UGA legal clinic will help victims of sexual abuse
A historic humanitarian gesture last week got less attention than its significance merits.
Attorney Marlan Wilbanks, a 1986 graduate of the University of Georgia School of Law, has donated the funds to the university to establish the nation's first legal clinic dedicated exclusively to assisting victims of childhood sexual abuse.
The Wilbanks Child Endangerment and Sexual Exploitation Clinic, set to open in January, will both provide legal aid to victims and train attorneys in Georgia laws governing sex abuse of minors.
"The act of sexually abusing a child is the attempted murder of a soul," Wilbanks said. "I can see no more important task than protecting those in our society who too often have no voice. The underlying goal of this clinic will be to educate, prepare and sensitize the next generation of lawyers as to the ways victims can be protected."
Marci Hamilton, a professor at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University in New York, said UGA "is doing a great public service by assisting these victims and making it more likely that the public will learn the identities of even more hidden predators."
The Wilbanks legal clinic will serve the dual public service purposes of educating law students in this area of legal services, and helping people whose lives have been scarred by hideous acts of violence.
This gift, said law school Dean Peter B. Rutledge, "will change the lives of the families touched by these crimes and shape the paths of bright aspiring attorneys."
State made right call
Cancer Treatment Centers of America in Newnan obtained state permission in 2008 to open under one set of rules set by the General Assembly. Now hospital officials want new rules.
CTCA obtained initial designation as a "destination" hospital, which meant it did not have to go through the state's "certificate of need" (CON) hospital certification process. It was limited to no more than 35 percent of in-state patients, and a 50-bed limit overall.
It has since sought legislation to lift those restrictions. When lobbying failed, CTCA applied to the Department of Community Health. But after what Commissioner Clyde Reese called "overwhelmingly negative" reaction from the state's hospital industry, the Community Health board declined to hear the issue.
Were Georgia Hospital Association members acting out of competitive self-interest? Absolutely. That doesn't make them wrong. The concern, especially for a state in healthcare limbo, that CTCA could "cherry pick" affluent and/or well-insured patients without the necessity of offering costly ER services is neither trivial nor unfounded.
This story was originally published November 14, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "UGA legal clinic will help victims of sexual abuse."