Greetings from Mark Johnson, Oregon State Delegate, American Bar Association: 

I send this brief newsletter twice a year to help keep Oregon lawyers abreast of ABA activities undertaken on behalf of the American legal profession.

The ABA held its 69th Midyear Meeting in Los Angeles on February 6–11, 2008.  It was a busy agenda for the House of Delegates, and we heard spirited debate on many issues coming before us for decision. 

In remarks to the House, Association President William H. Neukom of Seattle spoke of the events occurring in Pakistan in November 2007, in which President Pervez Musharraf announced a state of emergency, suspended the constitution, and insisted that all judges take an oath of loyalty to him.  Those judges who refused to take the oath, as well as many protestors, were arrested or placed under house arrest.  The ABA condemned these actions.  Over 700 lawyers demonstrated in Washington, D.C., in support of the Pakistani judges, and 13,000 ABA members signed a petition asking President Musharraf to restore the constitution, reinstate the judges, and release the protestors.

The House unanimously approved a resolution expressing support for and solidarity with the Pakistani bar and bench.  We urged the immediate release of all detained judges and lawyers and called upon the President of Pakistan to restore Pakistan’s constitution, to reinstate Pakistan’s Supreme Court justices and high court judges, and to release all judges, lawyers, and other people wrongly arrested during the state of emergency.

Closer to home, we encouraged efforts to increase public understanding of the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause of the U.S. Constitution as they apply in the public elementary and secondary schools, and we encouraged bar associations to help school officials to better understand and apply those clauses in their work.

Rule 3.8 of the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct was amended to identify a prosecutor’s obligations when the prosecutor knows of new evidence establishing a reasonable likelihood that a convicted defendant did not commit the offense of which the defendant was convicted.

In a somewhat controversial move, the House approved a Model Rule on Conditional Admission to Practice Law, which is intended to give bars guidance as to whether, when, and under what conditions persons with a past history of substance abuse or mental illness should be admitted to practice law.  It was agreed that this issue would require further examination by the House in the future.

The House recommended that each of the United States assign its redistricting process for congressional and legislative districts to an independent commission, leaving to individual states the precise manner of configuring such commissions and the specific redistricting criteria to be applied.

The House urged all American jurisdictions and their prosecutors to vigorously prosecute cases of elder abuse, neglect, and financial exploitation.  It also urged governments to develop and assess innovative long-term care programs to provide a reasonable and fair solution to long-term care financing.

The House similarly urged all American jurisdictions to revise laws, court rules, policies and prosecutorial practices related to youth involved in dependency cases who are also charged with acts of delinquency.  We also recommended that sentencing laws and rules of procedure be authorized and implemented both to protect public safety and to consider mitigation for youthful offenders.

The House passed a variety of resolutions dealing in different ways with access-to-justice issues.  We urged Congress to enact legislation that will promote the provision of legal services to veterans and members of the Armed Forces, to assist them in obtaining the full range of health care, benefits and services to which they are lawfully entitled.  We urged all American jurisdictions, in cooperation with state and local pro bono, lawyer referral, and legal aid programs, to establish programs for representation of victims of identity theft who need assistance in recovery from the crime.  And we supported administrative codification of immigration detention standards, as well as improvement, periodic review, and increased oversight of their implementation, to ensure that detained non-citizens and their families are treated humanely and have meaningful access to counsel and to the legal process.  We also endorsed the setting and financing of fee levels for immigration and naturalization benefits that are not so burdensome as to deter eligible applicants from filing.

The 2008 Annual Meeting will be in New York City on August 7–12, 2008.  A “sneak preview” of matters coming before the House can be viewed here. 

Here is a roster of Oregon’s current delegation to the ABA House of Delegates:

• Mark Johnson, Portland, ABA State Delegate
• Katherine O’Neil, Portland, ABA Board of Governors
• Bob Hirshon, Portland, former ABA President
• Hon. Ellen Rosenblum, Salem, former ABA Secretary
• Marilyn Harbur, Salem, Oregon State Bar
• Hon. Adrienne Nelson, Portland, Oregon State Bar
• George Derr, Eugene, Oregon State Bar
• Hon. Martha Walters, Salem, National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws
• Christine Meadows, Portland, Multnomah Bar Association

Each of us will be happy to talk with you about the work of the ABA and the issues confronting the legal profession.  We also encourage all lawyers to consider joining the ABA.  We are the largest voluntary professional association in the world.  Our mission is to be the national representative of the legal profession, serving the public and the profession by promoting justice, professional excellence, and respect for the law.  With more than 400,000 members, we provide 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.

This mailing list is maintained by the Oregon State Bar:  www.osbar.org