ABA Presidents Share Views from the Top

• Author: L.L. and L.R.
• Pages: 66-66

PHOTOS BY KATHY ANDERSON; MATTHEW DICKER; KORNIAKOVA SVETLANA; CARLO GRANISSO/SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

Would Pope’s Rejection of Death Penalty Have Changed Scalia’s Opinion?

Just hours after Pope Fran cis declared

the death penalty “inadmissible” in all cases,

Cardinal Blase Cup ich of Chicago urged

elected o cials and leaders to rec ognize

their responsibility and vested interest “in

defending the sacre dness and value of every

human life.”

The timing of the pope’s decla ration and

the cardinal’s remarks proved serendipitous

for an ABA panel discussi on, “Has the Death

Penalty Become an Anachronism? The

Future of a System That Has Evolved i n the

Opposite Direction f rom Our Standards of

Decency,” during the ass ociation’s annual

meeting. The pan el was sponsored by

the Section of Civi l Rights and Social

Justice.

Cupich, already a longtime oppo-

nent of the death pena lty, said that

if Justice Antonin Scalia—a devout

Catholic—had li ved to hear the

pope’s proclamation, he might

have reconsidered his position

supporting capital punishment.

The cardinal’s comme nt

came in response to mod era-

tor Ronald J. Tabak, chair of

the section’s Death Penalty Co mmittee.

The Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom

attorney quoted Sca lia as saying, “For th e

believing Christia n, death is no big deal .

Intentionally killing an innocent person is a

big deal. It is a grave sin .”

Of Scalia, Cup ich said: “I think th at his

understanding of salvation has great limita-

tions. It’s an atavistic view of salvation—that

is, as individuals.”

Public opinion about capital punishment

has been shifting. Robert Dunham, exec-

utive director of the Deat h Penalty

Information Center, cited polls in the mid-

1990s that showed 80 p ercent of the public

approved of the penalt y then, compared to a

55 percent approval rating to day. “It’s a con-

sistent move in one directi on: away from the

death penalty,” he said . “As society’s attitude

changes, the law changes with it.”

Dunham also said about a dozen innocent

people have been execute d since the re-

instatement of capital punishment in the

United States in the 1970s. “ We have a

problem,” he said . “If the death penal ty has

not become an anach ronism, it has become

an unreliable disgrace.”

Cupich said if we are to protec t the sanc-

tity of life for the leas t worthy, “we surely

must protect those mos t vulnerable and

most innocent.”

“We live in an era where the dign ity of

human life is threatened,” he added. “Wher-

ever we turn, we encounter mou nting e orts

to treat the lives of men and wom en as mere

means to larger and allegedly more impor-

tant goals.”

—Kevin Davis

66 || ABA JOURNAL OCTOBER 2018

Your ABA || ANNUAL MEETING REPORT

ABA Presidents Share Views from the Top

New ABA President Robert M. Carlson, President-elect

Judy Perry Mart inez and outgoing Preside nt Hilarie Bass

each addressed the Ho use of Delegates in the last d ays of

the 2018 ABA Annual Meeting.

Carlson, whose te rm began at the end of the H ouse ses-

sion, emphasize d his role as the steward of the ABA .

“It is not about me . It is about the Americ an Bar Associ-

ation,” said Carlson, a shareholder with Corette Black

Carlson & Mickelson in B utte, Montana. “ I will do everything

in my power every single day to a dvance our association a nd

fi ght for America’s lawye rs and the public that we ser ve.”

Carlson noted that th e ABA is the only national voi ce

for the American le gal profession, givin g it the power and

responsibility to speak for lawyers.

“Some may say we are d riven by ideology, and they are

absolutely correc t,” he said. “Our ideol ogy is the essential

role of an independent legal profession and an impartial

judiciary. We are the protecto rs of equal justice unde r law in

a free, democratic society.”

Martinez is of coun sel at Simon, Peragine , Smith &

Redfearn in New Orlean s, and her presidenti al term will

begin in 2019. She call ed on the association to face it s chal-

lenges with “smart, resourceful and agile thinking.”

“As to those challenges facing our association, you have

already, in this House, undertaken actions during this meet-

ing that will drive greate r stability,” she said, refe rencing

the new membership m odel approved by the Board of

Governors and the Hou se. “As to what lies ahead, it wil l be

sacrifi ce. There m ust be focus. I will share my co mmitment

to doing what is necess ary so that there will em erge an even

stronger associati on.” That ABA will, she sai d, have the capa-

bility to “assist our membe rs as they embrace the cha nges

that lie ahead in the l egal sector” and “will h elp shape those

changes .”

And Bass, co-p resident of Greenberg Traurig in M iami,

told the House that she’s proud of a ll the association has

accomplished during her year as president.

She put the main focus o n the ABA’s active response to

the separation of families at the nation’s southern border,

which she saw person ally in late June. She rec alled her visit

to the Port Isabel detenti on center in Texas, where mothers

separated from their ch ildren were being held. M any had

legitimate asylum c laims, she said, bu t would happily have

returned to the danger s they’d fl ed to get their ch ildren

back.

“After listening to their hear tbreaking stories , I gave them

my personal commitment that the lawyers of America would

not rest until every one of t hem was reunifi ed with the ir

children,” Bass sai d. “We are committed to ensuri ng that

every one of these sepa rated children and every on e of their

parents who want to make an as ylum claim in court wi ll have

the legal assistance they need.”

“The ABA has never been mo re important in the U. S. and

throughout the world ,” Bass said. “It has b een the greatest

privilege of my life to have t he honor of serving you a s presi-

dent.” —L.L. and L.R.