Measuring Civil Justice for All: What Do We Know? What Do We Need to Know? How Can We Know It? American Academy of Arts & Sciences. February 2021.
Democracy requires and relies on a fair and equitable justice system that is accessible to the people it serves and provides equal justice under the law. When the justice system is closed to some, or treats them unfairly, public trust in justice suffers, and people are less likely to comply with the law.
A growing body of evidence, including two recent publications of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, suggests that the United States faces a serious crisis known as the civil justice gap: the great difference between the number of Americans who need civil legal assistance and the very few who receive help of any kind. [Note: contains copyrighted material].
[PDF format, 40 pages].
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