By Rachel J. Anderson
In 2023, American Bar Association (ABA) president Mary L. Smith formed the ABA Task Force for American Democracy (Task Force) to ensure an enduring American democracy and help fulfill lawyers’ special duties to preserve and enhance our democracy. It is a call to action and to fulfill our unique opportunity and obligation as lawyers to support and defend rules of law, the foundation of our democracy. Information about the work of the task force is available here: https://www.americanbar.org/groups/leadership/office_of_the_president/american-democracy/. The ABA is taking the lead on engaging its lawyer members and working with state and local bar associations, the judiciary, law schools, and other democracy non-governmental organizations.
Cross-Country Listening Tour
The Task Force has been convening listening tours in seven states: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. The panel discussions addressed, e.g., election administration, civility, the state of democracy, and increasing confidence in our government and electoral process. Videos of the listening tours are available on the ABA’s website.
Continuing Legal Education
The Task Force, together with Troutman Pepper, hosted a free, virtual CLE series entitled “A Lawyer’s Role in Protecting the Rule of Law, Civil Discourse, and Election Integrity” spanning July to September 2024. The sessions discussed American democracy, the rule of law, finding ways to disagree better, election law, what we can do as lawyers.
Online Resources
The Task Force has a collection of online resources that includes working papers, background papers, a democracy database, toolkits, and speaker/discussion guides. They are available on the ABA’s website.
Nevada Democracy Task Force
The non-partisan Nevada Democracy Task Force is an extension of the ABA’s Task Force for American Democracy. For more information and to get involved, go to http://Nevada.Democracy-TaskForce.org.
About the author
Professor Rachel Anderson co-chairs the Nevada Democracy Task Force, is a member of the Supreme Court of Nevada’s Access to Justice Commission, and served as former General Counsel for the Office of the Nevada Attorney General.
About the article
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This article was originally published in the Communiqué (Oct. 2024), the official publication of the Clark County Bar Association. See https://clarkcountybar.org/about/member-benefits/communique-2024/communique-oct-2024/.
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