Task force findings
The task force released an analysis on the current state of our democracy, which outlines their activities and spells out specific actions lawyers and citizens can take to support democracy and the rule of law.
The analysis concluded that our country and democracy face a wide variety of serious threats and that “too many of us have taken our democracy, our rule of law, our civic norms and our freedoms for granted and have not done the hard work required to keep a free and fair democratic republic.”
They specifically point out the rise in authoritarianism and the too large segment of the public that seems willing to choose that form of government over democracy.
The analysis lists several causes, including “misinformation and disinformation, the intentional polarization of the American public by both domestic and foreign actors, a disregard for the rule of law and the norms that sustain such legal guardrails and a lack of basic civic knowledge.”
The demonization of the “others” in our communities has exacerbated the problems and has led to threats and acts of violence against elected officials, election officials and members of the judicial branch.
Task force takes action
The bipartisan task force summarized its work over the past 12 months with the goal of activating America’s lawyers to get engaged. It joined with nongovernmental organizations and private citizens to help inform the American people of the threats to our institutions and propose solutions. “Listening tours” were held in Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, led by those states’ secretaries of state and local election workers in an effort to rebuild trust in our elections. The “Next Steps” committees in those states have recruited local lawyers to give talks on the rule of law and democracy, to serve as poll workers, to dispel disinformation and to reintroduce civility into the public square.
The task force helped arrange for over 120 law school deans to sign a letter affirming their commitment to train the next generation of lawyers on their duty to support our constitutional democracy and further the public’s understanding of the rule of law and our justice system. A big part of the law school push will be to teach how to disagree respectfully and engage across political and ideological divides.
In addition, the task force will host free virtual CLEs on the need for lawyers to defend democracy and the rule of law, how to help improve our civic dialogue by disagreeing better and on understanding our elections and election laws. The group plans to collaborate with the Knight Foundation to host education sessions on election law for national and local journalists.
What you can do
The analysis also included lists of what individual lawyers and bar associations can do. For individual lawyers, the suggestions include:
- Voting and encouraging others to vote
- Becoming a poll worker
- Giving talks in your community or writing for your local newspaper about the rule of law, democracy and elections
- Contacting the local election board members and the board’s legal counsel and offer to help
- Serving as a pro bono lawyer protecting election officials through the Election Official Legal Defense Network
- Actively dispelling election misinformation and disinformation in your community as it arises
- Condemning violence or the threat of violence, especially as it relates to our elections and our judicial system
- Sharing the list with colleagues and members of the bar and encouraging them to get involved
For bar associations, the suggestions include:
- Enforcing lawyers’ ethical obligations when it comes to the filing of questionable election-related lawsuits
- Hosting and supporting seminars and public speaking engagements by members to promote the rule of law, confidence in our elections and the importance of carrying on our disagreements in a civil and respectful manner
- Organizing joint programming with local chambers of commerce, schools, community groups and others related to the rule of law, civics education and democracy
- Ensuring pro-bono legal assistance is available to election officials under attack or connecting those officials to the Election Officials Legal Defense Network
The task force will give a set of specific recommendations in its final report to be issued in late spring or early summer of 2025.
In addition to the release of the analysis, the Democracy Summit included several panels discussing issues highlighted in their analysis.
“Role of Lawyers and the Justice System in Defending the Constitution and Assuring Trust in Elections”
In a panel titled, “Role of Lawyers and the Justice System in Defending the Constitution and Assuring Trust in Elections,” Task Force Vice Chair Bill Ide, past ABA president and former senior vice president and general counsel of Monsanto, moderated a discussion about the fundamental role lawyers play in defending the Constitution.
Ide pointed to the need to “disagree better.” Yale Law School dean and task force member Heather Gerken talked about the letter signed by 120 law school deans. She said that deans issued another letter after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, but in general, it is rare and extraordinary to get that many diverse law schools to sign on. “We need to use every tool to buttress the rule of law,” she said.
Thompson Coburn partner Bill Bay, who will take over as ABA president on Aug. 6, said lawyers have not done enough in this area and added that the battle to protect democracy will continue. “There will never be a time when we can say ‘Mission accomplished,’” Bay said.
Dennis Archer, past ABA president and former mayor of Detroit, stressed the need to push back against the attacks on democracy and touted the strong leaders that stand up to the threats.
“Every American is a Civics Teacher”
In the panel titled, “Every American is a Civics Teacher,” Michelle Behnke, who will become ABA president-elect on Aug. 6, moderated a discussion with Sherrilyn Ifill, the Vernon E. Jordan Jr., Esq. Endowed Chair in Civil Rights at Howard University and the Klinsky Visiting Professor of Practice at Harvard Law School, and Eric Liu, CEO and co-founder of Citizen University, both task force members.
Acknowledging that we are currently not in an ideal world, Behnke asked what an ideal world of civic engagement would look like.
Ifill stated that when it comes to teaching civics, lawyers should not “be smug, because we are not doing it right.” Too often, she said, lawyers will say we need to improve civics education then move on. But she believes that it is a way of avoiding reality.
Ifill explained that our “first Constitution failed us, and the 14th Amendment brought us back to the Declaration of Independence,” which is a better “blueprint for the America you and I grew up in.”
A civic culture needs to be created, Liu said, and used the equation “Power + Character = Citizenship.” He also stressed that understanding who holds power, not just over government, but also the economy, policing and all areas of life in your community was essential to civic knowledge.
“How to Remove Contempt from our Political Discourse”
In the final panel of the program, “How to Remove Contempt from our Political Discourse,” Thomas B. Griffith, former judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and task force member, moderated a discussion about how we might disagree better.
Rachel Kleinfeld, senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s Democracy, Conflict and Governance Program, said, “We are not as polarized as we think we are, but politicians are much more ideologically polarized. Too often, she said, people believe they need to polarize to get social justice. “That never works,” she said, “and it paves the way for authoritarianism.”
The American system is designed for polarization, Kleinfeld said, and the way to reduce the sense of division is to “enforce laws equally and consistently.”
David Blankenhorn, president of Braver Angels, said his group holds events to get divergent groups to understand each other better. You probably will not change ideas, he noted, but understanding the person leads to a less-polarized atmosphere. Blankenhorn paraphrased Mahatma Gandhi, saying that “the essence of civility is the desire to do the opponent good.”
Griffith pointed out that bargaining, compromising and moderating are all part of the process to support the Constitution.
More to come
The summit kicked off with a luncheon that featured a program with former Merck CEO Ken Frazier and former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina in a dynamic chat moderated by Judy Woodruff, former anchor and managing editor of the PBS News Hour, and the presentation of the Unsung Heroes of Democracy, which honored 22 individuals and organizations who help ensure that our elections are secure and that the democratic ideals set forth in the U.S. Constitution are upheld.
The task force will continue its work through August 2025 and issue a comprehensive report with recommendations in 2025.