New Jersey State Bar Association headquarters at 1 Constitution Square, New Brunswick, NJ. Credit: Google New Jersey State Bar Association headquarters at 1 Constitution Square, New Brunswick, NJ. Credit: Google

New Jersey Lawyer analyzes access to justice

The February 2023 edition of New Jersey Lawyer is the first in a two-part series dedicated to helping people and communities access justice.

The issue, published by the New Jersey State Bar Association, is a collaboration between the NJSBA's Pro Bono Committee and the New Jersey Lawyer Editorial Board to address themes of equality under the law, a person's right to counsel and pro bono work. The interest from the NJSBA community to contribute articles was so overwhelming that the Editorial Board decided to run two consecutive issues of the magazine devoted to the topic.

Some of the articles cover incarcerating non-violent criminal defendants with mental health illnesses, filing fees as a barrier to justice and a 30-year history of Madden v. Delran, the case that established New Jersey's attorney assignment system to fulfill the constitutional right to counsel.