This list identifies resolutions adopted by the House of Delegates at its February 2023 Midyear Meeting.
For prior meetings, see the ABA House of Delegates website.
Policy Implementation
Report No. 600
Urges legislative bodies, governmental agencies, and courts to provide training and to adopt policies and practices to recognize and address issues associated with persons involved in the criminal justice system who are living with dementia.
For more information, please contact:
Ken Goldsmith
Senior Legislative Counsel
[email protected]
(202) 662-1789
Report No. 603
Urges governments to enact statutes, rules and regulations that would make it unlawful for any person, other than law enforcement, to possess firearms on property owned, operated, or controlled by any public or private institute of higher education and in states that do not make it unlawful authorize such institutions of higher education to restrict or regulate the concealed or open carry of firearms on their campuses.
For more information, please contact:
Holly Cook
Director
[email protected]
202-662-1860
Report No. 604
Urges entities that design, develop, deploy, and use artificial intelligence systems and capabilities to ensure that their products, services, systems, and capabilities are legally subject to human oversight and maintain transparency while protecting intellectual property.
For more information, please contact:
David Eppstein
Legislative Counsel
[email protected]
202-662-1766
Report No. 605
Urge all legislative bodies and governmental agencies to adopt laws and policies that ensure state separation-of-powers principles, established in state constitutions, apply with full force to state regulation of the elections of members of Congress.
For more information, please contact:
Kristi Gaines
Senior Legislative Counsel
[email protected]
202-662-1763
Report No. 606
Encourage all bar licensing entities to eliminate from applications required for admission to the bar mandatory questions about sexual orientation or gender identity and to eliminate processes that could lead to unintended disclosure of sexual orientation or gender identity without explicit consent.
For more information, please contact:
Denny Cardman
Deputy Director
[email protected]
(202) 662-1761
Report No. 500
Reaffirms policy 82A123 that opposes federal agencies adopting standards of practice governing the professional conduct of attorneys who represent clients subject to the administrative procedures of or regulation by those agencies, and support Recommendation 2021-9 of the Administrative Conference of the United States.
For more information, please contact:
Denny Cardman
Deputy Director
[email protected]
(202) 662-1761
Report No. 501
Adopts the Ten Principles to Achieve Gender Equity in the Criminal Legal Profession, dated February 2023.
For more information, please contact:
Ken Goldsmith
Senior Legislative Counsel
[email protected]
(202) 662-1789
Report No. 502
Urge governments to eliminate the use of stigmatizing labels in documents and communications and promote the use of “people-centered language” when referring to people currently or formerly within the criminal legal system.
For more information, please contact:
Ken Goldsmith
Senior Legislative Counsel
[email protected]
(202) 662-1789
Report No. 503
Urge the Secretaries of State and all Competent Authorities that issue apostilles in the U.S. to implement the e-APP (electronic apostilles) program to reduce costs and facilitate cross-border commerce and other public document verification.
For more information, please contact:
Kristi Gaines
Senior Legislative Counsel
[email protected]
202-662-1763
Report No. 505
Adopts Best Practices for Remote Depositions, dated February 2023
For more information, please contact:
Denny Cardman
Deputy Director
[email protected]
(202) 662-1761
Report No. 506
Condemn Russia’s unlawful invasion and purported annexation of Ukrainian territory, threat of use of nuclear weapons, crimes against humanity, and violations of international human rights law; urge the Russian Federation to respect its obligations under international law and cease immediately hostilities against Ukraine; and urge the UN General Assembly to (1) develop a comprehensive set of proposals for ensuring accountability for war crimes, (2) promptly establish a registry of claims and evidence of damage, and (3) request all states maintain the status of the Russian Federation’s assets and any other assets frozen by states as a result of the invasion.
For more information, please contact:
Kristi Gaines
Senior Legislative Counsel
[email protected]
202-662-1763
Report No. 507
Condemn laws, restrictions, and other measures placed on civil society actors (CSAs) that are inconsistent with international law and urge governments to act with due diligence to protect and prevent violations of the human rights of CSAs.
For more information, please contact:
Kristi Gaines
Senior Legislative Counsel
[email protected]
202-662-1763
Report No. 508
Urge all Parties to the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime to adopt a wildlife crime protocol that would define the term “wildlife crime” and identify measures that Parties would be called upon to adopt to prevent and combat wildlife crime and improve cooperative global enforcement.
For more information, please contact:
Kristi Gaines
Senior Legislative Counsel
[email protected]
202-662-1763
Report No. 509
Urges Congress and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to incentivize the safeguarding of the environment, human health, food safety, animal welfare, and farmers by providing natural disaster preparedness training to farmers and other animal producers who seek federal government payments.
For more information, please contact:
David Eppstein
Legislative Counsel
[email protected]
202-662-1766
Report No. 511
Opposes all legislation, regulation, and agency policy that imposes medical or surgical intervention on minors with intersex traits without the minor’s informed consent or assent and urge licensed professionals not to conduct medical or surgical intervention until the minor requests the proposed care, except when emergency intervention is required.
For more information, please contact:
David Eppstein
Legislative Counsel
[email protected]
202-662-1766
Report No. 512
Opposes laws and regulations that unreasonably limit an individual patient’s right to make decisions about their own personal medical care in the context of a provider-patient relationship.
For more information, please contact:
David Eppstein
Legislative Counsel
[email protected]
202-662-1766
Report No. 513
Opposes federal, state, local, territorial, or tribal legislation and regulations that restrict the right of any individual to travel interstate to access medical care and urge governments to enact legislation and regulations to protect the right.
For more information, please contact:
David Eppstein
Legislative Counsel
[email protected]
202-662-1766
Report No. 514
Urge the U.S. and all other UN member states to condemn antisemitism and support policies and legislation that condemns and combats antisemitism; urge ABA to take leadership role in opposing antisemitism.
For more information, please contact:
Kristi Gaines
Senior Legislative Counsel
[email protected]
(202) 662-1763
Report No. 704
Support legislation and regulations to ensure that adequate, accurate, and timely entity beneficial ownership information can be obtained or accessed by authorized government authorities and financial institutions for detecting, deterring, and combating money laundering, terrorist financing, corruption, kleptocracy, human rights violations, etc.; urge that such measures are consistent with enumerated principles, including that they not conflict with the ethical duties and professional conduct standards imposed on the legal profession and that reporting of beneficial ownership information must not be the obligation of the law firm engaged by that entity. This resolution rescinds Resolution 08A300.
For more information, please contact:
Larson Frisby
Associate Director
[email protected]
202-662-1098
Report No. 400
Urge the Supreme Court of the United States to adopt a code of judicial ethics binding on Justices that is comparable to the Code of Conduct for U.S. Judges adopted by the Judicial Conference of the United States and urge bar associations to adopt their own resolutions urging the Supreme Court of the United States to adopt a code of judicial ethics for Justices.
For more information, please contact:
Denny Cardman
Deputy Director
[email protected]
(202) 662-1761
Report No. 401
Support the adoption of a bench card addressing best practices for judges in “using LGBTQ+ inclusive language and pronouns” to endorse the use of LGBTQ+ inclusive language and pronouns in the courtroom and support efforts within courts to implement such a bench card as a resource for judges and court staff.
For more information, please contact:
Denny Cardman
Deputy Director
[email protected]
(202) 662-1761
Report No. 402
Urge governments to remove racial and ethnic bias symbols of the Confederate States of America and depictions of Confederate leaders from areas accessible to jurors, litigants, attorneys, witnesses, and the general public in courthouses, courtrooms, and the exterior of any government facilities in which judicial proceedings are held.
For more information, please contact:
Denny Cardman
Deputy Director
[email protected]
(202) 662-1761