This year marks Legal Voice's 35th anniversary year. The That Was Us! series celebrates where we've been and what we've accomplished by creating a patchwork of voices from the people who helped us along the way.
In 2013, I had the privilege of partnering with Legal Voice to
advance the rights of indigent litigants, or impoverished persons
engaged in a lawsuit, to enjoy equal access to the Washington
courts. Our client, Abeda Jafar, filed an action in Snohomish
County for a parenting plan with her child's father, in part
because she feared for the child's safety. Ms. Jafar's
annual income was $4,620—just 30% of the federal poverty
guideline for a family of two—and she was eligible for a free
legal services attorney because of her low income. Yet when Ms.
Jafar asked the Snohomish County Superior Court to waive her filing
fees, it granted only a partial waiver of the mandatory fees and
required her to pay $50 in surcharges within 90 days, or risk
dismissal of her case reinstating the possibility of harm to her or
her child. We appealed Ms. Jafar's case directly to the
Washington Supreme Court, seeking a ruling that neither Ms. Jafar
nor any indigent person should have to pay any fees to get through
the courthouse doors.
On May 23, 2013, the Supreme Court issued a unanimous ruling that Washington
courts cannot charge indigent litigants fees or costs associated
with filing a case. In strong language, the Court stated that the
court rule at issue, General Rule (GR) 34, "was adopted to
ensure that indigent litigants have equal access to justice. Any
fees required of indigent litigants are invalid and must be waived
under the rule." The Court recognized further that
constitutionally-based principles of due process and equal
protection require that indigent litigants have access to the
courts. "Once the trial court determines that a litigant is
indigent, the rule then requires a complete waiver in order to
allow access to the courts. No language in the rule exists
supporting a grant of a partial waiver for indigent litigants,
nor...could such a decision be supportable".
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