Berks County Bar Association The Berks Barrister Summer 2020 - 10

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"VIVA LA REVOLUTION!"
Continued from page 9
More importantly, Barbara became a leader in dealing with
domestic violence. "We had many battered women coming into
the office seeking a divorce but not really wanting a divorce.
Rather, they wanted the beating to stop." Seeing the need and
having the Reading staff 's support to "think on a broader level,"
Barbara joined with other legal aid attorneys in Philadelphia to
write and push for passage of the Protection from Abuse Act.
When it passed in October 1976, it was the first of its kind and
served as a model for the rest of the country.

having become the manager of the office, was taking on the
male-dominated establishment. At the time, Berks County
Commissioners were directing Community Development Block
Grants to fund boat docks on the Schuylkill River and tennis
courts in Wyomissing. Not what the law intended. Sharon sued
the Commissioners to compel that the funding be used instead to
rehab homes and develop nonprofit housing. The county finally
relented, and Commissioner Vernon Shaffer was quoted as saying,
"That lady lawyer put a gun to my head."

With its passage, "we knew we had to work to enforce it." So,
Barbara took the lead in drafting model forms, and "every six
weeks I led a road show, holding training sessions around the state
for attorneys and legal services offices.

In another case, a local bank had rejected the mortgage
application of Sharon's client only because she was a single
woman. After Sharon sued the bank, its attorney threatened
Sharon that he would see to it that the United Way cut off its
funding. Knowing that CPLS received no United Way funding at
the time, Sharon responded, "Fuck you!"

"Legal services practice was unique in allowing us to integrate
our legal work with community work." As one example of her
interest in helping the community beyond the practice of law,
Barbara joined with Louise Grim and Linda Ludgate to establish
a shelter for abused women, today's Safe Berks.
She left Central Pennsylvania Legal Services in 1981 to
become staff counsel for the Pennsylvania Coalition Against
Domestic Violence. She rose to leadership positions with
PCADV as well as the National Coalition. She has authored or
co-authored many articles on domestic violence, including state
codes. In 1995, Barbara moved to Maine where she has served
as Director of the Strategic Justice Initiative in the University of
Maine's Muskie School of Public Services. While she considers
herself "quasi-retired," today Barbara continues to edit a college
textbook on domestic violence and write two monthly columns
for the National Bulletin on Domestic Violence Prevention.
Years ago, the director of the Women's Resource Center in
Scranton asked Barbara to undertake an effort to lobby the state
of Pennsylvania to provide funding for shelters to allow hiring
staff attorneys charged with providing civil legal assistance for
those suffering domestic and sexual violence. Her efforts were
very successful, and, in tribute, the civil legal assistance project
of the Women's Resource Center has been named the Barbara J.
Hart Justice Center.
In reflecting on her time with CPLS, Barbara recognizes
that "it was a unique and wonderful opportunity." She obviously
made the most of the opportunity, launching a career in public
service devoted to preventing domestic violence. But in thinking
about those "crazy men" with whom she practiced at CPLS, she
remarked, "I have had much less humor in my life since I left
Reading."

Showing Spunk
Back in Berks County in the mid to late '70s, Sharon Scullin,
10 | Berks Barrister

After the litigation was resolved in favor of Sharon's client,
the bank's attorney invited Sharon to lunch, at which time he
said, "I like your spunk and want to hire you." Sharon's response:
"No, I'm more for suing banks than working for them." As it
turned out, the exchanges between the two, Sharon relates, was
the "beginning of a beautiful friendship between us." Just one
example, as Sharon points out, "that despite the fact that were
often adversaries, most of the time the staff at legal services got
along, and still gets along, very well with the private bar."
Another one who recognized Sharon's
"spunkiness" was Judge E. Mac Troutman,
who appointed her to represent indigent
plaintiffs in several Section 1983 actions.
One was an action against several guards
employed by the Schuylkill County Prison.
They were accused of beating up Sharon's
client, an inmate at the time. The case
was tried in Philadelphia, and Sharon
discovered, during voir dire, that the jury
panel was 90% law enforcement
personnel. Thus, selecting a jury of one's
peers was difficult, if not impossible.
Not surprisingly, the jury's verdict was for the guards. Then
when the Judge sent the jury back after directing a verdict on
liability in favor of Sharon's client, the jury returned with a verdict
of no damages.

Tragedy Strikes
Judge Troutman appointed her again to represent an AfricanAmerican tenant in a Section 1983 action against the Allentown
Housing Authority. For that case, she was assisted by Sanford
Kahn, "one of the most amazing staff attorneys who worked with

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Berks County Bar Association The Berks Barrister Summer 2020

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