American Bar Association Opposes Incommunicado Detention Of Immigrants In Secret Locations

8/13/2002

From: Nancy Cowger Slonim of the American Bar Association, 312-988-6132; E-mail: slonimn@staff.abanet.org Web site: http://www.abanet.org/media

WASHINGTON, Aug. 13 -- The American Bar Association today adopted a policy opposing the incommunicado detention of immigrants in undisclosed locations, and urged protection of their constitutional and statutory rights.

In other action, under new model rules adopted by the ABA this week, lawyers would have greater temporary freedom to provide legal services outside the jurisdictions in which they are licensed without engaging in unauthorized practice of law. This action by the ABA's policy-making House of Delegates came at the recommendation of the Commission on Multijurisdictional Practice, which spent the prior two years taking testimony and examining the needs of clients in this increasingly mobile world. The new rules will be promulgated for adoption by state high courts, which license and establish standards of conduct for lawyers.

The House also urged that the President of the United States, the Senate Judiciary committee and the full Senate should, respectively, promptly nominate, act on and consent to or reject nominees to the federal courts. The Chief Justice of the United States has called the level of vacancies in federal courts "alarming."

The delegates voted to support the freedom to pursue scientific research for therapeutic purposes, including research involving stem cells, for the improvement of human health, and to oppose governmental action to prohibit such research or penalize individuals or research entities that participate in such research when it is conducted in conformity with accepted scientific research safeguards.

The House voted to encourage study of the impact of spending and advertising in judicial election campaigns on the public's knowledge of and trust in the justice system. It urged bar associations in states and territories that elected judges to establish judicial campaign conduct committees to promote adherence to standards of conduct during campaigns.

Full information about all of the policies adopted by the ABA this week will be posted on the ABA Web site within the week.

The American Bar Association is the largest voluntary professional membership organization in the world. With more than 400,000 members, the ABA provides law school accreditation, continuing legal education, information about the law, programs to assist lawyers and judges in their work, and initiatives to improve the legal system for the public.