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by Johanna Markind
• August 26, 2016 at 5:00 am
- "The
[American Bar Association] wants to do exactly what the text calls
for: limit lawyers' expression of viewpoints that it disapproves of.
... state courts and state bars should resist the pressure to adopt
it." — Eugene Volokh, a UCLA law professor and Washington Post
columnist.
- The language of
Resolution 109 is "so broad it could mean anything... a kind of a
speech code that restricts perfectly acceptable speech... anything you
say might offend someone and therefore you can be punished for
it." — Ilya Shapiro, Cato Institute.
- The ABA declined
to answer questions for this article, as did the American Civil
Liberties Union (ACLU). The ACLU, which calls itself "our
nation's guardian of liberty," and touts itself as fighting for
"your right... to speak out – for or against – anything at
all," has not issued any statements or press releases about the
model rule revision.
The struggle between free speech and speech codes that are intended to
prevent harassment and discrimination appears set to leap from college
campuses to law offices around the United States.
On August 8, 2016, the American Bar Association (ABA) approved
resolution 109, which curtails freedom of speech. The approved resolution
amended its model rule of professional conduct 8.4. It prohibits
"conduct that the lawyer knows or reasonably should know is
harassment or discrimination on the basis of race, sex, religion, national
origin, ethnicity, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity,
marital status or socioeconomic status in conduct related to the practice of
law."
The official comment explains:
"discrimination includes harmful verbal or physical conduct that
manifests bias or prejudice towards others. Harassment includes sexual
harassment and derogatory or demeaning verbal or physical conduct."
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