Arkansas Access to Justice Commission

Equal justice under law is not just a caption on the façade of the Supreme Court building. It is perhaps the most inspiring ideal of our society…. It is fundamental that justice should be the same, in substance and availability, without regard to economic status.
- Justice Lewis Powell, Jr., Former Associate Justice,United States Supreme Court

The people of Arkansas expect the justice system of our state to function as an unbiased mechanism for upholding rights and resolving disputes in an environment characterized by respect, trust, impartiality, efficiency and fairness. The justice system of our State must be available to and responsive to the needs of all people regardless of income, race, age, gender or other status.

Why Build a Justice Community?
Low-income individuals and communities as well as the organizations and institutions which serve them face unprecedented challenges including negative public perceptions of people who are poor; continued funding cuts to vital resources such as housing, job training, health care; and under-resourced and over-burdened institutions and agencies called upon to do more with less. None of these challenges lend themselves to short-term or simple solutions; rather, they call upon us to develop new ways of harnessing our collective resources so that we can achieve together what none of us can accomplish alone. The future vitality of our democratic republic requires nothing less.

With these realities in mind the Arkansas Supreme Court joined with the Arkansas Bar Association to determine the status of equal justice in our state and what could be done about it improving it. Acting upon this joint study the Arkansas Supreme Court established an Access to Justice Commission to examine further and propose methods of addressing the civil legal needs of low income Arkansans.

Visit the Arkansas Access to Justice Commission website