Helping community members gain equal access to the justice system
Ty Pinkins advocates on behalf of indigent individuals in some of Mississippi’s most underserved communities by helping pro se litigants navigate the court system.
Indigent litigants are in desperate need of civil legal representation and, unable to find it, they are driven to economic subjugation. The Legal Services Corporation estimates that there is only one free lawyer for every 6415 indigent citizens in America. With studies suggesting that litigation with representation increases a litigant’s odds by 75%, there is a growing cycle of failure for the poor and marginalized. People do not have access to the representation that would so drastically improve their chances for success.
"I grew up in the Mississippi Delta, in the very circumstances I aim to help underserved communities overcome. I am passionate about giving back to communities like the one that gave me so much when it had so little to give."
This is particularly true in Mississippi, a state with a poverty rate of 19% (nearly 8% higher than the rest of the country) and over 50% of the population in liquid asset poverty. With no protection in civil matters, many Mississippians fall into a void of economic oppression where garnished wages take as much as 25% out of paychecks in a state that already has the lowest median family and per capita income in the country.