Over the years, the ABA has adopted various resolutions that focus on disability law or disability rights that are now ABA policy. Note that many of the policies are presented as PDF files, and may have to be downloaded in order to be viewed.
2025
- Midyear Meeting Resolution 608: Recommends the adoption of the American Bar Association Model Rule on Conditional Admissions to the Practice of Law, dated February 2025, to supplant all earlier versions of the Model Rule, and urges admissions authorities to adopt and enforce the new Model Rule to ensure the integrity of the admission process.
2024
- Annual Meeting Resolution 505: Urges federal, state, local, territorial and tribal governments to enact laws and polices that increase access to confidential prenatal, peripartum, and postpartum care for historically marginalized communities and those disproportionately impacted by maternal mortality and morbidity.
- Annual Meeting Resolution 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 which limit an employee’s ability to disclose information underlying claims of workplace harassment, discrimination, or statutory workplace rights violations.
- Annual Meeting Resolution 512: Urges Congress to create and fund a National Human Rights Institution (NHRI); and urges the President of the United States to convene a commission of experts to assist Congress by preparing recommendations for the organization and funding of a NHRI, consistent with international standards.
- Annual Meeting Resolution 607: Urges state, local, territorial, and tribal governments not to broaden their criteria for involuntary civil commitment of people with mental health disabilities as a strategy to address homelessness; and to increase funding for and access to safe and affordable housing and non-coercive community-based supports and services for people with mental health disabilities.
2023
- Annual Meeting Resolution 506: Urges national, state, local, territorial and tribal law and policy-making bodies to adopt the provisions of the Guardianship Bill of Rights, promulgated by the National Guardianship Network in 2022 and protect the right to Due Process in guardianship proceedings. (See link for video)
- Annual Meeting Resolution 514: Urges Congress to fund fully the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) at the maximum level that Congress originally authorized, which is 40 percent of a state’s excess costs for educating students with disabilities under the Act. (See link for video)
- Annual Meeting Resolution 607: Adopts the revised American Bar Association Election Administration Guidelines and Commentary (“Guidelines and Commentary”), dated August 2023; urges all election officials to ensure the integrity of the election process through the adoption, use, and enforcement of the Guidelines and Commentary; and urges that federal, state, local, territorial and tribal governments provide election authorities with adequate funding to implement the Guidelines and Commentary.
2021
- Annual Meeting Resolution 102: Urges members of the legal profession to devote at least 20 hours each year to efforts that advance and promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in the legal profession.
- Annual Meeting Resolution 511: Urges Congress to enact the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act or similar legislation that: (1) explicitly and affirmatively guarantees pregnant workers the right to reasonable accommodations so they can continue working without jeopardizing their pregnancy; (2) prohibits employers from denying pregnant workers employment opportunities based on the employer’s need to make reasonable accommodations, and (3) provides pregnant workers the same rights and remedies as those established under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
- Annual Meeting Resolution 514: Urges adoption of federal and local hate crime legislation, including such crimes against the AAPI community, and specifies civil remedies and first amendment protections to be built into the legislation.
- Annual Meeting Resolution 601: Urges the federal government to eliminate the Medicaid bias favoring institutional settings by amending policies in order to mandate that states and territories implement home and community-based services under their Medicaid State Plans.
- Annual Meeting Resolution 606: Supports the enactment of the Civics Secures Democracy Act (CSDA) (HR 1814 and SB 879) to provide support for expanded and improved civic education in the United States; and urges state, local, territorial, and tribal officials, and private sector entities to implement the Educating for American Democracy (EAD) Roadmap to expand and improve civic education in their jurisdictions.
- Annual Meeting Resolution 608: Urges federal, state, local, territorial and tribal governments to enact laws and policies to provide all employees a living wage, defined as the minimum hourly rage than an individual in a household must earn to support themselves and their family to a basic standard of living through employment without the need of any government subsidies; and supports legislation that would raise the minimum wage to to meet a living wage standard for an average household.
- Annual Meeting Resolution 610: Recommends the adoption of the American Bar Association Election Administration Guidelines and Commentary, dated August 2021, to supplant all earlier versions, and recommends that all election officials ensure the integrity of the election process through the adoption, use, and enforcement of the Guidelines.
- Midyear Meeting Resolution 10C: The ABA urges the Department of Defense to recognize that: (a) HIV status alone has no impact on service members’ ability to fully execute their duties and is not a determinant of fitness for duty; and (b) HIV is not a medical condition that should disqualify a person from enlistment, appointment, commissioning, deployment or retention in the U.S. military.
- Midyear Meeting Resolution 10F: The ABA urges federal, state, local, territorial, and tribal governments and police commissions to establish officer training and implement guidelines to be used by officers in giving exit orders during discretionary traffic enforcement stops where the officer has safety concerns or a reasonable suspicion of criminal activity.
- Midyear Resolution 300A: The ABA encourages development of resources that advance well-being in the legal profession and encourage legal professionals to seek out such resources despite barriers of stigma, retribution and other negative effects on their reputation.
2020
- Annual Meeting Resolution 101: The ABA adopts the American Bar Association Election Administration Guidelines and Commentary, dated August 2020, supplanting all earlier versions; recommends that all election officials ensure the integrity of the election process through the adoption, use, and enforcement of the Guidelines; and urges that governments provide election authorities with adequate funding to implement the Guidelines and Commentary.
- Annual Meeting Resolution 103: The ABA urges governments to adopt and enforce legislation and educational policy that 1) prohibits school personnel from using seclusion, mechanical, and chemical restraints on preschool elementary and secondary students, 2) prohibits school personnel from using physical restraint unless the student’s behavior poses an imminent danger of serious physical injury to self or others, 3) prohibits the use of restraints in a face-down position or any other position that is likely to impair a student’s ability to breathe, in situations where physical restraint is used, and 4) requires professional development and ongoing training in positive behavior interventions and trauma-informed care.
- Annual Meeting Resolution 105: The ABA urges Congress to create and fund a Guardianship Court Improvement Program for adult guardianship to support state court efforts to improve the legal process in the adult guardianship system, improve outcomes for adults subject to or potentially subject to guardianship, increase the use of less restrictive options than guardianship, and enhance collaboration among courts, the legal system, and the aging and disability networks.
- Annual Meeting Resolution 107: The ABA amends Model Rule 1.8(e) by adding a narrow exception to the Rule that will increase access to justice for the most vulnerable clients.
- Annual Meeting Resolution 116G: The ABA urges that in all states, territories and tribes, the highest courts or legislative bodies charged with the administration of justice, admission to the bar, or regulation of the legal profession, require that lawyers, judges, commissioners, referees, probation officers, and court personnel whose job requires interacting with the public receive periodic training regarding implicit biases that addresses, at minimum: sex, race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, ethnic group identification, age, disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, gender expression and gender identity; and urges that, in all states, territories, and tribes, the highest courts or legislative bodies, or agencies and boards that license and regulate the medical profession or social service professions, require that medical professionals and social service professionals who work with the public receive periodic training regarding the implicit biases previously noted.
- Annual Meeting Resolution 301A: The ABA urges governments to enact legislation to eliminate or substantially curtail the defense of qualified immunity in civil actions brought against law enforcement officers.
- Annual Meeting Resolution 301B: The ABA urges governments to declare June 19 (Juneteenth) as a paid legal holiday.
- Midyear Meeting Resolution 106: The ABA urges Congress to grant a private right of action for those who are not granted equal access to commercial air travel, thus violating their civil rights. This includes allowing for compensatory and punitive damages and other reasonable fees for plaintiffs who prevail in their cases.
- Midyear Meeting Resolution 115: The ABA encourages U.S. jurisidictions to consider a more innovative approach to the "access to justice" crisis, to help ensure that all Americans have meaningful access to effective civil legal services.