University of New Orleans ScholarWorks@UNO University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations Dissertations and Theses 8-8-2007 Challenging Nonprofit Legal Services: Four Cases from New Orleans, 1970 - 2004 Louis Crust University of New Orleans Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td Recommended Citation Crust, Louis, "Challenging Nonprofit Legal Services: Four Cases from New Orleans, 1970 - 2004" (2007). University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations. 583. https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/583 This Dissertation is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by ScholarWorks@UNO with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Dissertation in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/ or on the work itself. This Dissertation has been accepted for inclusion in University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UNO. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Challenging Nonprofit Legal Services: Four Cases from New Orleans, 1970 - 2004 A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the University of New Orleans in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Urban Studies by Louis Crust B.A. Honours, University of Manitoba, 1976 M.A., Dalhousie University, 1996 August 2007 © 2007, Louis Crust ii Acknowledgments My sojourn at the University of New Orleans has been an adventure in every sense of the word, and many friends and fellow-students shared it with me and helped me through it. My many professors at UNO coaxed and cajoled me through my course work and my program. My dissertation committee members – Drs. Bob Whelan, Arnold Hirsch, David Gladstone and Valerie Gunter – deserve special mention. They are among the best, and the most patient, professors. Their questions and comments led me to make the research and analysis more thorough and the final dissertation more complete. A special word of thanks must also be said for reference librarians everywhere, for they are true heroes and heroines of good research. I must also thank my good friend Emma who helped me in many ways throughout my program. She, along with her family and friends, helped me before, during and after Hurricane Katrina and saved me from its many indignities. Finally I must thank my family, who have supported me throughout my studies, and particularly my parents who started me on this great journey. iii Foreword On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast just to the east of the city of New Orleans. While the city survived the hurricane itself, water overtopped the levees and floodwalls failed causing approximately 80 percent of the city to flood. Eighty percent of the city’s population evacuated, and most businesses, including the legal services offices discussed here, either closed for extended periods of time or established offices in unaffected cities nearby. In the time that has passed since the hurricane the city’s population has begun to return (and is now at approximately 40 percent of its pre-hurricane level), and the slow process of rebuilding New Orleans has begun. Many of the legal services agencies discussed in this dissertation, including the four offices discussed in depth, have also returned to the city. Their clients, however, remain scattered throughout the country. This dissertation discusses the state of nonprofit legal services in New Orleans before the hurricane, and investigates controversies of 1970, 1998, 2002 and 2004. iv Within the four walls of the legal aid offices human life is laid bare. More tragedies and comedies are enacted than can be seen on any stage. The people of the cities march in endless procession through the offices, leaving behind them a composite picture of life in our great cities. As nearly as one group can, they represent the common people. What they think, how they fare, wherein they are handicapped, are matters of concern to every one, for it is to make the lives of just such persons somewhat brighter and fairer that we are trying to build a civilization founded on democracy. Reginald Heber Smith, Justice for the Poor v Table of Contents List of Tables ................................................................ ix List of Figures ............................................................... x Acronyms ................................................................... xi Abstract ................................................................... xiii Chapter 1: Nonprofit Legal Services in New Orleans .................................. 1 Staffing and Funding ..................................................... 3 Legal Representation and Unmet Need ....................................... 5 Opposition to Nonprofit Legal Services ...................................... 8 Period of Study .......................................................... 9 Historical Perspective and Significance of the Study ........................... 10 End Notes ............................................................. 11 Chapter 2: Legal Services and Largesse ........................................... 17 Marx and Materialism ................................................... 18 The Fragility of Law and Legal Change ...................................... 20 The Capitalist Context ................................................... 21 The Philosophy of Possessive Individualism .................................. 22 End Notes ............................................................. 24 Chapter 3: The New Orleans Legal Assistance Corporation, 1970 ....................... 28 The Creation of the New Orleans Legal Assistance Corporation .................. 28 NOLAC and the Legal Services Philosophy .................................. 30 Controversy and Resolution ............................................... 34 NOLAC and Southern Social Mores ........................................ 39 Legal Services and the Nixon Administration ................................. 44 Conclusion ............................................................ 47 End Notes ............................................................. 48 Chapter 4: The Tulane Environmental Law Clinic, 1998 .............................. 61 The Origins of the Controversy: Shintech Inc. and Convent, Louisiana ............. 62 vi Opposition from Convent Residents ........................................ 65 Legal Representation in St. James Parish .................................... 66 Opposition to Student Law Clinics and Citizen Representation ................... 70 The Law Student Practice Rule ............................................ 75 Law Student Practice Rule Amendments of June 17, 1998 ................. 76 Law Student Practice Rule Amendments of July 1, 1998 .................. 77 Law Student Practice Rule Amendments of March 22, 1999 ............... 78 Complaint Filed Against the Louisiana Supreme Court, April 16, 1999 ....... 80 Appeal of United States District Court Ruling Filed, August 17, 1999 ....... 81 Alternate Explanations for Amending Rule XX ............................... 81 Conclusion ............................................................ 85 End Notes ............................................................. 87 Chapter 5: The Louisiana Capital Assistance Center, 2002 ............................ 107 Louisiana and Foreign Lawyer Practice ..................................... 110 Louisiana and Death Penalty Representation ................................. 115 Justice and Electoral Politics ............................................. 121 Conclusion ........................................................... 122 End Notes ............................................................ 123 Chapter 6: The Advocacy Center, 2004 ........................................... 132 Nursing Homes, Long Term Care and the State of Louisiana .................... 136 The Louisiana Nursing Home Industry ..................................... 139 Political Influence and Nursing Homes ..................................... 140 Olmstead, Barthelemy and the Louisiana Nursing Home Industry ................ 144 The Investigation of the Advocacy Center ................................... 147 Conclusion ........................................................... 149 End Notes ............................................................ 149 Chapter 7: Legal Representation and Justice for the Poor ............................ 158 Interference in Nonprofit Legal Services A National Issue ...................... 161 Early Warning Signs ................................................... 162 Achieving Legal Representation and Justice for the Poor ....................... 164 End Notes ............................................................ 167 Bibliography ................................................................ 170 Archival Collections ................................................... 170 Books and Articles ..................................................... 170 Court Decisions and Legal Briefs ......................................... 217 Appendix A: Documents and Decisions Establishing Legal Rights ..................... 221 vii Appendix B: Text from “Acts passed at the first session of the Legislative Council, of the Territory of Orleans”