Publisher's Synopsis
Examining the influence of legal professionals on the dynamics of state policy making, this book looks at the responses of poverty lawyers to the social welfare law reforms of US Congress and state legislatures. Against a political climate characterized by its hostility towards welfare programmes, cutbacks in public assistance for poor families, the decline in available low-income housing and increasing levels of homelessness, Legal Services lawyers in several states initiated class action suits to protect families from losing their homes. This book presents a stimulating and insightful look at the poverty lawyers claims that when policies and practices of state officials prevent parents and children from being able to live together in their own dwellings, the state violates the legal rights of families. Providing careful case study analysis this book will prove an excellent resource for courses on public governance, human rights and law and society. -
