ABA Joins Clinton in Call for Renewed Commitment to Racial
Justice
July 20, 1999 (Washington, D.C.)- The President of
the American Bar Association urged lawyers to respond to President
Clinton's call for a renewed commitment to racial justice in order to
ensure continued faith and confidence in the justice system.
Speaking after a ceremony at the White House ceremony, ABA President
Philip S. Anderson said he welcomed the President's
Call-to-Action for lawyers to volunteer their time to help achieve
racial and ethnic opportunity, and to diversify their own
profession.
"The battle against bias and prejudice is not over," Anderson said.
"Lawyers still have a significant role to play in this profound
challenge to a stable society. We will provide leadership in eliminating
discrimination in all of its forms."
Anderson noted that a recent ABA report, "Public
Perceptions of the Justice System," concluded that almost half of
all Americans believe the justice system treats minorities differently
from whites. Anderson said, "If people believe the justice system is
tainted with bias, how long can they expect the courts to remedy bias
elsewhere in society?"
In a letter to state and local bars, President Clinton said that,
despite its advances, society continues to face disparities in income,
education, employment and healthcare. "As lawyers," he said, "you have a
unique opportunity - and responsibility - to help America overcome these
disparities." Clinton urged bar leaders and lawyers to "make your own
outstanding contributions to the legal profession's long tradition of
community service."
Anderson said diversity of the profession is critical to its future.
In that vein, he pointed out that the ABA is already spearheading a
number of programs to open doors of opportunity for minorities in the
law. The ABA's Commission on
Opportunities for Minorities in the Profession and Council for
Racial and Ethnic Justice have developed and sponsored initiatives to
attack prejudice in the justice system, as well as discrimination
elsewhere.
Of particular note is the ABA's Minority Counsel Demonstration
Program, a partnership among leading corporate law departments and
minority-owned law firms, designed to create greater opportunities for
minorities to be retained on corporate matters. The program has been
successfully replicated throughout the United States.
In addition, the ABA's incoming president, William G. Paul, is
organizing task forces on diversity in several critical sectors of the
legal profession. Paul plans to release details of his task force
initiatives at the ABA's Annual Meeting in
Atlanta in August.
The American Bar Association is the largest voluntary professional
association 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.
