Legal groups urge Trump to consider diversity in appointments, support inclusion
President-elect Donald Trump.
The leaders of five legal groups have written an open letter to President-elect Donald Trump that urges his administration and Congress to “lead the nation towards unity and inclusion.”
The letter was sent by the leaders of the National Association of Women Lawyers, Ms. JD, the LGBT Bar, the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association and the National Bar Association.
“We call on you to make diverse appointments to leadership positions on your transition team, to key positions in your administration and at every level of government, and to the federal judiciary,” the letter says. The letter also calls on Trump and Congress “to preserve and expand the hard-fought rights that have been established for all of our citizens, not to diminish them.”
Legal Newsline spoke with the president of National Association of Women Lawyers, Leslie Richards-Yellen, about why the letter was written and whether it was a response to specific concerns.
Richards-Yellen said one of the best times to influence an administration is at the beginning, and the groups wanted to preserve progress made by women and minorities in obtaining high offices.
She cited “the discourse during this election” as a reason why NAWL wanted to talk about protecting equality and the rule of law.
NAWL hasn’t communicated with an incoming president during the eight years Richards-Yellen has led the group. But NAWL did write an open letter to President Obama that called for appointment of a woman to replace Attorney General Eric Holder after his resignation.
