The Legal Services Corporation (LSC) has been providing legal assistance to low-income individuals for 42 years, promoting equal justice under the law. Despite being the largest funder of civil legal aid in the US, the justice gap remains, with 80% of the civil legal needs of low-income Americans unmet. The Heritage Foundation has been calling for the elimination of LSC since 1981, arguing that LSC violates annual appropriations language that prohibits political participation, legal services would be more effective if handled by local and state governments, and access to equal justice is not a federal government responsibility. |||||||| HIDDEN IN PREVIEW MODE ||||||| As an independent corporation created by Congress in 1974, LSC and its grantees are governed by federal law. |||||||| HIDDEN IN PREVIEW MODE |||||||

LSC is also monitored by the Office of the Inspector General (OIG), an independent office established in 1988 to prevent and detect fraud or abuse. |||||||| HIDDEN IN PREVIEW MODE ||||||| They investigate complaints, assess and respond to public complaints, and review cost matters. |||||||| HIDDEN IN PREVIEW MODE ||||||| Thirdly, federal funding remains the backbone of state funding as state budgets decrease nationwide. |||||||| HIDDEN IN PREVIEW MODE ||||||| State budget problems continue to persist nationally, and other sources of legal aid funding are on a downward trend. |||||||| HIDDEN IN PREVIEW MODE ||||||| While some argue that providing civil legal aid is not a federal responsibility, equal justice has been a fundamental value of American democracy since its founding. The US currently provides less funding for legal aid than any other Western developed nation, and ranks poorly in terms of accessibility and affordability of civil justice. |||||||| HIDDEN IN PREVIEW MODE ||||||| Lack of representation has been shown to have detrimental effects on civil case outcomes, and without LSC advocacy and funding for Pro-Bono programs, issues of due process would go unnoticed.

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