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Civic Education

62 ABA Journal Civic Education articles.

Our Inheritance

There is a lot of talk about democracy these days, but there is not nearly enough understanding of its vital importance. How it works and should work. Why it matters. You’d be surprised at what’s not covered in school. But it is more than the responsibility of schools—it is a challenge for our profession. It’s up to us to make sure the knowledge stays fresh, the experience is not forgotten and the handwritten notes are still read.

Feb 1, 2025 2:10 AM CST

Federal judge acknowledges his civics presentations to politically affiliated club violated ethics code

The judicial council of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at Denver has tossed an ethics complaint against a federal judge who took corrective action after he was accused of giving presentations to a politically affiliated group.

Jan 7, 2025 8:47 AM CST

Americans’ confidence in courts hits all-time low; did Trump cases have bipartisan impact?

Americans’ confidence in the courts hit an all-time low of 35% in 2024, a decrease of 24 percentage points in four years, according to a Gallup poll released Tuesday.

Dec 18, 2024 10:25 AM CST

ABA’s Impact: Confronting anti-Asian bias through civics education

The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic created a wave of anti-Asian harassment in the United States. The number of incidents increased so sharply that in May 2021, President Joe Biden signed the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act into law with a special emphasis on protecting Asian Americans.

Nov 27, 2024 11:15 AM CST

Poll: Americans favor Supreme Court term limits, oppose more justices

About two-thirds of Americans support imposing term limits on Supreme Court justices, but only 3 in 10 back expanding the size of the court. The Annenberg Constitution Day Civics Survey also found that 69% of Americans believe there should be a mandatory retirement age for the justices.

Sep 13, 2024 11:23 AM CDT

‘We are in the storm,’ warns ABA President Mary Smith

ABA President Mary Smith warned of upcoming threats to democracy and urged the protection of American democracy during the 2024 ABA Annual Meeting in Chicago.

Aug 5, 2024 1:05 PM CDT

Lawyers must protect democracy now

We are at a defining moment in our country. Over the last four years—most strikingly on Jan. 6, 2021—we have seen violent attacks on our democratic institutions. Make no mistake, we are facing a concerted, strategic campaign to destabilize the electoral process and disenfranchise voters. Threats to public officials and their families have skyrocketed, with threats to federal judges jumping 150% from five years ago.

Aug 1, 2024 2:40 AM CDT

‘United We Stand’: Lawyers must play crucial role in bringing our nation together

Unity is strength. The wisdom of that truth has been known since ancient times as reflected in Greek fables, such as Aesop's tales about The Four Oxen and the Lion and The Bundle of Sticks, and Chinese stories, such as The Five Chinese Brothers.

Jul 2, 2024 2:04 PM CDT

Nearly three-quarters of Americans think US democracy is getting weaker, ABA poll finds

Seventy-four percent of U.S. residents say American democracy is weaker than five years ago, according to an ABA poll released in advance of Law Day on May 1.

Apr 23, 2024 11:35 AM CDT

Carnegie and Me: Refuting the culture war on American libraries

Our Carnegie library was a dignified brick edifice built for $6,000. It was an oasis for knowledge, not some bogus den of “literary filth” that today’s shortsighted cynics might pretend.

Apr 1, 2024 2:00 AM CDT

Carnegie and Me: Refuting the culture war on American libraries

My hometown Toulon, Illinois, is a small farm community of 1,200 souls about three hours southwest of the Chicago sprawl. During my youth, it featured five gas stations; four churches; three grocery stores and two doctors, which said something about gas, God and medicine in my 1960s rural America.

Jan 25, 2024 8:43 AM CST

Labor activist Dolores Huerta urges attorneys to ‘get involved in civic life’

Labor rights icon Dolores Huerta has simple but sage advice for attorneys: Get engaged in your community. “We need more attorneys to get involved in civic life and be out there with the rest of us, doing the work that we need to get people elected and to change the laws, do the advocacy that we need.”

Oct 12, 2023 2:21 PM CDT

A code of ethics is necessary to restore trust in the Supreme Court

“Trust in our institutions of government is a central tenet of our democracy. As lawyers, we are acutely aware that our democracy depends on faith in our court systems. … As members of the American Bar Association, it is our duty to safeguard and further our nearly century-long commitment as national leaders in defining the parameters of legal and judicial ethics,” writes ABA President Mary Smith.

Oct 1, 2023 3:50 AM CDT

Florida lawyer creates the role models he didn’t have through a children’s book

“It’s been my goal to try to change the imagery of what attorneys look like to kids,” says Okoye Morgan Jr., founder and general counsel of The Black Law Company in Tampa, Florida.

Oct 1, 2023 2:40 AM CDT

Former NSA and CIA general counsel has made it her mission to strengthen national security through civic education

Elizabeth Rindskopf Parker has spent decades dealing with national security. Today, Parker’s focus isn’t spies, surveillance or foreign governments. It’s education—specifically, inadequate civic education from elementary school to graduate school. When Americans don’t understand the foundations of their democracy, they are susceptible to misinformation and manipulation, she says. In her view, civic education is a national security imperative.

Oct 1, 2023 2:30 AM CDT

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