New York Times Article: A Test of Congressional Conscience [pdf]

An article on a the death of Mariella Batista a battered immigrant who was turned away from legal services under new Legal Services Corporation (“LSC”) restrictions on representing immigrants, and was subsequently killed by her batterer on the courthouse steps in California. This story was the catalyst that led to the passage of the Kennedy Amendment to the LSC Appropriations Act in 1996 authorizing the use of non-LSC funds to represent some battered immigrants.