The National Center for Access to Justice has launched the Justice Index, an online project that maps the geography of justice in America.
How can one hope to map such a broad and potentially philosophical concept as “justice”? The site’s first iteration, currently available at www.justiceindex.org, starts to map out this geography by collecting and presenting national and state-by-state data on access to legal representation for a variety of underprivileged groups. Users can view interactive maps that help them visualize the disparities in access to justice for people in poverty, people with limited proficiency in English, people with disabilities, and people proceeding through the legal system without lawyers. The ratings in each category are based on a series of weighted assessments of state statutes and rules, available funding, professional training requirements, and other legal processes and policies.
