Pennsylvania Legal Aid Network, Inc. (PLAN) has released a new video featuring highlights of three hearings conducted by the Senate Judiciary Committee and chaired by Senator Stewart J. Greenleaf, that addressed the question, Civil Legal Representation of the Indigent: Have We Achieved Equal Access to Justice?  The hearings were held May 7, 2013, in Harrisburg; May 23, 2013, in Philadelphia; and October 29, 2013, in Pittsburgh.

The release of the video coincides with the release of a report, Toward Equal Justice for All: Report of the Civil Legal Justice Coalition, that concludes that the staggering number of unrepresented low-income litigants in civil legal matters adversely impacts the quality of justice for all parties in Pennsylvania courts, negatively impacts the courts’ administration of justice and undermines the rule of law.

The report from the Civil Legal Justice Coalition, which was released at a meeting of the Senate Judiciary Committee on May 6, 2014, recommends the creation of a first-ever Access to Justice Commission to serve as a vehicle for studying and implementing measures to expand access to justice in the state.

The video may be viewed below or on the Civil Legal Justice Coalition page of the PLAN website. Full information on all three of the Senate Judiciary Hearings appears on that page. The video may also be viewed on the Pennsylvania Legal Aid Network YouTube channel.