Annual Meeting

Human rights abuses at boarding schools for Native American children must be examined, ABA House says

Resolution 801 urges organizations and governments to cooperate with the Department of the Interior’s Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative and hand over school records to help uncover the truth of what happened at the boarding schools.

Oct 1, 2021 1:10 AM CDT

Student loans should be easier to discharge in bankruptcy, ABA argues

Student debt is a real and present crisis,” Christopher Jennison told the ABA House of Delegates in August at the ABA Hybrid Annual Meeting. Jennison, then a Maryland State Bar Association delegate and YLD assembly speaker, had risen to introduce Resolution 512. It urges Congress to amend the U.S. Bankruptcy…

Oct 1, 2021 1:00 AM CDT

Thurgood Marshall Award recipient Clarence B. Jones gets surprise tribute from Obama

Clarence B. Jones, a civil rights leader and member of Martin Luther King Jr.’s legal team, deserved the Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice’s recognition as this year’s Thurgood Marshall Award recipient. But the section’s president thought being acknowledged by former President Barack Obama would be an even higher honor.

Oct 1, 2021 12:50 AM CDT

ABA House calls for end to private prison contracts

The ABA House came out strongly against private prisons at this year’s ABA Hybrid Annual Meeting, calling them a failed experiment and saying the industry has “perverse and immoral incentives” to keep people behind bars.

Oct 1, 2021 12:40 AM CDT

ABA House votes to oppose laws that ban transgender student-athletes

Diana Katherine Flynn told the House of Delegates in August they could help transgender youth avoid significant harm if they opposed legislation prohibiting their participation in school sports. “We’re dealing with one of the most vulnerable groups in the country in trans youth,” said Flynn, who was a special advisor…

Oct 1, 2021 12:30 AM CDT

Pregnant workers’ rights to reasonable accommodations should be guaranteed by law, ABA House says

The House of Delegates overwhelmingly approved a measure addressing the pressing need to protect pregnant workers at the ABA Hybrid Annual Meeting on Tuesday.

Aug 10, 2021 1:55 PM CDT

‘Undue hardship’ is too strict a standard to discharge student loans in bankruptcy, ABA argues

The House of Delegates passed a resolution at the ABA Hybrid Annual Meeting on Tuesday urging Congress to amend the U.S. Bankruptcy Code to allow borrowers to discharge student loans without proving that repayment of the debt imposes an “undue hardship” on them or their dependents.

Aug 10, 2021 1:44 PM CDT

Country is divided, and lawyers can lead toward progress, says ABA President-elect Deborah Enix-Ross

Much has changed since the ABA's February 2021 midyear meeting, but Deborah Enix-Ross, the new president-elect, says the call to action she made then—seeking civics, civility and collaboration in the profession—is more important than ever.

Aug 10, 2021 12:44 PM CDT

ABA House addresses treatment of children and youths in pair of resolutions

The ABA House of Delegates addressed the treatment of children and youths in two resolutions at the ABA Hybrid Annual Meeting on Tuesday.

Aug 10, 2021 12:22 PM CDT

Private prisons are a failed experiment with ‘perverse and immoral incentives,’ ABA House says in calling for their end

Private prisons, jails and juvenile detention centers “have a tendency to cut staff, they have a tendency to cut programs, and that probably shouldn’t surprise anybody because that’s how you make a profit,” Stephen A. Saltzburg said.

Aug 10, 2021 11:55 AM CDT

ABA House encourages prosecutors to collect and publish case data

The ABA Criminal Justice Section proposed a resolution to the House of Delegates during the ABA Hybrid Annual Meeting on Tuesday that focuses on improving prosecutors' collection of case data.

Aug 10, 2021 10:59 AM CDT

Congress should study slavery reparations and address racial disparities in incarceration, ABA House says

The ABA House of Delegates said Monday it supports federal reparations legislation and wants Congress to study the far-reaching effects of slavery in the criminal justice system.

Aug 10, 2021 10:21 AM CDT

Human rights violations at American Indian boarding schools must be investigated, ABA House says

The ABA House of Delegates voted Monday in favor of a resolution calling for an investigation into human rights abuses at American Indian boarding schools after the president of the Canadian Bar Association appeared in person to support the resolution.

Aug 10, 2021 9:30 AM CDT

When creating return-to-work policies, consider groups hardest-hit by pandemic

The House of Delegates passed two resolutions that focus on returning to the workplace amid the COVID-19 pandemic at the 2021 ABA Hybrid Annual Meeting on Monday.

Aug 9, 2021 7:03 PM CDT

‘Terrible things happening’ presents a great opportunity, says ABA Medal recipient Lawrence Fox

“We should recognize our own obligation, and everyone in this room certainly does that, but we need to recruit more, and we need to recruit quickly,” said ABA Medal recipient Lawrence J. Fox.

Aug 9, 2021 6:59 PM CDT