Liberalism on Balance - The Organized National Bar
By Marion Edwyn Harrison (07/13/08)
The American Bar Association (“ABA”), founded in 1878, is the largest, and for many years was the only, national association of American lawyers. Some 352,000 practicing attorneys belong, approximately 413,000 counting other members. As a percentage ABA membership has declined, never having risen above about 362,000 practicing lawyers of a total estimated count of 1,120,000.
In no attempted order, there are several reasons. One is the glut of attorneys, thousands netting in the middle and high six figures, tens (possibly hundreds) of thousands netting very poorly, an unquantifiable number having abandoned the law practice. Another is the unwillingness of some law-firm, corporate, association, governmental and other employers to pay ABA dues. A third is a frequent lack of perception of the worth of ABA membership to the individual lawyer’s professional endeavors. A fourth may be the vast, and in the past couple of decades growing, array of liberal ABA advocacy positions. (Of course, it also is possible, although less a factor, that some do not belong because upon balance ABA advocacy is insufficiently liberal, difficult though that would be to visualize.)
More than 1,300 policy resolutions, many expired for one reason or another (sometimes including their accomplishment), are on record. Inasmuch as there are so many, and because evaluation as to political placement varies as to those which are not entirely technical, it is risky and perhaps unrepresentative to single out some examples. Having said that, I cite several:
1. Support for abortion, ABA policy since 1978. (Personal disclosure: I served on the ABA Board of Governors, in its House of Delegates, as Chairman of the Section of Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice, as Chairman of the Conference of Section Delegates, as Chairman of two Standing Committees - a long period of time short of the major onslaught of ABA’s leftist leanings although the tilt had begun. I made a point of order against the original pro-abortion resolution; sustained; no appeal. Although I am pro-life, my ground was applicable either way - a subject beyond ABA purpose, expertise or jurisdiction.)
2. Opposition to Constitutional or legislative protection for the American Flag. Upon the merits this can be argued either way but the position clearly is not a lawyer type of issue and, except for strong libertarians, appeals more to liberals than conservatives.
3. Support for use of languages in addition to English in the justice system.
4. Urging of expansion of International Court of Justice jurisdiction, a darling of the strong internationalist left.
5. Support for the Law of the Sea Treaty, a cause supported by the left and even by some of intermediate international political stripe.
6. Opposition to numerical limitations upon non-family immigrant visas.
7. Urging of more democracy in then-Yeltsin Russia. Of course, there is idealistic, sometimes substantive, support for democracy across the American political spectrum. However, it is predominantly the strong liberal front which wants to intervene in the domestic politics of other sovereignties.
8. Urging the Federal Government to establish a Federal “affordable” housing trust fund - clearly a call for more Federal intervention in the economy at taxpayer expense. (This was early 2005, before the subprime and related fiasco.)
These examples obviously are randomly and necessarily somewhat arbitrarily selected. Yet they are reasonably representative and as such reveal a leftist and political ABA tilt. That ABA, almost entirely through the expertise of its Sections devoted to substantive areas of law, produces a huge number of often valuable, more technical and less political recommendations is worthy of note and reflects what ABA ought to be doing. Unfortunately an objective observer can’t overlook the disproportionate leftist political tilt of many resolutions, which may be a separate reason why membership as a percentage of attorneys has sunk.
Marion Edwyn Harrison is President of, and Counsel to, the Free Congress Foundation.
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