On Monday the ABA House of Delegates convened for the 2015 Midyear Meeting. There are 560 members of the House state and local bar associations, ABA Sections and ABA-affiliated organizations. Only a small handful of members of the House are law professors and/or deans and law students. This is not surprising given the manner in which most people find themselves appointed to the House in a representative capacity. A number of at-large and specially designated seats require election. Although there were not as many resolutions on the House agenda as in recent meetings, there were some interesting and important measures debated and approved.
In 2013 a number of ABA entities convened a National Task Force on Stand Your Ground Laws. Among the task force members were two law professors – David Harris from Pitt Law and Tamara Lawson from St. Thomas. The House approved a resolution (112) advanced by the Task Force urging legislative bodies and governmental agencies to significantly modify or refrain from enacting laws that eliminate the duty to retreat before using force in self-defense in public places.
Lead by the ABA Working Group on Unaccompanied Minor Immigrants, the House approved a resolution (113) supporting government-appointed counsel for unaccompanied children in immigration proceedings. The resolution specifically urges immigration courts not to conduct hearings unless an unaccompanied minor has an opportunity to consult with counsel. In November 2014 the ABA launched a website to aid unaccompanied minor children.
Law school debt was also addressed in a resolution advanced by the Young Lawyers Division (106) urging law schools to provide law students and young lawyers comprehensive debt counseling and debt management education. The measure, which was approved by the House, also asks bar associations to offer similar debt counseling and debt management services to young lawyers and newly admitted lawyers.
The following other resolutions were approved (the summaries below were prepared by ABA Press Office):
The House also approved a resolution that asks states that impose capital punishment through lethal injections publicly disclose the protocols — or ingredients in the solution — that are used. In the aftermath of a botched legal injection in Oklahoma in April 2014, several ABA entities asked the House to approve more disclosure about the drugs and other aspects of the execution process. With death penalty opponents pressuring drug companies into refusing to provide the necessary drugs for executions, states have resisted releasing names of the suppliers and the specific drugs. (108B).
The Criminal Justice Section successfully proposed a resolution that urges governments to refrain from using shackles on juveniles in court, unless a judge orders it. The section argued that among peer nations the United States is the only one in which some jurisdictions or courts allow shackling of juveniles as an automatic or routine procedure. (107A)
The section also secured passage of a measure that urged governments to adopt sentencing laws and procedures that both protect public safety and appropriately recognize mitigating considerations of age and maturity of youthful offenders in cases where life without the possibility of release or parole is involved. (107C)
The ABA Commission on Domestic and Sexual Violence, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary, sponsored two successful resolutions. First, the House urged governments to enact civil protection order statutes that extend protection to minor and adult victims of sexual assault, rape and stalking outside of the context of an intimate partner relationship and without the requirement of any existing relationship between the parties. (109A)
Separately, the commission won House approval for a measure that urged governments and other regulators to amend or enact laws and regulations to expand housing protections for victims of domestic and sexual violence. (109B)
Additionally, the ABA House of Delegates adopted resolutions that urge:
•Legislative bodies to approve comprehensive laws that bar the private possession, sale, breeding, import or transfer of dangerous wild animals. (105)
•Congress, state and tribal governments to adopt recommendations in the Indian Law and Order Commission report of November 2013, “A Roadmap for Making Native America Separate,” that enhances standards for the legal and justice systems in what is known as Indian country. (111A)
•Governments to continue to enforce and to enact rules or legislation that strengthen consumer protections regarding deceptive or fraudulent loan foreclosure rescue practices. (111C)
•Imposition of death-penalty sentences only by unanimous decisions by juries. Of the states, only Florida, Alabama and Delaware do not require unanimous verdicts in capital punishment cases. The resolution also covers military courts. (108A)
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