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PU0l£C AFFAIRS OFFICE OF ECON.OMIC []~JJ~JJ[]~~ ~l]~J~JW WASHii\lGTON, D . C . 205 08 Telephone: 296-2980 FOR RELEASE: A.Ms MONDAY, MARCH 4, 1968 LEGAL SERVICES SHOULD BE MAIN VEHICLE FOR REDRESS OF GRIEVANCES OF POOR, ADVISORY GROUP SAYS An advisory group of 24 directors of OEO-funded 'Legal Services Programs (LSP) acro s s the c ountry ha s rec ormnended that the President estab-lish as a national policy that LSP projects are "a primary organ" for aiding poor peopl e to express ani obtain redre ss of their grievances. The corrnnitt ee also r ecormnended that Legal Services projects be involved in all national and local planning aimed at avoiding civil disturbances or at minimizing the scope and duration of such disturbances if they occur. The Proj e ct Advisory Group. of the Legal Services Program also rec ommended the establishment of a national t ask force c omposed of Lega l Services lawyers who have had experience in the s lum cormnuniti es du~ing civil disorders t o consult with elected officials, law enforcemen t officials, members of the judiciary , LSP directors and bar associations in urban c ommunities on ways to prevent distu rbances and to minimize the ir effe cts if they occur. The new advisory group drafted the recorrnnendations as a r esu lt of its discussions March 1 about what Legal Services projects could do to prevent or to calm civil disorders. The group met with officials of the OEO Leg a l Se rvices Program. (A copy of the recoITlffiendations is attach e d.) The subcommittee that drafted the r ecommendations was chaire d by Ol iver Lofton, d irector of the Newa rk Legal Services Pro j ect , and included dir ec tors of LSPs in Detroit, Cl eve land, Mi a,-ni , Los Angeles and Dallas. The relevanc e of the work of Legal Services Programs in the prevention and the calming of civil disorders is discu ssed on Page 1022, Chapter 10, of the report of the National Advisory Corrnnission on Civil Disorders. Some 250 l ocal Legal Services projects in 48 states, and in 45 of the 50 largest cities , provide counse l and representation in civil matters to poor clients and to groups of poor people seeking to obtain their rights and redress of their grieva~c es . Legal Serv ices Projects played an important ro l e in preventing and calming disorde rs l ast surrnner . - 30 - Att achment 68-22 �- 3 - 6. Insuring Basic Ri ghts - That as a part of any program for insuring the maintenance of basic legal rights in the event that a civil disturbance does occur, Legal Services Programs should, with other members of the local conmmnity, take the initiative for developing plans for: (a) the maximum use of the release on recognizance procedure rather than the posting of money bail and particularly in the case of curfew violations; (b) assuring that arrested persons are promptly admitted to reasonable bail; (c) assuring that arrested persons have lega l counsel at the earliest possible moment; (d) assurin g that bail will not be used for purposes of containment, but solely to insure that an arrestee will appear at the time of trial. - 30 - �