Opinion ID: 3065248
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: LSC and the Restrictions

Text: In 1974 Congress enacted the Legal Services Corporation Act (the “1974 Act”), Pub. L. No. 93-355, 88 Stat. 378 (codified as amended at 42 U.S.C. §§ 2996-2996l), establishing LSC as an independent nonprofit corporation. LSC’s mission is to distribute congressionally appropriated funds to qualifying organizations “for the purpose of providing financial support for legal assistance in noncriminal proceedings or matters to persons financially unable to afford legal assistance.” 42 U.S.C. § 2996b(a). Congress has restricted the activities of LSC grantees since the grant program’s inception, and the scope of those restrictions has expanded over time. The 1974 Act, for example, provided that LSC funds could not be used to provide legal assistance in school desegregation cases, cases in which a cliLEGAL AID v. LEGAL SERVICES CORP. 15495 ent seeks to procure an abortion or compel an institution to provide an abortion, military desertion cases, any “feegenerating case,” and collateral attacks on criminal convictions. Id. § 2996f(b). Further, every year between 1983 and 1996, Congress included an appropriations rider in its annual spending bill “purport[ing] to eliminate legislative lobbying and administrative advocacy” among LSC grantees. S. Rep. 104-392 at 3 (Sept. 30, 1996). In 1996, responding to concerns that LSC had strayed from its core mission of “fund[ing] basic legal services for poor individuals,” id. at 1, Congress imposed new restrictions on the activities of LSC grantees. See Omnibus Consolidated Rescissions and Appropriations Act of 1996, Pub. L. No. 104134, § 504, 110 Stat. 1321, 1321-53-57 (1996) (the “1996 Act”), reenacted in the Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations Act of 1997, Pub. L. 104-208, § 502, 110 Stat. 3009, 3009-5960 (1997). The 1996 Act enacted, and subsequent LSC regulations implemented, restrictions on: (1) attempts to influence legislation and/or administrative rulemaking processes, 45 C.F.R. § 1612 et seq.; (2) initiation of, and participation in, class action lawsuits, id. § 1617 et seq.; (3) claiming, collecting or retaining attorneys’ fees available under any federal or state law, id. § 1642 et seq.; and (4) soliciting clients, id. § 1638 et seq.1 The Restrictions apply to all of the activities of an LSC grantee, including those paid for by non-LSC funds. 45 C.F.R. § 1610.4. 1 The 1996 Act also prohibited LSC grantees from providing legal assistance to certain classes of aliens, seeking to reform welfare, litigating on behalf of prisoners, engaging in activity involving political redistricting, supporting certain advocacy training programs, and litigating cases related to abortion. See Velazquez v. Legal Serv. Corp., 164 F.3d 757, 760 & n.2 (2d Cir. 1999) (“Velazquez II”). Those restrictions are not at issue in this appeal. 15496 LEGAL AID v. LEGAL SERVICES CORP.