The Gazette 1992

GAZETTE

N W

SEPTEMBER 1992

A BA Deba t es the " A" Word

Ttoelve thousand plus lawyers,

including a delegation from the Law

Society of Ireland, descended on San

Francisco for the Annual Meeting of

the American Bar Association which

ran from 6-12 August last. Those

attending the meeting had the choice

of attending more than 2,200

different meetings and programmes

featuring 1,800 speakers and wading

their way through the 150,000 lbs of

paper produced as background

documentation by the ABA for the

meeting. While participants could

choose between programmes such as

"Wine Regulation Issues"

"Challenges Facing Advocates in the

1990s", "Everything You Wanted To

Know About Running a Small

Practice But Were Too Busy To

Ask", it was the issue of abortion

rights which dominated the agenda.

Outgoing ABA President,

Talbot

"Sandy" D'Alemberte,

proposed the

motion: " be it resolved, that the

American Bar Association opposes

State or federal legislation which

restricts the right of a woman to

choose to terminate a pregnancy (1)

before foetal viability; or (2)

thereafter, if such termination is

necessary to protect the life or health

of the woman". The ABA President

said that " t he best interests of the

Association lie with American

lawyers entering this fray. With

Booth 507, occupied by the Law

Society of Ireland, was among the

busiest of the 197 booths at the

Expo staged at the American Bar

Association. Seven Irish firms

booked time on the Law Society

booth and all reported a steady

stream of visitors to the stand, many

of them claiming Irish roots and

connections. Materials promoting the

services of Irish law firms were

snapped up, particularly green

Will i

ABA President

Talbot

D'Alemberte

growing numbers of women entering

the legal profession, the ABA may

not, without grave results for its

credibility, withdraw from important

women's issues, even ones that are

divisive. Some of us - and I am one

of those - think the whole choice

issue is a justice issue. It involves

liberty issues, and to remain neutral

when a liberty issue is at stake is to

turn our back on a rather proud

tradition of speaking out on such

things". Opponents of the motion

argued that abortion was a moral

and religious issue for most people,

and that taking a position would

only polarise the ABA. Past

President, John J. Curtin, Jnr.,

spoke in favour of remaining neutral

on the issue. He said that the

abortion rights resolution was an

button badges extolling the virtues

of Irish lawyers which were stored

away by recipients to be worn next

St. Patrick's Day. A constant query

was about the criteria required to

obtain an Irish passport, seen by

many as an indirect route to availing

of the benefits of freedom of

movement and rights of

establishment arising from the EC

Internal Market.

extremist one that would only further

undermine the Association and

undermine its credibility. "We are not

cowards when we take a healing

position. The resolution will not help

to heal, but will add to the shouting

by people who are not listening."

The motion was passed by a two-

thirds majority in the ABA

Assembly, and subsequently by a

similar majority in the ABA House

of Delegates, ensuring its adoption

as ABA policy. However, this is the

second time in as many years that

the ABA has changed its mind on

the issue. In February, 1990 the

House of Delegates adopted a

position favouring abortion rights.

Six months later the ABA switched

to a neutral stance after a campaign

led by opponents of abortion rights.

•

ABA Awards 19 Gavels

The ABA this year celebrated the 35th

Anniversary of its Gavel Awards

programme. The ABA presents the

Gavel Awards to media organisations

for outstanding public service in

increasing public understanding of the

American legal system. This year's

competition attracted nearly 400

entries from 262 different media

organisations and 19 awards were

made. Among the winners were the

Akron Beacon Journal (Ohio) for

"Justices for All?" a troubling series

raising ethical questions and

allegations of impropriety among the

justices of the Ohio Supreme Court;

WETA FM (Washington DC) for "We

Hold These Thiths", an entertaining

broadcast tracing the Constitution and

the Bill of Rights from their origin

and ratification to modern day

challenges; Salmon and Schuster

Consumer Group (New York) for

"Den of Thieves" by James Stewart,

an exciting tale of how the biggest

criminals in Wall Street's history were

brought to justice.

•

Booth 507 Attracts the Crowds

255