Professor Reynoso Comments for Daily Journal on Federal Legal Aid Bill

Professor Emeritus Cruz Reynoso commented for the Daily Journal on a new bill before Congress that could end certain restrictions on federally funded legal aid attorneys. Since 1996, attorneys who receive funding from the Legal Services Corp., a nonprofit created by Congress in 1974 to funnel tax money to groups that provide free legal aid, have been prohibited from filing class actions, winning statutory legal fees when they prevail in court, abortion-related advocacy, representing prisoners and illegal immigrants (with the exception of victims of domestic violence), and challenging congressional redistricting decisions and welfare reform efforts.

"It was really unethical for Congress to impose those restrictions," Professor Reynoso said. "It meant the poor could not have the remedies the non-poor had, and that is pretty outrageous."

A member of the UC Davis School of Law faculty since 2001, Professor Reynoso is an internationally known civil rights leader, the first Latino to sit on the California Supreme Court, and a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor.  He has been awarded the UC Davis Medal, the university's highest honor, and the Law School has established the Cruz & Jeannene Reynoso Scholarship for Legal Access to help students with financial needs.