American Bar Association considers revising code of conduct

American Bar Association considers revising code of conduct

The American Bar Association (ABA) is considering a proposal to keep judges from participating in groups that prohibit homosexuals.

But this is a policy critics say would ultimately deny people of faith a place on the bench.

An early draft of the proposal establishes that membership in groups that exclude gays would “cast doubt on a judge’s ability to rule impartially.”

“The rule as drafted would not apply to religious groups or the Boy Scouts,” said attorney George Davidson, who has successfully represented the Boy Scouts in discrimination cases that have reached the Supreme Court.

“However, the effect of having the rule is to stigmatize traditional moral views, because there’s no prohibition on belonging to organizations which have the opposite view.” Davidson said if the proposal passes, judges might avoid organizations that could possibly lead to a fight.

But Mark Harrison, who heads up the ABA commission that’s considering changes to the judges’ “code of conduct, said the idea of the proposal is to make certain that judges don’t wear any … badges of partiality.”

One major issue with the new policy would be the many widely accepted groups with rules barring homosexuals from service.

“We recognize in our preliminary discussions that … the military presents the same problem, and the Boy Scouts present that problem,” Harrison said. “We’re going to have to try to deal with that in some constructive way.”

Brian Fahling, with the American Family Association Center for Law and Policy, said the rule, if enacted, would have a wide-ranging effect.

“Really, what they’re attempting to do is create a legal environment wherein people of faith can’t even participate,” he explained.

The ABA is not expected to vote until sometime next year. It would be the first major overhaul of the rules since the early 1990s. (EP)