Local Residents Explain Need for Legal Services

By Carlet Cleare

WXXI – New York's Chief Judge is traveling the state, trying to find out what people do when they need a lawyer -- but can't afford one. The Honorable Jonathan Lippman held a hearing on that topic in Rochester. WXXI's Carlet Cleare reports the judge heard numerous stories of "unequal" justice.

Sitting at the head of the courtroom with three other legal experts, Chief Judge Lippman welcomed more than a dozen testimonies.

"Don't feel rushed, just tell us your story, rather than necessarily reading it, but read it as much as you want."

"My name is Kate Kressman-Kehoe. And my story is about how having legal services helped me break down bureaucracy that I could not have done on my own."

Kressman-Kehoe says her daughter has been diagnosed with a learning disability, which requires therapy to help her learn in school.

"She could explain how the solar system worked. She could explain why we have seasons. She could not write. And if she had to write it could take days, hours, screams, tantrums, and clearly there was something wrong."

So Kressman-Kehoe and her husband met with the Committee on Special Education, or CSE, to get their second grader some help.

"The CSE representatives ruled that my daughter didn't have a disability. So she was denied services that she needed and was entitled to."

That's when the school's staff suggested the couple seek legal help. And they did.

"As soon as we began the process of appealing the CSE ruling, we started to understand how much it mattered to have a lawyer. The process was complex and confusing, and Jonathan knew which step really mattered. Early on in the appeal, we received a discouraging letter from the district reiterating the CSE ruling. Therapies they said were not necessary to receive an appropriate public education. If we had been a lone, we would have probably given up then."

Jonathan is Jonathan Feldman - - an Empire Justice Center attorney who specializes in special education cases. Kressman-Kehoe says her daughter now has a therapist and likes school, even though she still struggles with writing. Anne Kress, the president of Monroe Community College, says students the collegiate level also face challenges.

"Typically mothers are consistently in the rears with their financial obligations to the college because of their inability to collect child support that has been awarded them rightfully. They are forced to make decisions no one should make: between buying text book and feeding their families, between paying for a bus to come to school and feeding their family."

Those tough choices cause many students to drop out, Kress says. And for people who go to college later in life, it could potentially blow their chances of a successful future.
Other's also testified about home ownership scams, abusive relationships, and poverty at the grade school level. People from the health community also chimed in.
Fran Weisburg is the head of the Finger Lakes Health System's Agency.

"Work that legal services do with our task forces are there to break down he barriers and come up with solutions whether it's in cancer, heart disease, diabetes or AIDs. People of color are sicker and die younger than the rest of our community. And there is a tremendous impact on that, that we need legal help to really break down the barrier."

Civil attorney's help patients wade through and understand health care jargon, Weisburg says. Stories like these sparked Chief Judge Lippman to create a nearly 30 person task force to ensure the basic legal needs of low-income families are met.

"We thought that it was essential that we hold these hearings so we could recommend to the legislature the monies that are needed to close the gap in civil legal services."

The task force is working to gather additional information beyond the testimonies to form a comprehensive report. Lippman says the goal is to find a stable funding stream to support legal access for the poor.