About the Campaign for Justice

Established in 2004, the Campaign for Justice is a collaborative fundraising effort for members of the Maine Bar in support of civil legal aid in Maine. Today the Campaign helps fund six provider organizations in our state: Cumberland Legal Aid Clinic, Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project, Legal Services for the Elderly, Maine Equal Justice, Pine Tree Legal Assistance, and the Volunteer Lawyers Project. You can learn more about our providers here.

Who Does the Campaign Help?

The Campaign for Justice assists adults and children in Maine who do not have access to justice in civil legal matters by raising support for legal aid providers. The Campaign itself does not provide legal services.

Who Receives Help Most?

Those who benefit from the Campaign for Justice's support of legal aid live at or below the poverty level. In Maine, 73% of those living in poverty are women and children. One out of every six in poverty is disabled, and one out of every ten is 60 or older.

What Kinds of Legal Aid Help Do Maine Residents Need in Civil Legal Matters?

Truly the most basic things. Things we take for granted for our own families: food, health, shelter, safety. Matters for which we know a lawyer is needed: custody, discrimination, due process, denial of benefits, citizenship, protection from abuse, education rights and access for our children, eviction, fraud...

Addressing Fundamental Issues by Advancing Justice Through Legal Aid Raised by the Campaign for Justice

The six providers that the Campaign for Justice supports provide legal aid to an average of 30,000 adults and children annually since 2004 when the Campaign was founded.

With a state population just over 1.3 million, the likelihood that you know someone who has been helped through legal aid is high. It could be someone in your church, the person who mows your lawn, the child on your son's soccer team, the man who checks your groceries, the cousin of a colleague, or the relative of a friend. We are a small, connected state.

While the Campaign is just one of the funding sources for access to justice in Maine, it is one of the most stable sources the providers can count on. The Campaign's volunteers ask you to reflect on the thousands of families the six legal aid providers have helped in the Campaign’s existence and the direct impact of the Campaign on such basic matters as:

• Reducing homelessness and saving homes.
• Providing food security.
• Keeping people employed.
• Protecting the educational rights of children.
• Representing families experiencing domestic violence.
• Defending the elderly against fraud.
• Securing essential health care.
• Helping families, students, and workers navigate immigration laws.
• Advocating for those with low income in the shaping of laws and policies affecting them.
• Upholding the rights and duties fundamental to the health of our democracy.

Be a Defender of Justice for All.
Find your reasons why...

• I believe everyone in Maine should have access to legal advice and representation in civil legal matters just as much as criminal ones.
• I believe that the legitimacy of law in our country rests on everyone having equal access to matters of law.
• I am concerned that one out of every three Mainers affected by the help of Maine’s legal aid providers is a child and what would happen without my best support.
• I believe that poverty should not be a bar to equality before the law.
• I am concerned that women, children, the elderly, veterans and the disabled are over 80% of those who cannot afford legal services.
• I am concerned that people who have endured physical and emotional harm and risked everything to come to a just and equal society do not have the opportunity to put their best case forward about joining our democracy.
• I believe we are a great nation because we strive to uphold our founding belief in justice for all.
• I believe that most of the issues needing legal advice and representation deal with fundamental issues affecting shelter, food, safety and health and that if we resolve these legal issues early, both our economy and our communities are stronger.
• I am concerned that a poor child sitting in my child’s class, a senior citizen of meager means at my church, the disabled carrier who delivers my newspaper, the struggling couple who plow my drive, the homeless young veteran on Main Street, and all the other vulnerable and poor citizens of my town may need legal help.

For more information, contact Angela Doyle, Campaign for Justice Director, at adoyle@justicemaine.org or 207-620-1358.