Page 94 - 2020OctoberBOG

SRL Committee joins with civil legal aid providers to educate judges and Justices of the
peace on changing eviction laws.
Judge Jeffrey Cashe, Chair
Following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and widespread court closures, the Committee
collected and shared informational resources available to help courts and service providers
assist self-represented litigants. The Committee disseminated a bench card on evictions under
the new laws and hosted multiple virtual trainings for over 160 judges and Justices of the Peace.
The Committee and Law Library of Louisiana continue to provide valuable “libguides”,
including versions in Spanish. The Committee also prepared an SRL survey for people working
directly with SRLs to provide insights and guide future work. Additionally, this Committee is
working with the Technology Committee where there is overlap regarding forms and services
for SRLs.

Building Bridges Committee focuses on issues that support reentry and deter recidivism.
Adrienne Wheeler, Chair
Over the past few months, the Building Bridges Committee has worked directly with the LA
Department of Public Safety and Corrections to address three major legal barriers to people
returning home from incarceration – 1) issuing and requesting letters of incarceration (LOIs)
to address failures to appear in court and credit for time served on attachments, 2) identifying
detainers prior to release to reduce recidivism, and 3) obtaining TWIC cards required for
employment opportunities received upon certification of job training during incarceration. The
Committee recently held a CLE on reentry legislative updates covering LOIs, Expungements,
and Child Support, and Solitary Confinement. The webinar is available here.

Language Access Committee works with Supreme Court Office of Language Access on
implementation of Court’s recently adopted Language Access Plan.
Professor Luz Molina, Chair
The Language Access Committee has worked with the Supreme Court’s Office of Language
Access (OLA) and its Stakeholder Committee on their Language Access Plan (LAP). The Plan
was fully vetted this summer by the members of both Committees and the U.S. Justice
Department. In September, the Supreme Court approved the statewide Language Access Plan.
This Committee continues to work with the Supreme Court staff on the implementation phase,
including drafting a brochure for interpreter services. Another noteworthy step taken to
improve language access is the creation of a language access complaint process, which
addresses issues litigants might face such as not being provided an interpreter, being provided
an interpreter who fails to interpret adequately or provide essential translated materials, and/or
being charged for interpreter services by the court.

Modest Means Committee sees ~20-30% increase in Modest Means Directory views
compared to 2019.
Professor Virginia Listach, Chair
The Modest Means Directory saw 29% and 21% increases in applications to view the Directory
in July and August 2020 compared to 2019, respectively. The total number of views from the
launch of the program in April 2018 through the end of August 2020 is over 4,800. The top 10
parishes where members have applied to view the directory are listed below with the number
of attorneys offering reduced-cost legal services in those parishes. These numbers show an
average of one attorney listed per every 13 requests to view.