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Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh caused quite a stir with this tweet directed at President Trump’s budget proposal. Harbaugh’s Twitter commentary is frequent but rarely is it political, and he referenced a very specific cause in his call for clarity. 

In a recent story with POLITICO, Harbaugh explained that as a public university employee it is recommended that he remain apolitical, but he believes that the possible defunding of the Legal Services Corporation, the largest funder of civil legal assistance for low-income Americans, is a bipartisan issue. 

“I’m an American first and all Americans should care about justice,” Harbaugh said in a Q&A. “The idea, as you learn about our legal system, [is] the danger of not being able to have access to justice. From what I can see it’s that, if you have money you have access to justice. If you don’t, it’s becoming increasingly less and less accessible for low-income Americans and that’s the crux of it. I mean, to have a society that has liberty and justice for all, it’s right there in the constitution. And LSC is the largest funder of civil legal aid in our nation.”

According to POLITICO, Harbaugh is on the leaders council of the LSC, whose “current budget allocation of $385 million funds programs that provide legal aid in civil cases -- everything from foreclosures and evictions to child custody and restraining orders against an abusive partner -- to over 1.8 million low-income people across the country.” 

Harbaugh started getting involved with the LSC last year and had added it to his busy list of responsibilities outside of Michigan football. His concerns, voiced in the piece, shed light on the rising fines and fees in the legal system and their impact on low-income Americans. His cause is for fair access to justice for all, and he’s so fired up he’s quoting the Federalist Papers. 

“As [Madison] said in Federalist 51,” Harbaugh said. “‘Justice is the end of government, the end of civil society. It ever has been [and] ever will be pursued until it be obtained or until liberty be lost in the pursuit,’”