“If ordinary people cannot enlist the aid of lawyers when they need to, if the judiciary becomes a tool available only to the wealthy and powerful, the courts will become a source of oppression,” warns Illinois Supreme Court chief justice Moses Harrison in a February 2 speech reprinted in the March issue of “CVLS News,” newsletter of the Chicago Volunteer Legal Services Foundation. To serve the 1.3 million Illinoisans in poverty, he notes, “There are fewer than 200 full time legal aid lawyers. I’ll do the math for you. That is only 1 lawyer for every 6,500 poor people. By any standard, 1 lawyer for 6,500 people is not a glut. It is a scandal.”
Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
Why nobody goes into farming for the money. The on-line newsletter “Between the Furrows” (March 2) lists the five-year average return on equity of several food-based businesses: Sara Lee, 20 percent; McDonald’s, 13 percent; Wendy’s International, 11 percent; U.S. farmers, 2.1 percent.
The house is packed, according to George Schmidt in Substance (March). “At the February 21 meeting, schools CEO Paul Vallas continued the practice of packing the Board chambers with bureaucrats and consultants to minimize the number of members of the public who can attend the meeting.” On February 21, more than 50 ACORN members protesting large class sizes had to stand outside the meeting room until their speakers were called. “For more than a year, whenever the board meets at its 125 S. Clark St. headquarters, it reserves nearly one-third of the seats for ‘CPS staff’ (as the signs on the roped off areas say). Other seats in the area supposedly for the general public are also occupied by staff during the meetings.”
