John Grisham: Trump's cuts to legal aid would hurt veterans, children and families
Before I became a writer, when I was a newly minted attorney in rural Mississippi, I saw how helpless people were going to court on their own. When I could, I took cases for no fee to prevent people from getting lost in the complex legal system. But it was obvious pro bono services alone could not meet the vast needs of Americans, especially in rural areas.
Those people I sought to help are like the more than 6 million Americans annually who are aided by legal services organizations because they cannot afford an attorney on their own.
Access to justice is a core American value, cited in the first line of the Constitution, etched over the entrance to the Supreme Court and invoked daily in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Congress established the Legal Services Corporation (LSC) in 1974 to better uphold this American ideal and ensure access to quality legal assistance for low-income Americans − including more than a million children, over 200,000 survivors of domestic violence and nearly 45,000 veterans.
But the Trump administration has proposed eliminating LSC. This action would abandon the nation's founding principles of liberty and justice and devastate millions.
Southerners, rural residents would be hurt most
Congress has rejected the White House proposal to zero-out LSC. The Senate advanced a bill to slightly increase funding, and the House proposed a drastic 46% cut. Both bills fall far short of what's needed, but they send a clear message – lawmakers on both sides of the aisle see immense value in legal services for the folks they represent.
About 15% of the population − more than 50 million Americans − are eligible for LSC-funded legal services. These are everyday, hardworking families and individuals who are faced with life-changing crises, often through no fault of their own.
If LSC sees significant cuts, many more Americans will be left to face issues like domestic violence, natural disaster recovery, medical debt and consumer scams or fraud without legal assistance.
Who would feel the loss the most? America's children, seniors, Southerners and those living in rural areas are the most likely to qualify for this type of legal aid.
More than 1 in 5 children live in households eligible for LSC-funded services. The number of seniors eligible for legal aid has increased dramatically since 2016, from 6.6 million to 8.9 million in 2023. If this trend continues, more than 10 million seniors will be eligible by 2027.
More households in the South are eligible for LSC-funded legal assistance than in any other region, and 1 in 5 rural households are eligible for the aid. The states with the highest proportion of eligible residents include my own home state of Mississippi, along with Louisiana, New Mexico and Oklahoma.
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LSC distributes more than 94% of its federal appropriation in grants to 130 independent nonprofit organizations with offices in every congressional district across the country. Since 1974, more than 75 million Americans have received assistance.
They are Americans like Coleen, a widowed senior in Florida, who was scammed out of her life savings while working to recover after Hurricane Ian destroyed her home in 2022. With LSC's help, she got her money back and was able to repair her home.
While the fundamental purpose of civil legal aid is to ensure fairness in our legal system, it also provides substantial economic benefits. For every $1 invested in civil legal assistance through LSC, communities see $7 in economic value.
Protects Americans' lawfully earned wages
Legal services are a crucial part of efficient government. Without LSC, courts would have to serve more people with no access to legal representation, complicating court dockets and slowing down proceedings. The issue of overburdened courts is one reason that a bipartisan majority of state supreme court chief justices and state attorneys general voice their support for LSC each year.
Civil legal services are nonpartisan. They benefit working families, uphold American values, lift the economy and improve government efficiency.
Opinion: Do you think the Supreme Court is partisan? What recent rulings show.
Legal assistance helps veterans access their benefits. It helps survivors of domestic violence leave unsafe situations. It helps displaced hurricane and wildfire victims attain the documents they need to rebuild. These are not political issues − these are problems that can affect anyone.
The proposals to eliminate or cut LSC could stop assistance received by millions in every county in every state.
By helping people address legal issues before they spiral, fewer taxpayer dollars are needed for costly services like shelters, medical care and law enforcement.
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Legal assistance protects the lawfully earned wages and benefits that Americans rely on and allows them to maintain their independence and contribute to their local economies.
By helping families stay together and ending cycles of violence, legal assistance enables more children to grow up in safe and stable homes, making them more likely to stay in school, complete their education and pursue steady employment.
Without LSC, hope for millions of Americans to access legal support in times of crisis is in jeopardy. Congress must save this legal lifeline to protect the safety and security of everyday Americans and uphold liberty and justice for all.
To see how proposed cuts to LSC funding would impact where you live, visit www.lsc.gov/fundingcalculator.
John Grisham is the author of more than 50 consecutive bestselling novels, which have been translated into nearly 50 languages. Much of his fiction explores deep-seated problems in our criminal justice system.
You can read diverse opinions from our USA TODAY columnists and other writers on the Opinion front page, on X, formerly Twitter, @usatodayopinion and in our Opinion newsletter.
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