ABSTRACT
In Legal Services Corporation v. Velazquez, 531 US 533, the US Supreme Court struck down a 1996 law restricting the Legal Services Corporation from representing clients seeking to change existing welfare laws, even if this meant their attorneys had to terminate cases already in progress when the law was adopted. Congress had created the Legal Services Corporation (LSC) as a nonprofit corporation in 1974 "for the purpose of providing financial support for legal assistance in noncriminal proceedings or matters to persons financially unable to afford legal assistance." Lawyers funded by the LSC brought suit challenging the law, known as the 1996 Omnibus Consolidated Rescissions and Appropriations Act. The case went to the Supreme Court, which faced the question of whether the funding restriction on LSC attorneys attempting to represent clients challenging the validity of a law or statute violated the First Amendment right to free speech.
