During the 2019 ABA Annual Meeting in San Francisco, Congressman John Lewis received the Section's annual Thurgood Marshall Award. The first non-lawyer to receive the award, which honors those who contribute to the advancement of civil rights, civil liberties and human rights, the U.S. representative from Georgia’s 5th congressional district said he had been arrested 40 times during the 1960s, plus another five times as a member of Congress.
About - the AwardWhatever your area of specialization, CRSJ has a place for you. By joining us today, you can help ensure that the world’s largest voluntary professional association continues to uphold the Bill of Rights and the ideals it embodies.
Fellow civil rights attorneys, public interest lawyers, social justice advocates, and other legal professionals gathered from across the country in the heart of San Francisco for exceptional CLE Programs and networking opportunities during the 2019 ABA Annual Meeting.
Yesterday we lost a beacon of justice who sadly seems almost an anachronism today: learned and committed to learning and growing on the job, kind and courteous to all, classy, nuanced and non-partisan in expression, and ever thoughtful and principled.
Read - onAug
26
Events | Webinar
A Conversation on Bail Reform
Bail has been understood as collateral to ensure that defendants return to court, but many jurisdictions maintain a bail system that amounts to punishment before conviction for poor defendants.
Sep
09
Events | Webinar
The Ethical Duties of Prosecutors in Negotiating Plea Bargains in Misdemeanor Cases
On May 9, 2019, the ABA Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility issued Formal Opinion 486 on the Obligations of Prosecutors in Negotiating Plea Bargains for Misdemeanor Offenses.
Black to the Future in an America Still in the Shadow of its Shameful Past. The current political context presents us with a promising opportunity. That premise may seem remarkable, even ridiculous. But the fortuity is real. We are at a very American racial crossroads, yet again.
Read - the latest issueThe Civil Rights and Social Justice Section’s flagship publication, Human Rights magazine, is seeking editorial board members.
If you are interested in helping shape future issues of Human Rights magazine, please contact Editor Melissa Hodek at Melissa.hodek@americanbar.org for details.
The Latest Issue:
The Ongoing Challenge to Define Free Speech
In the 2017-18 bar year, the Section partnered with the Presidential Task Force on Building Public Trust in the American Justice System, appointed by Hilarie Bass, past President of the ABA (2017-2018) and chaired by Robert N. Weiner, former Chair of the Section, to prepare these guidelines, which were adopted by the ABA House of Delegates in August 2018.
Over the past five decades, the Section and its members have worked on hundreds of issues addressing a broad range of civil rights, civil liberties, and international human rights. Today, the Section continues to promote policies affecting religious freedom, LGBT rights, gender equity, and other significant civil rights issues. Your gift will help make our efforts possible for the next fifty years!
2018-19 Section Chair Wilson A. Schooley pens his final column of the year. Wilson Adam Schooley is Chair of the ABA Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice, member of the ABA Journal Board of Editors and House of Delegates, and a civil rights and indigent defense attorney, author, adjunct professor, photographer, and actor.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
David Nahmias is a Law Fellow with the Impact Fund, a non-profit legal foundation in Berkeley, California, and a member of the ABA Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice's Fair and Impartial Courts Committee.
January 2019
Toothless Rights: How Forced Arbitration and Class Action Waivers Undermine Civil Rights at Work
