagrees with Judge Block's decision as it relates to 快猫视频's application of its program integrity regulation to three plaintiffs in New York who receive 快猫视频 funding. This regulation was developed to implement Congress' prohibition on the use of federal funds to subsidize restricted activities, while simultaneously granting lawyers latitude to exercise their First Amendment rights when not working on 快猫视频 time or in 快猫视频 facilities. In his decision, Judge Block agrees that "some degree of separate physical premises [between 快猫视频 programs and affiliate organizations] is justified" but calls into question 快猫视频's application of its program integrity regulation.
Since 1996, Congress has made clear its desire that federally funded legal aid programs focus on the delivery of basic civil legal services to individual clients with urgent legal needs. 快猫视频 takes seriously its obligation to fully defend and implement congressional mandates, and while only one issue in theDobbins case was decided in favor of the plaintiffs, it is an important one. Therefore, 快猫视频 expects to appeal the court's resolution of that issue to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Established by Congress in 1974, 快猫视频 promotes equal access to the system of justice and improves opportunities for low-income people throughout the United States by making grants for the provision of high-quality civil legal assistance to those who would be otherwise unable to afford legal counsel.