It takes a village to do a lot of things

One of the wonderfully maddening things about living in Madison is our very own WORT radio station. An outside observer might cringe but it's a lively, informative, often amateurish, and definitely left-wing alternative to what everyone seems to be calling the "mainstream media" these days. That openness to nontraditional programming is on display in WORT's "A Public Affair" program, which has a rotating series of hosts from the community who pick their own guests and make the radio their own in that time slot. (Disclosure: I used to be married to one of those hosts) I've discovered, through a series of chance encounters while driving to midday meetings that A Public Affair can be a good way to hear what different voices think about current issues via thoughtful, sincere hosts who make their guests the center of attention, not themselves.

Today's show was a good example. Linda Ketchum from Madison Area Urban Ministry (MUM) was the guest. The topic was prisoner reentry issues and community responsibility for reintegrating those we punish once they are released from the criminal justice system. You can listen to the program here. The show was a tour through some examples of the roadblocks we've intentionally and unintentionally thrown in front of real people who are released from incarceration after paying their debt to society. We deny them housing, jobs, etc but we tell them they are "free." I say "we" because Ketchum made an excellent point that we (society) are the ones who convicted them and imprisoned them. Then, we let them go with minimal pre-release planning for reintegrating them into the community and little in the way of supportive services on the outside. We're not off the hook once they are released and neither are they, because we still have to live together. So, MUM is trying to show us a better way with their prisoner-rentry program. It's a fascinating mix of what we may have done informally in simpler times, smaller places, with people we knew.

Recently, at the ABA/NLADA Equal Justice Conference in Orlando, FL, I had the good fortune to hear about the Michigan Prisoner Rentry Initiative, a different but related effort on prisoner-reentry. Several panelists from Michigan's Legal Aid & Defender Association described their involvement in the program via staff and volunteer attorneys who help to resolve legal issues for inmates ready for release and those newly released. According to the presenters, since the MPRI was launched, the percentage of parolees returning to prison has dropped from 48% to 36%.

So, it takes a village to do a lot of things, both good and bad. When the cost-benefit equation is clear and the growth in corrections threatens to surpass the University of Wisconsin's budget, it's worth asking, what do we as a community value and what are we willing to do about it?

Dane County launches "Fix Your Loan, Keep Your Home"

The Dane County Foreclosure Prevention Taskforce has been working diligently this summer to put on their first event: Fix Your Loan, Keep Your Home.

The event will be on August 1, 2009, at MATC's Truax campus in Madison. Volunteers will help eligible homeowners complete Making Home Affordable applications and provide counseling and education for all homeowners who attend.

If you want to volunteer, you can check the taskforce website, VolunteerMatch.org, VolunteerYourTime.org. There is even a Facebook group. How's that for options?! They will even be providing training for all volunteers. Volunteers are needed for many other tasks as well from clerical (copying and faxing) to social (greeting/directing homeowners).

Dane County individuals and organizations across the spectrum are turning out to support this important event. Are you?

State funding for civil legal aid grows 4 sizes

With Governor Doyle's signature, the final Wisconsin state budget passed by the Legislature for civil legal aid increased to $4.6 million for the 2009-11 bienium, up from $1 million in the previous budget period. I'm sure that will be a welcome bit of good news for legal aid programs that are seeing steadily rising client needs in the midst of a challenging funding environment. There are many people who deserve thanks for this legislative accomplishment but I'll defer to those more in the know on the lobbying front on that point.

With the collapse in IOLTA interest rates nationwide, the funding for Wisconsin legal services providers through WisTAF has been seriously undermined. The Wisconsin Supreme Court's recent decision granting WisTAF's petition to implement comparable interest requirements should mean eventual improvement in the funding situation as interest rates improve with the economy. Projections before the economic collapse in last Fall were that a doubling of IOLTA revenue available for grants to legal aid should be possible with comparable interest requirements in place.

A Great Start

After approving a resolution endorsing LSC funding for civil legal aid to the poor without restrictions, the State Bar of Wisconsin's Board of Governors unanimously approved the first four members of the new Wisconsin Access To Justice Commission: Howard Bichler, Hannah Dugan, Mike Gonring and Judge Margaret Vergeront. The four will serve as the State Bar's designees on the new 17 member commission.

Here's a bit more information about the first four nominees:

Howard Bichler currently serves as Lead Attorney for the Stockbridge-Munsee Community Band of the Mohican Indians in Bowler, WI. Howard was an attorney with the St. Croix Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin for 22 years, an attorney with Wisconsin Judicare, Inc. for 6 1/2 years and an attorney/planner with the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission. He is a past Chair of the Indian Law Section of the State Bar of Wisconsin and a former a member of the Legislative Council Committee on State Tribal Relations. He is also a member of the board of directors for Wisconsin Judicare Inc. and the Board of Governors of the State Bar of Wisconsin, where he just completed his term as Chair of the Board of Governors. Howard is a 1976 graduate of Marquette University Law School.

Hannah Dugan is the Executive Director of Catholic Charities of the Milwaukee Archdiocese, Inc in Milwaukee, WI. Catholic Charities covers a 10-county region in and around Milwaukee. Previously, Hannah served as an attorney with the Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee (1994-2007) and Legal Action of Wisconsin (1983-1994). She was an adjunct professor at Marquette University Law School from 1993 to 1997. Hannah is a 1987 graduate of the University of Wisconsin Law School.

Mike Gonring is a litigation partner with Quarles & Brady LLP in Milwaukee, WI. He also serves as the national coordinator of the firm's pro bono program and as Chair of the State Bar's Legal Assistance Committee. In 2007, Mike was recognized as Lawyer Of The Year by the Milwaukee Bar Association for his long term commitment to pro bono work, which includes a number of death penalty appeals. He is a former board member for Legal Action of Wisconsin and a current board member at Catholic Charities in Milwaukee. Mike is a 1982 graduate of Marquette University Law School.

Hon. Margaret Vergeront serves as on the Wisconsin Court of Appeals for District IV in Madison, WI. Formerly, she was an attorney in private practice (1984-94); Staff Attorney/Managing Attorney with Legal Action of Wisconsin (1976-84); and Law Clerk to U.S. District Court Judge James E. Doyle (1975-76). Judge Vergeront is a 1975 University of Wisconsin Law School graduate.

State funding grows in Wisconsin

It appears likely that state funding for civil legal aid in Wisconsin will be substantially increased in the current budget. That's a terrific acknowledgment by state leaders of the value that they place on providing access to justice for Wisconsin families facing civil legal needs without the means to pay an attorney during the most precarious economic times of our generation. It should help to make up for the dramatic decline in the IOLTA income available for distribution through WisTAF for legal aid. Kudos to all who made it possible. Forward Wisconsin indeed.

Wisconsin Foreclosure Mediation Expands

Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen announced today that he will be directing up to $310,000 in funding to support a new mediation effort focused on foreclosures. The funding will come from the department's successful legal proceeding against Countrywide Financial. This program has been in development for some time now and partners Marquette University Law School and the City of Milwaukee with a number of other public and private individuals and groups that together constitute the Milwaukee Foreclosure Partnership Initiative.

Additional support for the project is being provided by an appropriation of $100,000 from the City of Milwaukee and a loaned attorney from the Milwaukee office of Quarles & Brady LLP and the expertise of Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee's Catey Doyle.

The Legal Aid Society, Atty. David Liebowitz of LakeLaw, WHEDA and the State Bar of Wisconsin recently collaborated on a statewide series of foreclosure defense trainings that were funded through WHEDA as part of it's foreclosure prevention efforts.

You can get a good sense of the scale of Wisconsin's statewide foreclosure problem in this report (pdf) prepared by the UW Extension's Center for Community and Economic Development.

Wisconsin Equal Justice Conference highlights

If you attended the conference at the Pyle Center in Madison on April 28, you know how much we were able to learn about innovations and collaborations that are expanding access to justice here as well as in other states. If you missed it, we will have streaming video of the sessions available for you to view soon along with the materials. In the meantime, enjoy some photos of our attendees.