ABA to U.S. President-Elect: Take Immediate Action on Vital Justice Initiatives
CHICAGO, Oct. 21, 2008 – Regardless of who wins the election, the next president of the United States will be well served by a memorandum from the American Bar Association that suggests six justice initiatives the new chief executive should undertake in his first 30 days in office.
The six initiatives are put forth in a memo to “The Next President of the United States” from ABA President H. Thomas Wells Jr. and ABA Governmental Affairs Office Director Thomas M. Susman. The memo appears in the November issue of The ABA Journal, the association’s flagship magazine.
While grappling with the economic crisis will be a presidential priority, “Once you take office in January, Mr. President-elect, you will face all manner of challenges related to the rule of law—issues with dramatic impact on the day-to-day lives of all Americans and others who come into contact with the U.S. government,” begins the memo.
The initiatives are based on ABA policies, which are adopted by the association’s House of Delegates and seek to improve the justice system, promote the rule of law, and ensure the country’s national security while continuing to protect civil liberties. Although many of the goals reflected in these policies require legislative action, the president “has the power to take executive action on certain urgent matters.”
The memo urges the president-elect to begin work on some of these pressing matters as part of his administration’s transition process, then take executive action right after his inauguration, even as the 111th Congress is organizing.
“The ABA urges you to act in the following areas where progress can be made, without legislation, in a very short time:”
- Judicial selection and nomination
- Immigration
- Attorney-client privilege
- Interrogation practices for detainees
- The International Criminal Court
- Presidential signing statements
Noting that these initiatives are neither partisan nor ideological, and are of concern not only to the lawyers of America, but to all Americans, Wells and Susman offered that the ABA is prepared to quickly convene nonpartisan working groups from its membership of volunteer experts to assist the president-elect’s transition team and staff on these issues.
The November Journal also makes some predictions about a new administration, in “The Lawyers Who May Run America” about the lawyers who might hold senior positions in a John McCain or a Barack Obama administration; and an interview with Jeffrey Toobin, CNN legal analyst and author of the bestseller The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court, on what the Court might look like under either candidate.
With more than 400,000 members, the American Bar Association is the largest voluntary professional membership organization in the world. As the national voice of the legal profession, the ABA works to improve the administration of justice, promotes programs that assist lawyers and judges in their work, accredits law schools, provides continuing legal education, and works to build public understanding around the world of the importance of the rule of law.
