In her speech to the ABA House of Delegates, New Orleans lawyer Judy Perry Martinez, pledges to work tirelessly toward the ABA’s four goals “to serve our members, improve our profession, eliminate bias and enhance diversity, and advance the rule of law."
After the oath of office was administered by Bernette Joshua Johnson, chief justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court, Martinez addresses the ABA’s commitment to due process for asylum-seekers and other immigrants. “Our sense of decency owed to fellow human beings and our American values compel us to insist on safe and sanitary conditions,” for children and all detainees, she said.
She urges lawyers to reach deep within themselves, “to do the best we can to help those in need, whether the client can pay our posted fees and sometimes even when they can only say, ‘thank you.’”