We, the California civil legal aid community, are shocked by the ongoing attacks on the rule of law and the targeted assaults on the legal profession and the judiciary, which are aimed at undermining our Constitution and the justice system.
We, the undersigned, provide access to justice without charge to hundreds of thousands of low-income Californians in need of legal assistance. Their rights are at risk as a result of the President’s actions that aim to diminish our legal system and access to it.
Our legal system, which enshrines the right to counsel for many critical legal needs, is designed with the assumption that people have a lawyer to help them. People without attorneys must navigate difficult and complicated systems on their own.
Our community works to level the playing field and to help people have equal access to justice. The recent executive orders that attack our profession are attacking access to justice for everyone.
We call upon other members of our profession to take up this fight on behalf of their clients against the usurpation of justice and defend the rule of law.
Jennafer Dorfman Wagner, Director of Programs, Family Violence Appellate Project |
Joan Graff, President, Legal Aid at Work |
Eric Cohen, Executive Director, Immigrant Legal Resource Center |
Maeve Elise Brown, Executive Director, Housing and Economic Rights Advocates |
Carolina Martin Ramos, Executive Director, La Raza Centro Legal |
Diane Trunk, Deputy Executive Director, LACBA Counsel for Justice |
Jenny Farrell, Executive Director, Mental Health Advocacy Services |
Adam C. Reed, Executive Director, Riverside Legal Aid |
Shamus Roller, Executive Director, National Housing Law Project |
Adam Ryan Chang, Executive Director, Oasis Legal Services |
Kate Jastram, Director of Policy & Advocacy, Center for Gender & Refugee Studies – California |
Sacha Steinberger, Founder and Co-Executive Director, and Kate Crowley Richardson, Co-Executive Director, Legal Link |
Matt Foreman, Executive Director, AIDS Legal Referral Panel |
Stephen Knight, Executive Director, Worksafe |
Aarti Kohli, Executive Director, Asian Law Caucus |
Laura McMahon, Executive Director, Legal Aid of Marin |
M. Stacey Hawver, Executive Director, Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County |
Paul Bujold, Executive Director, Ventura County Legal Aid |
Gautam Jagannath, Executive Director, Social Justice Collaborative |
Sunny Noh,Executive Director, Legal Aid of Sonoma County |
Noé Páramo, Legislative Advocate, CRLA Foundation |
Diego Cartagena, President & CEO, Bet Tzedek Legal Services |
Caitlin Chan, Executive Director, Legal Assistance for Seniors |
Yolanda Jackson, Executive Director & General Counsel, Justice & Diversity Center |
Guillermo Mayer, President & CEO, Public Advocates Inc. |
Gabriela Perez, Executive Director, Inland Empire Latino Lawyers Association |
Kim Lewis, Director of California Policy, National Health Law Program |
Kathryn Eidmann, President & CEO, Public Counsel |
Elizabeth Kristen, Legal Director, The California Women’s Law Center |
Taylor Koehler, Staff Attorney, Policy & Programs, Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law |
Carmen M. Chavez, Executive Director, Casa Cornelia Law Center |
Shannon Cogan, Associate Executive Director, Disability Rights California |
Cathy Sakimura, Executive Director, Legal Services for Children |
Matthew Hulse, Executive Director, Contra Costa Senior Legal Services |
Daniel Casanova, Executive Director, Eviction Defense Collaborative |
Cori Racela, Executive Director, Western Center on Law & Poverty |
Erika Pinheiro, Executive Director, Al Otro Lado |
Rebecca Steckler, Executive Director, Senior Citizens Legal Services |
Hannah Brady, Executive Director, Senior Advocacy Network |
Dafna Gozani, Legislative and Policy Strategies Director, National Center for Youth Law |
Adrian Tirtanadi, Executive Director, Open Door Legal |
Brooke Weitzman, Executive Director, Elder Law and Disability Rights Center |
Kevin Prindiville, Executive Director, Justice in Aging |
Jessica Manríquez Jewell, President & CEO, California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc. |
Phil Hwang, CEO, OneJustice |
Carrie Holmes, Executive Director, Center for Access to QDROs |
Katrina Logan, Executive Director, Community Legal Services in East Palo Alto |
Kevin Aslanian, Executive Director, Coalition of California Welfare Rights Organization |
Nicole Bohn, Executive Director, Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund |
Teri Scarlett, Executive Director, Legal Services for Seniors |
Patricia E. Wall, Executive Director, Homeless Action Center |
Cynthia Chagolla, Chief Program Officer, Law Foundation of Silicon Valley |
Jennifer Rodriguez, Executive Director, Youth Law Center |
Monique Berlanga,Executive Director, Centro Legal de la Raza |
Monica Glicken, CEO/Executive Director and General Counsel, Public Law Center |
Lindsay Nako, Executive Director, Impact Fund |
Katie Joh, Chief Executive Officer, Dependency Advocacy Center |
Jono Soglin, Executive Director, First District Appellate Project |
Jaime Levine, Executive Director, Elder Law & Advocacy |
Amy Lee, Executive Director, Jubilee Immigration Advocates |
Deborah Son, Executive Director, Family Violence Appellate Project |
Rose Mukhar, CEO, Justice At Last |
Suzanne McCormick, Executive Director, Immigration Center for Women and Children |
Kate Jastram, Director of Policy & Advocacy, Center for Gender & Refugee Studies |
Mimi Nguyen, Executive Director, Step Forward Foundation |
Carolina Martin Ramos, Executive Director, La Raza Centro Legal |
Shashi Hanuman, Executive Director, Public Interest Law Project |
Paul Briley, Executive Director, Legal Services for Prisoners With Children |
Mona Tawatao, Legal Director, Equal Justice Society |
Bianca Sierra Wolff, Executive Director, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area |
Zoe Polk, Executive Director, East Bay Community Law Center |
Kristin Mateer, Executive Director, East Bay Children’s Law Offices |
Randi Sunshine, Executive Director, Learning Rights Law Center |
Laurie Furstenfeld, Director of Legal Advocacy, Child Care Law Center |
Erin Scott, Executive Director, Family Violence Law Center |
Zahra Billoo, Executive Director, Council on American-Islamic Relations – California |
Catherine A. Rodman, Director & Supervising Attorney, Affordable Housing Advocates |
We welcome signatures from legal aid organizations in California. Please get in touch with Salena Copeland (SCopeland@LAAConline.org) for more information and to sign on.