Justice for All

November 29, 2007
The Daily News Online
By Stephanie Mathieu


For the first time in more than a decade, low-income people in Cowlitz and Wahkiakum counties will have a legal aide office to help them battle civil cases, whether it be a wrongful eviction, denial of state benefits or a simple divorce.

The Northwest Justice Project Wednesday opened a legal aide office in downtown Longview. The opening celebration included guest speaker John McKay, whose controversial 2006 ouster as U.S. attorney for Western Washington helped lead to the resignation of U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

The scandal took a toll on Americans' trust in the justice system, McKay said in an interview with The Daily News earlier in the morning. But he used his visit to emphasize that the new legal aid office will help the poorest members of the community who can't afford a lawyer or sift through complex legal jargon to argue their own cases.

"The need here is so great," McKay said. "You have people who are victims and aren't able to get some redress in the justice system. ... So many people have been turned away, and that's not acceptable."

While people are entitled to a lawyer at public expense in defending themselves against criminal charges, they're on their own in civil matters.

Locally, poor people have had limited help with legal assistance through the Cowlitz Wahkiakum Legal Aide program, a legal advice hotline and attorneys willing to take cases for free. These efforts are simply not enough, McKay said.

Longview's former legal aid office, run by Evergreen Legal Services, closed more than 10 years ago after federal funding ran out.

The new legal aid office is located in Suite 305 at 1338 Commerce Ave. in Longview. It was made possible through funds included in the 2007-09 state budget that allowed the Northwest Justice Project to open offices in Longview, Aberdeen and Port Angeles, said Lisa Waldvogel, an attorney for the nonprofit statewide organization.

The Longview office will have a staff of three attorneys and will cost about $350,000 annually to run. Legal advice is available to those who meet low-income guidelines. For example, a single person earning roughly $11,400 a year and a four-person family living on about $23,000 a year would be eligible.

The new lawyers will first focus on family law, housing/landlord tenant disputes, and suits regarding state benefits, said Waldvogel, one of the office's three attorneys.

"We as an office are absolutely delighted to be here," Waldvogel said. "We understand our work is definitely cut out for us, but we're up to the challenge."

McKay and Northwest Justice Project Executive Director Cesar Torres cited a 2003 state study that revealed a "justice gap" between those who can afford attorneys and those who can't. The gap could be worse now, Torres said, because poverty has increased since then.

"(The gap) affects the administration of justice, it affects peoples' lives," Torres said.

McKay has been a longtime advocate of legal services. Between 1997 and 2001, he was president of the Legal Service Corp., a nonprofit group established by Congress that lobbied for more money for groups like the Northwest Justice Project.

He was one of nearly 10 U.S. attorneys the Bush Administration fired in 2006 and replaced by appointees that skirted Senate review under the Patriot Act.

McKay, who served as U.S. attorney for Washington's western region more than five years, said in the interview he was given no clear explanation for his forced resignation. He speculated it could have been retribution for his involvement in the state's close 2004 gubernatorial race, which Republican Dino Rossi lost after multiple recounts and legal wrangling.

Just seven months before his firing, McKay received a good performance review. Later, Bush administration officials said he was let go for performance-related issues.

"It was so strange when that call came," McKay recalled. "I said, 'Wait a minute, I'm not the only one getting this call, am I?' "

Congressional critics accused the Bush Administration of trying to pack the justice system.

"There were many connections between the White House and the Justice Department," said McKay, now a law professor at Seattle University. "If they fired me because I did the right thing, then that's a small price to pay for integrity."


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