Access Commission focuses on the needs of veterans
Access Commission focuses on the needs of veterans
Senior Editor
A veteran in the Tallahassee area was working a good job and paying his child support. Then he got injured.
He lost his job, became homeless as he stopped paying rent so he could continue to pay child support, but eventually ran through his savings. Then his driver’s license was suspended for failing to pay child support. Using Supreme Court approved forms, he filed paperwork with the court to modify his child support but despite that had a motion for contempt filed against him. After six months, he had heard nothing, and that’s when he went to Florida State University College of Law’s Veterans Legal Clinic.
Prof. Jennifer LaVia, who directs the clinic, said two relatively easy fixes helped the veteran get back on his feet.
Although he had filed the child support modification paperwork with the court, “He didn’t understand that he had to schedule a hearing. That one little step was missing,” LaVia said.
The second issue was getting his driver’s license reinstated.
“The impact of losing his driver’s license was at that point he couldn’t get a job even when he was well enough,” she said. “The problems with drivers licenses is that there are so many laws in Florida that allow for suspension of drivers licenses that are not related to driving” including failing to pay court costs and child support.
“Some of our veterans have not had a drivers license for more than 10 years. It spirals them into losing their jobs,” LaVia said.
This story has a happy ending. The clinic helped with the court case and got the drivers license reinstated. The veteran, who holds a commercial drivers license, got a good job and is again paying his child support.
That story was related at the Supreme Court’s Commission on Access to Civil Justice August 10 meeting, which was largely devoted to unmet legal needs for veterans, active duty military personnel stationed in Florida, and their families.
The commission heard both about innovative programs trying to help veterans and the legal problems veterans face.
“The list is private landlord/tenant, divorce, collections, repossessions, garnishments, contracts, warranties, custody, visitation, home ownership and real property that is not foreclosure, wills, estates, power of attorney, federally subsidized housing, veterans’ benefits, mobile homes, other house, mortgage foreclosure. . . bankruptcy, debtor relief, unfair and deceptive sales and practices, other individual rights, SSDI, other consumer finance, domestic abuse, taxes, and criminal record expungement,” Commander Dennis Baker, president of the nonprofit Florida Veterans Foundation, which is allied with the state’s Department of Veteran Affairs, rattled off to the commission.
That list was compiled from a project the foundation is doing with Bay Area Legal Services to track veterans’ legal needs.
One problem in meeting those needs, according to Marine veteran and First Circuit Judge Gary L. Bergosh, is judges don’t have much discretion under current laws, particularly when dealing with criminal issues. Bergosh presides over the First Circuit’s veterans’ court.
“It’s a difficult dance,” he said. “There are unintended consequences when you take discretion from judges.”
Supreme Court Justice Jorge Labarga cited drivers licenses as one example of that, noting that in Florida a third arrest for driving without a license is a third degree felony.
In California, running a red light is a $119 fine — not unreasonable on its face, Labarga noted. But when other fees, costs, and expenses are tacked on, the total rises to $490. Don’t pay and it’s a lost license.
“If you’re poor, you can’t come up with 500 bucks,” he said. “We need to think as a society and educate our leaders that sometimes these hard issues, these hard measures. . . are not the right way to do it.”
Veterans issues are complicated too because many suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injuries from their combat service. Sometimes those issues led to problems while they were still in the service that caused less than honorable discharges, which in turn disqualifies them from many veterans’ benefits programs.
The Florida Constitution defines veterans as only those who received honorable discharges, according to James Heaton, who runs the Mission United Veterans Pro Bono Project at Legal Aid Service of Broward County.
He said there are programs to review the discharge status of former service members and seek upgrades if merited.
While veterans and active duty service members face many legal problems, there are issues springing up around the state to help.
Baker said the Florida Veterans Foundation is working with Bay Area Legal Services and a special hotline to compile data and is reaching out to veterans and other organizations across the state to coordinate services and get the word out to those eligible for help.
“The Florida Veterans Foundation is trying to build statewide best practices for veterans and how we can serve the veterans,” he said.
LaVia noted her program, with funding from the Legislature, is beginning its second year and utilizes eight law student interns plus pro bono attorneys. She added because FSU is the western most law school in Florida with a program for veterans, her programs gets calls from Pensacola to Ocala. The University of Florida is setting up a similar program, LaVia said.
Bergosh talked about veterans courts, of which there are several around the state and how they can address the unique needs of former and active service members.
Heaton said his program provides a wide range of services and was funded two years ago through United Way. Mission United has two dedicated staff attorneys, assistance from other legal aid lawyers and more than 1,400 pro bono attorneys. Other areas across the country are looking at duplicating the program.
Baker outlined the need, noting there are 1.5 million veterans living in Florida who have another 2.5 million family members. Home to 21 military bases, the state also has tens of thousands of active duty members.
Added Labarga, “It is important to remember in our work that there are significant issues for access to civil justice, not just for the poor, but also for many moderate income Floridians, including veterans.”
