Yesterday, I presented at the Kentucky Bar Association's Kentucky Law Update on our foreclosure crisis. I wish I could pull the tape from yesterday's presentation to prove to you that this is a direct quote:
“Folks, this crisis [the foreclosure crisis and the imbalance of power of the parties] is the defining legal issue of our time. This is our Gideon v. Wainwright moment and we will be judged by how we respond.”
In today's New York Times, professor Matthew Desmond says, seriously, the exact same thing for landlord–tenant cases.
“Our legal system extends the right to a state-appointed attorney to someone facing months or years of prison but not to someone facing months or years of homelessness.”
The time has come to establish the right to counsel in cases where a family's housing is on the line.