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Justice
Action Group jag@maine.rr.com
August 11, 2006
Dear JAG Planning Participant, I hope you are enjoying your summer and that you will be able to get the full benefit of the few weeks that we have left. I thought this would be a good time to bring you up to date on our progress in the planning effort. I have lots of good news to report. First, all of our planning work groups have met, and group members have been working independently over the summer to gather information and ideas that will allow the groups to "hit the ground running" when regular meetings begin in September. It has been exciting for me to read the minutes of these meetings, which reflect the energy, commitment and creativity of all of you. We have a lot of work to do, but we have a great team and are off to a fine start. The minutes of all work group meetings along with notices of upcoming meetings will be posted on the JAG website - http://www.mbf.org/justice.htm. This will allow you to follow the progress of all of the groups as we proceed through the year. Second, we were delighted to receive grants to support the planning process from two Maine foundations: the Sam Cohen Foundation and the Maine Community Foundation. We are deeply grateful to these organizations both for their financial assistance and their interest in this important initiative for Maine. Third, this past winter and spring, a survey on access to justice issues was conducted among Maine's legal community, clients/consumers and social service providers. Attached is a summary of the survey responses for your review. The survey results can also be found on the JAG website at - http://www.mbf.org/JAG%20links%20to%20planning%20surveys.htm. Please take some time to review this summary. The responses to the important questions posed are interesting indeed and may stimulate additional ideas that your work group may wish to consider. JAG Executive Coordinator, Sally Sutton, has prepared a complete set of the actual survey responses for each work group as well. To help move the planning process along, Sally has also been doing some research on various issues assigned to each work group. That information will be posted soon on the JAG website. In the coming weeks, Sally will be sending your group various background information and hyperlinks to other resources that may be relevant to the issues your group is addressing. This information will be updated throughout the year. Also, if you come across anything that would be of interest to others, please send it on to Sally and she will post it on the website. And, last, but certainly not least, you should know that this past Monday, the American Bar Association's House of Delegates UNANIMOUSLY passed Resolution 112A, proposed by the Presidential Task Force on Access to Civil Justice, with one friendly amendment. The final version of the resolution is as follows (the last five words of which constitute the amendment): RESOLVED, That the American Bar Association urges federal, state and territorial governments to provide legal counsel as a matter of right at public expense to low income persons in those categories of adversarial proceedings where basic human needs are at stake, such as those involving shelter, sustenance, safety, health or child custody, as determined by each jurisdiction. This is a big step forward in making access to justice a reality and Maine should be very proud of the efforts of Associate Justice Howard Dana who lead this effort at the national level. As you are aware, we have a rather tight timeline for our planning process (the final report to JAG is due in early June!) The next meeting of your work group is an especially important one as it will focus on identifying and defining the key issues and strategies that your group will address over the coming year. The active participation of all our volunteers is crucial to the success of this planning process, and I urge you to make every effort to attend the September meeting of your work group and all subsequent meetings as well. Enjoy the rest of your summer. Please let me know if there is anything that Sally or I can do to assist you during the planning process. Thanks again for your involvement and your commitment to this important project to enhance and expand access to justice for all Mainers. With all best wishes, Colleen
Colleen
Khoury
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