Philly Bar Assoc. Will Push Civil Gideon In 2016

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Updated: August 27, 2017

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According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, "Gaetan Alfano will make his inaugural address as chancellor of the Philadelphia Bar Association on Tuesday. MICHAEL BRYANT / Staff Photographer"

According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, “Gaetan Alfano will make his inaugural address as chancellor of the Philadelphia Bar Association on Tuesday. MICHAEL BRYANT / Staff Photographer”

The incoming chancellor of the Philadelphia Bar Association, in his initial address to members, says he will push for “civil Gideon” legislation in 2016. The move would be one a high-profile boost to the idea of providing free court-appointed legal representation to poor defendants facing certain civil matters, like home evictions or child custody issues. The term is taken from the famous 1963 decision, Gideon v. Wainwright, that established that people accused of crimes must have an attorney.

Chancellor Gaetan Alfano says the civil Gideon move will increase the Bar Association’s profile and illustrate relevancy to its membership, which has dropped in recent years.

Govt. Adding More Beds To Handle ‘Border Kids’

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Updated: December 8, 2015

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The new surge in unaccompanied children showing up at U.S. borders seeking asylum has prompted the federal government to move toward two new shelters, the New York Times is reporting. The paper says that the government si motiving toward “two shelters in Texas and one in California this month, adding at least 1,400 beds to handle the increased flow, senior Obama administration officials said Monday.”
According to a 12/7/15 NYT report, "A United States Border Patrol vehicle at the border wall near Abram, Tex., last month. Credit Delcia Lopez/The Monitor, via Associated Press"

According to a 12/7/15 NYT report, “A United States Border Patrol vehicle at the border wall near Abram, Tex., last month. Credit Delcia Lopez/The Monitor, via Associated Press”

Family detention centers and the unaccompanied youth centers have been controversial and a federal judge has ordered the family shelters closed, although officials hope to work around that order. The Times also notes that “… on Monday, Sylvia Mathews Burwell, the secretary of health and human services, asked the Pentagon to also prepare tentative plans to provide shelter for 5,000 more youths. Those beds are not needed at this time, officials said, but the health department, which runs the shelters, would give the Department of Defense 30 days’ notice to get them ready if the numbers of young border crossers continue to rise.”

Immigration cases are often incorrectly seen as criminal court issues. The “courts” are actually a function of the U.S. Justice Department and those facing actions are classified as civil court participants. One effect of that is they do not have the same rights to counsel as if they were criminally charged.

WSJ Report Outlines Delays For Federal Civil Court Dockets

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Posted: December 7, 2015

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Detailing the case of a man awaiting his day in court since 2007, the Wall Street Journal notes that the example is only one of “… more than 330,000 such cases” and that “… thee number of cases awaiting resolution for three years or more exceeded 30,000 for the fifth time in the past decade.”

The report gives reasons, and makes the case that the civil justice system slows when the criminal justice system gets busy: “… the Seventh Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees the right to a jury trial in civil cases. But the Sixth Amendment gives people in criminal cases the right to a “speedy” trial. The upshot: Criminal cases often displace and delay civil disputes, creating a backlog.”

It also says that “… federal court for California’s Eastern District [where the example case is located] has a particularly deep backlog. The number of cases filed per judge, 974 last year, is almost twice the national average. More than 14% of civil cases in that district have been pending for three years or more.” The report outlines the political challenges to fixing the tardy system. Read the WSJ story here: In Federal Courts, the Civil Cases Pile Up

Patent Cases Jump In Front of New Rules

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Updated: December 4, 2015

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Fortune Magazine is reporting a surge in patent cases, mostly in East Texas, as new rules that will “raise the bar” for what a patent owner must state in a lawsuit. The report says that “… while the new pleading standards are intended to make patent complaints more like other federal lawsuits, some complained that requiring specific facts for each lawsuit will make it more expensive for patent owners to assert their rights.”
The new record is 257 cases filed in a single day.

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