Tribes say voting access hurt by US Supreme Court ruling
Felicia Fonseca
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Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
FILE - In this Thursday, Oct. 25, 2018, photo, Brandon Nez displays his flag at near his jewelry stand in Monument Valley, Utah, where tourists stand the highway to recreate a famous running scene from the movie Forest Gump . As Native American tribes around the country fight for increased access to the ballot box, Navajo voters in one Utah county could tip the balance of power in the first general election since a federal judge ordered overturned their voting districts as illegally drawn to minimize native voices. Native Americans weren t granted U.S. citizenship until 1924, and even then some states prohibited them from voting for decades if they lived on reservations or couldn t pass an English literacy test. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)
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Biden moves to improve legal services for low-income Americans
By KAT STAFFORD The Associated Press,Updated May 18, 2021, 1 hour ago
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President Joe Biden.Andrew Harnik/Associated Press
DETROIT (AP) â President Biden took executive action Tuesday to ensure low-income Americans and others have better access to quality legal representation after services dwindled during the Trump administration.
Biden signed a memorandum directing the Department of Justice to restore key functions of the shuttered Access to Justice Office and to reestablish the White House Legal Aid Interagency Roundtable.
The plans were laid out in a presidential memo first shared with The Associated Press. The White House said Biden was directing the roundtable to examine the impact that the coronavirus pandemic has had on access to justice in both civil and criminal matters.
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The pandemic “has further exposed and exacerbated inequities in our justice system” as legal services were curtailed, Biden wrote. He added that the problems have touched the lives of many persons in this country, particularly low-income people and people of color.”
Tuesday’s memo is Biden’s latest step to work toward reforming the criminal justice system and advancing racial equity. It comes almost a year after the death of George Floyd sparked global protests and demands for action to address structural racism.
It builds on an executive order Biden signed on his first day in office establishing an initiative to prioritize equity in government operations. His proposed budget seeks $1.5 billion to strengthen state and local criminal justice systems, including public defenders. White House officials said the latest step will build on those efforts.