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News Release
American Bar Association
February 16, 2009
"The American Bar Association House of Delegates [on February 16, 2009] adopted nearly three dozen new measures as ABA policy, including critical proposals affecting the rights of military personnel and Guantanamo detainees, immigration reform and relief after disasters.
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"[T]he House voted to urge the Obama administration to ensure that any detainees who are expected to be charged with crimes be prosecuted in federal district courts, unless the attorney general certifies they cannot be prosecuted in such courts but can be prosecuted in other regularly constituted courts consistent with due process, the laws of war, the Geneva Conventions and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Delegates also urged that any detainees no longer considered to be enemy combatants be released or resettled, and any currently detained enemy combatants be granted prompt habeas corpus hearings with full due process.
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"The House also passed a resolution to help ensure access to justice and due process for those charged with civil immigration violations. This act was partly a reaction to a notable immigration enforcement action taken last year when 400 workers at a Postville, Iowa, plant were arrested without due process."
To read the full article, click on the Title Line, above.
Final texts, as adopted, of selected resolutions enacted by the American Bar Association House of Delegates during its February, 2009 meeting:
- Guantanamo detainees: Res. 10A (as revised):
Urges U.S. courts to grant to detainees all rights granted to habeas petitioners consistent with Federal statutory habeas criminal law principles where applicable, appropriate to the facts and circumstances of that petitioner's case.
- Undocumented immigrant civil liberties: Res. 101C:
Supports legislation and/or administrative standards to ensure due process and access to appropriate legal assistance for persons arrested or detained in connection with immigration enforcement actions and encourages bar associations to raise awareness of the rights available to individuals taken into custody during workplace immigration enforcement actions.
- Same sex partner immigration: Res. 108:
Supports the enactment of legislation and the implementation of public policy to enable a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident who shares a mutual, interdependent, committed relationship with a non-citizen of the same sex to sponsor that person for permanent residence in the United States.
- Civil protections for active military: Res. 114:
Urges Congress to amend the federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (the SCRA) to clarify that a private right of action exists under the SCRA and to provide that a prevailing plaintiff in such an action may recover reasonable attorney’s fees.
(Background on the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (the SCRA)
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NOTE: The ABA Resolutions are PDF format, and require Adobe Acrobat Reader to open, read, and print. For a free downloadable version of Acrobat Reader, go to Adobe.com.
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