Key topics from ABA Delegates meeting

The ABA House of Delegates met in August in Chicago for its annual meeting. Here are 15 key reports of the 41 that were approved by delegates.

• 501: Urges all governments to recognize, stop and prevent further acts of genocide perpetrated against the Hazara people in Afghanistan; and urges Congress to take action to strengthen national, regional and international frameworks for preventing mass atrocities in Afghanistan and protecting at-risk groups like Hazara.

• 503: opposes legislation and urges the repeal of laws that permit or require the display of the Ten Commandments in public schools and opposes legislation, urges state, local, territorial and tribal governments to repeal laws that allow public schools to employ, or accept as volunteers, chaplains to provide student support services when such individuals are not certified to provide such services.

• 505: Urges federal, state, local, territorial and tribal governments to enact laws and policies that increase access to confidential prenatal, peripartum and postpartum care for historically marginalized communities and those disproportionately impacted by maternal mortality and morbidity.

• 506: Urges legal scholars and professionals, law schools, bar associations and judicial organizations to adopt and implement the recommendations contained in the report “Excluded & Alone: Examining the Experiences of Native American Women in the Law and a Path Towards Equity.”

• 507: Urges federal, state, local, territorial and tribal governments to enact laws and adopt regulations and policies to support private programs and practices that alleviate the burden of medical debt for medically necessary care on patients and families.

• 508: Opposes non-disclosure or non-disparagement agreements as conditions of employment and urges federal, state, local, territorial and tribal governments to enact laws prohibiting and making non-enforceable pre- and post-dispute settlement agreements that limit an employee’s ability to disclose information underlying claims of workplace harassment, discrimination or statutory workplace rights violations.

• 510: Urges federal, state, local, territorial and tribal legislatures to enact legislation to protect patients’ safe access to health care professionals who offer gender-affirming care and to safeguard health care professionals’ ability to provide such care.

• 516: Urges Congress to pass the Countering Threats and Attacks on Our Judges Act, or similar legislation; and urges support for the creation of a Judicial Threat Center due to an increasing number of violent incidents against judges, court staff and the general public.

• 517: Prohibits the use of police deception or subterfuge in eliciting admissions or confessions from youth, including promises of leniency or false representations the child will be able to go home, or that the charges will be dismissed, or other such promises made by police which are false.

• 523: Encourages the ABA to establish May 20 as First Generation Lawyers Day

• 602: Reaffirms the ABA’s 2012 policy supporting attorney license portability for military spouse attorneys; and further provides specific direction to licensing entities regarding standards for licensure requirements that satisfy the ABA 2012 policy.

• 605: Supports the development of laws, policies and procedures to remove barriers to and promote a fairer and more equitable system for noncitizens seeking protection from gender-based violence in the U.S. and internationally; and urges Congress and the Administration to review and remedy all U.S. laws, policies and procedures that erect systematic barriers to protection.

• 606: Urges federal courts, Congress and the President to reaffirm longstanding implied private right of action to enforce provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

• 607: Urges state, local, territorial and tribal governments not to expand their criteria for involuntary commitment of people with mental disabilities to address homelessness, but instead increase funding for and access to safe and affordable housing as well as community-based supports and services.

• 800: Urges state and territorial bar admission authorities to eliminate from applications to the bar any question mandating disclosure or documentation of the applicant’s history as a victim of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, sexual harassment or stalking; only seek information focusing on the applicant conduct of behavior that may demonstrate a lack of character and fitness to practice law in a competent, ethical and professional manner.

Source: ABA House of Delegates