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Anticipating upcoming election, ABA House votes to safeguard Constitution and rule of law

By Danielle Braff

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With a contentious presidential race looming, bringing with it fears about the country’s future, the ABA House of delegates Tuesday adopted a resolution seeking to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution. (Image from Shutterstock)

With a contentious presidential race looming, bringing with it fears about the country’s future, the ABA House of delegates Tuesday adopted a resolution seeking to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution.

A 2024 ABA survey of Civic Literacy found that 74% of Americans believed US democracy is weaker today than it was five years ago, and 29% blame political parties for America’s democratic issues.

Violence and the spread of disinformation is becoming more rampant with polls indicating that nearly 25% of Americans say they’d resort to violence if their favored candidate loses, the ABA resolution states. And with the violence of the Jan. 6 attack still fresh in American minds, the ABA delegates passed Resolution 801 seeking to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution.

“A main theme and work that we’ve done is protecting the democracy and the unique role that lawyers play,” said outgoing ABA President Mary Smith. “The last resolution and last minutes of my presidency involve the rule of law and defending democracy: The rule of law and the Constitution are the most important issues before us.”

This means accepting the legitimacy and decisions of the federal courts to interpret the laws, the resolution says. The resolution says that we must accept and respect the results of elections while also upholding the government and political leaders to adhere to the Constitution.

Follow along with the ABA Journal’s coverage of the 2024 ABA Annual Meeting here.

“Now is the time for action,” said Judge Peter Reyes Jr., a Minnesota delegate. Reyes explained that he is the first person in his family to attend college and law school, and he is now living the American dream.

This dream, however, can’t happen without a democracy, which takes effort and action from every American, Reyes said, as evidenced by the 20 foreign-born individuals who had their naturalization ceremony at the Annual Meeting Monday.

“Let us make sure that they, too, have the opportunity to pursue the American dream,” said Reyes, whose family are Mexican immigrants.

Related topics:

Election Law | Government | ABA | Bar Associations | Annual Meeting | Rule of Law

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