Talk Justice, an LSC Podcast: Martha Minow on Why Civil Justice Matters
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Carl Rauscher
Director of Communications and Media Relations
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WASHINGTON– Martha Minow joins LSC President Ron Flagg to discuss access to justice, law schools and her new role as Board Chair of the MacArthur Foundation on the latest episode of LSC's “Talk Justice” podcast, released today.
Teaching at Harvard Law School since 1981, Minow is Harvard’s 300th Anniversary University Professor. She served as Dean of Harvard Law School between 2009 and 2017, and as the inaugural Morgan and Helen Chu Dean and Professor. Minow served as LSC Board vice chair from 2010 until 2019, and currently is co-chair of the Access to Justice project of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
As a professor and author, Minow has delved into a wide range of legal topics including constitutional law, procedure, privacy, family law, criminal law, education, civil rights, and freedom of speech. But the common thread of it all, she explains, is her focus on the distance between the promise of America and the reality.
“We have a society that in its founding documents and in its enduring commitments claims commitment to equality, and yet we—for complex reasons—have set up systems where that just is not realized.” Minow says. “And one of the places where that distance is maybe even more pronounced than others is civil justice.”
“We have a system where most individual rights are not realized unless individuals assert them, and if people don't have the money or the time or the legal training to be aware of their problems, much less how to assert their rights, then the rights are not effectuated,” she continues. “And that is why access to civil justice, to me, is so important.”
The civil legal landscape is one marked by a vast justice gap. LSC’s recent Justice Gap report found that last year, low-income Americans received no or insufficient legal help for 92% of their civil legal problems.
Earlier this year, after ten years on the Board of Directors at the MacArthur Foundation, Minow was elected chair. In that time, she says that she has seen the meaningful work that the foundation has done to promote justice in her hometown of Chicago and across the country.
“Foundations as part of the nonprofit sector are one of the great strengths of America—it is the seed bed, frankly, and the laboratory for democracy in the sense that people can participate in governance in their own local communities and in volunteering work,” Minow says.
Talk Justice episodes are available online and on Spotify, Stitcher, Apple and other popular podcast apps. The podcast is sponsored by LSC’s Leaders Council.
The next episode of the podcast will explore technological innovations in the delivery of pro bono legal services.