DIY History | Transcribe | Campus Culture | Chicano conference programs and speeches, April 1973-May 1974 | 1973-04-14 Workshop IV, Chicano: Legal Process Page 6

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Chicano conference programs and speeches, April 1973-May 1974

1973-04-14 Workshop IV, Chicano: Legal Process Page 6

reliance on lawyers. On the other hand I don't think that poor people can simply take on a case themselves and go down and file a case and try to run through themselves they need to have some kind of training.

In Detroit, if I can pull in that experience again, the Welfare Rights Organization had regular ongoing classes with poverty lawyers to teach them how to represent themselves in Welfare hearings. They were much better at representing themselves than the lawyers were because they understood much better what was really involved. They had to have some basic knowledge how to go about it.

In terms of the case you have in Chicago, I suppose I shouldn't really comment without knowing more of the facts involved but it does strike me that it is exactly the type of case that could go straight to federal court tomorrow without exhausting any of the state remedies or administrative remedies. Federal courts do not require you to exhausr your state remedies. That is the kind of thing a lawyer can tell you.

AUDIENCE RESPONSE: The other problem with that, A.C.L.U., a lot of people might think, well these lawyers sit in an office, that is not the case. THey have a secretary and a director and they farm out their cases to people working with other law offices. So, essentially they can write it off on their income tax saying they did all this charity work. They have to all say, "Oh you have a good case and I know a guy who likes to do this type of case for free." So he will do it for us as A.C.L.U., but they become the intermediaries. So, it took almost two months to round up lawyers who were willing to do it. The funny part of this is they have never donee anything like this. It just struck them as being a nice legal problen that they would like to do something about. We are at the mercy of those people. This is the primary reason why we need Chicano lawyers. We can say, if you're working in the barrio you are going to be working with our problems.

PETE RAEL: I think that's a very

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reliance on lawyers. On the other hand I don't think that poor people can simply take on a case themselves and go down and file a case and try to run through themselves they need to have some kind of training. In Detroit, if I can pull in that experience again, the Welfare Rights Organization had regular ongoing classes with poverty lawyers to teach them how to represent themselves in Welfare hearings. They were much better at representing themselves than the lawyers were because they understood much better what was really involved. They had to have some basic knowledge how to go about it. In terms of the case you have in Chicago, I suppose I shouldn't really comment without knowing more of the facts involved but it does strike me that it is exactly the type of case that could go straight to federal court tomorrow without exhausting any of the state remedies or administrative remedies. Federal courts do not require you to exhausr your state remedies. That is the kind of thing a lawyer can tell you. AUDIENCE RESPONSE: The other problem with that, A.C.L.U., a lot of people might think, well these lawyers sit in an office, that is not the case. THey have a secretary and a director and they farm out their cases to people working with other law offices. So, essentially they can write it off on their income tax saying they did all this charity work. They have to all say, "Oh you have a good case and I know a guy who likes to do this type of case for free." So he will do it for us as A.C.L.U., but they become the intermediaries. So, it took almost two months to round up lawyers who were willing to do it. The funny part of this is they have never donee anything like this. It just struck them as being a nice legal problen that they would like to do something about. We are at the mercy of those people. This is the primary reason why we need Chicano lawyers. We can say, if you're working in the barrio you are going to be working with our problems. PETE RAEL: I think that's a very