Looking Ahead to 2019

• Author: Bob Carlson
• Pages: 8-8

8 || ABA JOURNAL JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2019

PHOTO BY TOM SALYER PHOTOGRAPHY

President’s Message || By Bob Carlson

Follow President Carlson on Twitter @ABAPresident or email abapresident@americanbar.org.

Looking Ahead to 2019

Goals for us all: promoting civility and protecting justice

The beginning of a new year

has historica lly been a time for

people to take stock of their l ives

and situations. We make resolu-

tions to try to improve ourselve s

and bett er our condition.

As we start a ne w calen-

dar year, a new Congress is

also beginn ing. In the 116th

Congress, there wi ll be more

than 100 new faces. We will

be looking to new and retur n-

ing members to resolve to bring

a new sense of collegialit y and

civil discour se—a bedrock of

democracy—to t he institution

in order to move our country

forward.

In the coming year, the

American Bar A ssociation

will renew its e orts to work

with policyma kers to achieve

goals important t o the legal

profession.

We will advocate for increa sed

funding for the Legal S ervices

Corp. so people who need repre-

sentation in civil mat ters but cannot a ord it wil l

be helped. Fortunately, Congress ha s increased the

LSC’s funding to $410 million, a nd we are grateful to

Congress for seeing the value of legal a id programs.

Unfortunately, existing fu nding is still not enough to

ensure justice for all, a nd thousands of Americans are

turned away from legal a id o ces e very year.

The ABA will a lso continue its fi ght to preserve the

Public Service L oan Forgiveness program so law-

yers who choose public service c an get help with their

student debt. Though the program’s future seems

secure today, we will conti nue to work with nonprofi t

partners to oppose f uture e orts to elimi nate the

program.

We will continue to advocate for the judicia ry,

ensuring its independence and ma king sure it has

adequate resources. A nd we will continue to advo-

cate strongly to protec t the independence of the legal

profession.

An area where the A BA will continue to advocate

nationwide is for civics educat ion. We want people to

participate in their c ommunities

and our government, and the

best way to accomplish that i s

through education. Broadening

understanding of law and its

vital role in our societ y can go a

long way toward uniting dispa-

rate sides over basic knowledge

about our democra cy and the

rule of law.

This recent elect ion saw

a record turnout for a midterm

with more than 113 mil lion

votes cast, repre senting 49

percent of eligible voters. It was

the fi rst t ime more than 100

million people voted in a mid-

term and far sur passed the 2014

turnout of 36.4 percent.

Part of the message voters

sent was that they would like to

see less partisa nship and more

action that improves their live s.

In Congress last yea r, Ohio

Reps. Joyce Beatty and Ste ve

Stivers—a Democrat and Re-

publican, respectively—created

the Congressional Civ ility and Respect Caucus. It

started w ith 12 members, and we hope more repre-

sentatives will ge t on board. In addition to working

through problems in a civil ma nner, the members go

to high schools and civic orga nizations to talk about

ways to solve problems through respec tful dialogue.

Civility need s to return to Congress, but it also

needs to become par t of our normal day-to-day inter-

actions. Law yers, as role models, have a special obli-

gation to practice civ ility. In 2011, the ABA House of

Delegates a r med the principle of civility as a foun-

dation for democracy and the ru le of law. It urged

lawyers to set a high st andard for civil discourse as a n

example for all in resolvi ng di erences constructively

and without disparagement of others.

We—the public, the legal profession and Congress—

need to remember the words of John F. Kennedy in

his 1961 inaugur al address: “Civility is not a sign of

weakness.” Let us res olve to start the new year with a

renewed sense of collaboration and common pur pose

on issues of justice and our democrac y. Q

“LAWYERS, AS ROLE MODELS,

HAVE A SPECIAL OBLIGATION

TO PRACTICE CIVILITY.”

—BOB CARLSON