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Across the country, legal institutions created to support incarcerated people, detained immigrants and underserved neighborhoods are failing at their core mission. These organizations – some with multimillion-dollar budgets – were established to protect the vulnerable, defend the voiceless and ensure that justice is not reserved for the wealthy or well-connected. Yet in practice, many have allowed laziness, burnout, internal politics and personal issues to overshadow their duty to the people who rely on them for survival.

This failure is not abstract. It’s traumatic and often life-altering. Its consequences ripple far beyond prison walls and detention centers.

Legal aid groups, jail and prison advocacy organizations and public interest law centers are funded, in many cases very generously, to provide representation, support and oversight. Their budgets come from public grants, philanthropic foundations and taxpayer dollars. These funds are meant to ensure that poor defendants receive quality representation, incarcerated people have access to legal assistance and detained immigrants are not left to navigate the system alone. Administrative decisions are also challenged when communities facing systemic injustice are denied the advocacy they deserve.

Yet in real-world practice, countless people report that these institutions are complacent, unresponsive or outright negligent. Phone calls go unanswered. Legal deadlines are missed. Case files collect dust on desks. Urgent concerns, including medical neglect, abuse, wrongful confinement,........

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