WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) recently joined Senators Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) in introducing legislation to permanently extend the authorization for the Pro Bono Work to Empower and Represent (POWER) Act.

The POWER Act, which helps combat domestic violence and sexual assault by encouraging lawyers across the country to offer pro bono legal services to victims and survivors of these crimes, was originally signed into law in 2018, but is set to expire after 2022. In 2020, the POWER Act resulted in 75 pro bono legal summits across the nation, reaching more than 43,000 attorneys.

“It’s critical we support survivors of domestic violence and assault,” Senator Capito said. “This includes encouraging lawyers to offer pro bono work that can help victims gain access to critical legal services and protect them in the future. The POWER Act is commonsense legislation to combat domestic violence and sexual assault, and would make a tremendous difference in promoting safety for survivors across West Virginia.”

The POWER Act would mandate that each year, the chief judge of each judicial district across the country hold at least one event promoting pro bono legal services as a critical way to empower survivors of domestic violence, stalking, and sexual assault, to engage citizens, and to help lift victims out of the cycle of violence.

The POWER Act would also require the administrative office of the federal judiciary to submit a compilation and summary of reports received from the chief district judges, detailing each public event conducted in the previous fiscal year.

BACKGROUND ON THE POWER ACT:

The National Network to End Domestic Violence estimated that over the course of one day in September 2014, up to 10,000 requests for services by abused women, including legal representation, weren’t met due to a lack of resources.

Research has shown that when abuse victims are represented by an attorney, their ability to break out of the cycle of violence increases dramatically. For example, one study found that 83% of victims represented by an attorney were able to obtain a protective order compared to just 32% of victims without an attorney.

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