Legal Aid Watch
A web journalism project powered by AIA Inc
The following request for grant has been submitted to a charitable foundation and we have no indication that the grant would be awarded for sure. Therefore any charitable donations are very welcome. To make a tax deductible donation to the LAW Project click here.
You may also send a check for your charitable, tax deductible donation at the following address: Action against Impunity, PO Box 7157 New Haven, CT 06519
THE PURPOSE:
Legal Aid Watch (LAW) is a web journalism project with the purpose of pushing through the agenda for universal, equal legal defense.
THE IDEA
The web journalism project has been incubating since 2003 that The African Independent (http://www.africanindependent.com) was created. Experience with the online newspaper has shown how difficult it is to efficiently work and make a living out of independent journalism without surrendering one’s independence.
Despite single articles recording up to 20,000 daily hits, the independent journalist must also become a good sales person to promote the website on the advertising market. The task is not obvious and may easily lead to journalistic work being hindered by advertising corporate interests.
The idea of creating a Legal Aid Watch originated from the failure of Action against Impunity in Africa’s original mission of providing poor people in Africa with legal aid. It quickly became clear since inception in 2001 that raising funds in the United States to fulfill such a mission was very hard if not impossible.
One of the reasons for such reluctance from the philanthropic community appeared to be because the United States itself was experiencing a legal aid system marred with flaws. Personal frustrations and a drama related to the legal defense system further showed us that legal assistance was a major issue, which was further confirmed by studies and press articles.
Combining both unbecoming experiences, we were able to develop the Legal Aid Watch project.
THE POINT
Through denial of access to efficient legal assistance and Counsel, our courts and government consistently and systematically deny to low-income and middle-class people, especially Blacks and minorities, access to the universal protection of the laws granted by the 14th constitutional Amendment.
Recent Studies published by the Brennan Center White Papers (http://brennan.3cdn.net/297f4fabb202470c67_3vm6i6ar9.pdf) led to the following conclusions:
- “features of meaningful access to the courts are increasingly absent”
- In civil cases, “[a]ccording to most estimates, about four-fifths of the civil legal needs of low-income individuals, and two- to three-fifths of the needs of middle-income individuals remain unmet.”
- In criminal law cases, “Counsel for the indigent is commonly underpaid, under-supervised, under-resourced and, ultimately, unable to provide effective representation.”
According to The Innocence Project, bad lawyering, eyewitness misidentification, unreliable and limited science, false confessions, forensic science misconduct, government misconduct, informants and snitches are the main flaws that lead to wrongful convictions of scores of innocent people in the United States.
This is an outrageous situation that is kept silenced by the corporate media. If we believe progressive politicians who say that Washington is corrupted and subjected by lobbyists and “special interest” groups, we should not expect soon that the Congress or the White House would reform the Judicial System to provide universal access to the courts and to the protection of the laws. It is time to push through the agenda for universal, equal legal defense.
THE MISSION
LAW is a web journalism project with the mission to using independent, citizen-driven journalists and active citizens to demonstrate that denying equal access to legal defense is discrimination.
Therefore, based on the following principles known as the foundation block of the United States,
- "all men are created equal" – Declaration of Independence,
- “nor shall any State… deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws” – 14th constitutional Amendment,
- “In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right… to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence” – 6th constitutional Amendment,
We, Independent, citizen-driven journalists, along with active citizens who will be involved, are committed to contribute in bridging “the gap between the lofty promise of equal justice and the often disappointing reality of justice on the ground.” This is done through monitoring our legal system and exposing the wrongs and flaws found during our investigations, reporting and analyses about issues related to the U.S. legal system.
THE JOURNALISTIC TASK
Some of the initial questions independent, citizen-driven journalists and active citizens would have to answer are about universality of the protection of the laws, including:
- Is access to the protection of the laws universal?
- Is knowledge of the laws that protect universal?
- Is ability to find the laws that protect universal?
- Is ability to use the laws that protect universal?
- etc.
If the answer is no to any one of these questions, then why shouldn’t unequal access to legal defense be treated by the Justicial System similar to "separate but equal" educational facilities (Brown vs. Board of Education), differentials in pay for the same work, or unequal taxation ?
Our independent journalists will investigate to find whether there are or are not differentials in lawyering/legal defense and the resulting court sentences. There is no field related to the legal defense that should remain taboo to journalists, investigators, researchers and active citizens involved in achieving LAW mission.
As a measure, a simple rating system that journalists and active citizens may adopt would be lawyering being graded in a scale from 0 to 10 (0 being no lawyer defense at all and 10 being completely satisfactory lawyer defense). This is to suggest how fussy, detailed, exhaustive and innovative the task ahead will need to be.
THE INTERACTIVE WEBSITE
To push through the agenda for universal, equal legal defense, a powerful tool for LAW will be a web site that is interactive with multiple web log features.
LAW’s interactive web site will display items with a combination of text, images and links to other web sites, blogs, web pages, and other media related to legal defense. Readers will be able to leave comments on topics aroused by posted aticles in an interactive format.
LAW will be a social media network with blawgs (legal blogs) that are primarily textual, although some will be open to photoblog for photographs, sketchblog for sketches, vlog for videos, MP3blog for music, podcasting for audio, and also sousveillance -- which is a practice of semi-automated video and text blogging with pictures transmitted live from a wearable computer and EyeTap to a web site. Sousveillance can be used as evidence in legal matters.
LAW will strategically take advantage of current media market trends that show blogs have gained increasing notice and coverage these last six years for their role in breaking, shaping, and spinning news stories. Since 2004, the role of blogs has become increasingly mainstream, as political consultants, news services and political candidates are using them as tools for outreach and opinion forming.
THE END RESULT
LAW’s mission will be accomplished when our independent journalists and active citizens will be able to demonstrate that denying equal access to legal defense is discrimination. Such a goal will be better served if one or several civil rights lawyers take the issue to courts and if the Supreme Court ultimately agrees with our opinion.
THE LASTING AND VISIBLE CHANGE EXPECTED
Low-income and middle class people, especially Blacks and minorities, would be able to enjoy equal protection of the laws through equal access to efficient legal defense. Enjoying the right to equal protection of the laws is a cornerstone to a true citizenry.
THE PARTNERS INVOLVED
LAW is at its start-up phase. No other partner is currently involved, except generous strategic advices and guidance we received from the New Haven, Connecticut-based Online Journalism Project, a non profit organization presided by veteran journalist Paul Bass.
As the project goes, we will solicit contributions and funding from any non-profit partners operating in the fields of independent journalism and civil and political rights, as well as donations from the general public.
THE MEASURE OF SUCCESS
When, through our articles, debates, public conferences and publications, we will be able to demonstrate and bring public opinion to agree that denial of equal access to legal defense is discrimination, steps would have been achieved for success.
THE QUALIFICATIONS
Ndzana Seme, current President of Action Against Impunity In Africa Inc., is a veteran journalist. He is current editor of the online newspaper The African Independent Inc and author of The Republican Peril – Dialectic for Democratizing Sovereignty, a book criticizing the model of republics.
Seme has demonstrated excellence in the field of organizational management with an MS in Finance from the University of New Haven, CT, an MBA in Management with an ABC in Marketing Intelligence from the University of Connecticut, and a Maîtrise in Business Economics from the University of Yaoundé, Cameroon.
Seme has a long experience managing businesses, including 10-year experience holding various managerial positions in the banking industry, 3-year experience managing a privately owned, print newspaper, and 6-year experience managing a web journalism project.
THE ORGANIZATIONAL AND FINANCIAL CAPACITY
Visibility of LAW will most of all be on the internet, trough its powerful website, and ultimately on all the media and the public at large.
Using his 18-year experience as an independent, citizen-driven journalist and 6-year experience as a web site administrator, Ndzana Seme will hold the central and coordinating position as the LAW’s website editor in charge of coordinating the project, including all activities of copy writing, editing, publishing and idea marketing. The editor will be assisted by volunteering journalists, technicians and active citizens in fulfilling LAW mission.
Ndzana Seme will donate equipment worth $5,000.00
LAW’s financial needs and Grant Request for the next 12 months are:
- LAW website’s professional construction: $5,000.00
- LAW website’s Marketing Costs ($233/month): $2,800.00
- Site Content Maintenance Costs ($1000/month): $12,000.00
- Office supplies expenses ($250/month): $3,000.00
- Light equipment (cameras, tape recorders, software…) $5,200.00
- Travel expenses: $22,000.00
Total Grant Request: $50,000.00
Total LAW Project Cost $55,000.00
THE SUSTAINABILITY
The LAW project will be sustained by:
- Grants from foundations;
- General ongoing sponsorship grants from institutions and non-profit partners operating in the fields of independent journalism and civil and political rights; and
- Donations from the general public