ABA House adopts policy against religious symbols in public schools among other new positions

The American Bar Association House of Delegates opened its two-day session on Aug. 5 as part of the 2024 ABA Annual Meeting, adopting as policy ABA opposition against government actions that require the display of the Ten Commandments in public schools.

The summer meeting in Chicago, the national headquarters of the ABA, began on July 31 and concludes Aug. 6. The policymaking body, known as the HOD, encompasses 590 delegates from ABA entities and state, local and specialty bar associations. In its two days, the HOD is working through about four dozen resolutions on its agenda.

Earlier this year, Louisiana became the first state to require the Ten Commandments to be displayed in public schools. Resolution 503 establishes as ABA policy opposition to any legislation that permits or requires such a display as well as urging repeal of any existing laws. The resolution also opposes any moves by public schools “to employ, or accept as volunteers, chaplains to provide student support services when such individuals are not certified to provide such services.”

California lawyer Mark Schickman said that there are scores of versions of the Ten Commandments circulating, and he did not “want the great state to fill in the blanks” to tell public school children which version should be followed.

“We as the ABA need to tell governmental leaders that we need not accept it,” he said, adding that “a school child should not feel alienated in their own classroom.”

The HOD also registered ABA opposition to laws restricting gender-affirming care that typically target transgender, nonbinary and gender-expansive youth and their access to age-appropriate, medically necessary care. Across the country, legislators have pushed aside recommendations of medical professionals and introduced bills that would limit such care. Resolution 510 urged the enactment of laws that would protect access to medical treatment and allow health care professionals to provide such care.

On its opening day, the HOD hosted two special programs ─ a naturalization ceremony that bestowed citizenship on 20 immigrants who completed requirements. Also, the House heard a panel discussion, “ABA 150 and Beyond: Tradition, Values and Evolution,” which focused on how the legal profession is changing, what traditional aspects of the practice remain, and what the future of the legal profession and the justice system holds (see related stories).

Other resolutions adopted include:

• Resolution 512, which urges Congress to establish a National Human Rights Institution. Other human rights resolutions approved relate to assisting the Hazara people who face atrocities in Afghanistan (501); promoting Taiwan as a member of the international system (700);and supporting inquiries on the question of genocide, crimes against humanity and other human rights violations in Tibet (502).
  
• Three measures related to Native Americans and other indigenous people. Resolution 506 asks various legal stakeholders to adopt and implement the recommendations of the report, “Excluded & Alone: Examining the Experiences of Native American Women in the Law and a Path Towards Equity;” Chapter 6 of the report, “Not One More: Findings & Recommendations of the Not Invisible Act Commission” (509);and the recommendations of the report, “The Way Forward” (511), which focuses on the treatment of children.
• Resolution 507, which urges governmental units to enact laws, adopt regulations and policies and to support private programs and practices that alleviate the burden of medical debt for medically necessary care on patients and families. Speakers said these measures would limit abusive collection techniques directed at individuals and families with medical debt.
  
• Resolution 504, which seeks repeal of remaining provisions of the 19th century Comstock Act, which prohibits the mailing of things designed to produce abortion and could be interpreted to cover mailing of a range of sexually oriented materials. Speaker Wendy Mariner of Massachusetts called the act “dangerous,” adding “a free country does not need a 19th century morals police.”
• Two separate resolutions that address the work and studies of law students outside of the classroom, such as law clinics and field placements. Resolution 301 amends a legal education standard to better clarify and streamline its language related to field placements. It recognizes that there are various forms of field placement and learning skills beyond coursework per se. Resolution 514 calls for law schools to enable students to receive monetary compensation for their field placements while also earning course credit.
  
• Resolution 516, which urges the establishment of a State Judicial Threat Intelligence and Resource Center providing technical assistance and training for heightened judicial security, monitoring threats, developing standardized incident reporting, and creating a national database for reporting, tracking and the sharing of threat information.

HOD proposals do not become ABA policy until approved by the House, which meets twice annually. The next HOD meeting is scheduled for early February 2025 in Phoenix.