A Florida grandmother faces 95 years imprisonment for “crimes” allegedly committed in the course of operating a jail ministry program at the Desoto County Jail. During her routine visits with inmates she advised them of their constitutional rights, encouraged some to fire their court-appointed public defenders, and on multiple occasions helped them file pro se motions. She was recently convicted of 19 counts of Unauthorized Practice of Law (“UPL”), in violation of FS 454.23. She is to be sentenced by Judge Lee Haworth on September 25th. A recent press release on the case can be viewed at Nancy Grant Press Release, revised 20070905. Please discard earlier version, Distribute this one to all mailing lists and members of press. See attached - Lawmen | Google Groups or at http://www.yannone.org/BlogDocs/Nanc...essRelease.doc.

It need not be said that most pre-trial detainees cannot afford good criminal defense attorneys; they are therefore forced to rely upon public defenders (public “pretenders”) that all too often are incommunicative, incompetent, and equally as bent on seeing their clients convicted as are prosecutors. These people undeniably need an alternative to unaffordable private attorneys. Similarly, so too do state and federal prison inmates who are being denied adequate medical care, who are assaulted or harassed by demented prison officials, who are being held past their scheduled release dates.

The alternative, of course, is competent paralegals, many of which are equally educated in the law as are licensed attorneys. But it isn’t only in connection with criminal offenses that society is in dire need of “unlicensed” paralegals to help people in need of legal assistance. Take a woman working for minimum wage that wants and deserves a divorce from her abusive husband, or an elderly neighbor living on a fixed income who is being sued for someone falling on the sidewalk in front of their house. There’s the financially strapped family of young children facing eviction, ad infinitum. Granted, society should protect its citizens from those professing to know the law who do not. But it should also protect citizens from licensed attorneys who prey on the scared accused for financial gain and do little, if anything, to “represent” them.

A federal class action lawsuit is being planned seeking the repeal of state statutes prohibiting non-lawyers from helping others with legal matters. It will be filed in Washington, DC and will name all 50 states, their legislatures, and their respective bar associations, as defendants (all 50 states have laws prohibiting non-attorneys from “practicing law”). Doubtless is that this will be a very expensive, complex, and protracted suit. It will be spearheaded by a semi-retired Washington, DC attorney in good standing who has taken on many unpopular actions in the past. We will need support on every front. Those interested in helping may PM me.