The State Bar Association of North Dakota Summer 2015 Gavel Magazine | Page 21

When we North Dakotans do so, we are
able to have a national impact that will be
disproportionally larger than the population
of lawyers in our state.

Annual Meeting of the ABA
House of Delegates in Chicago

Justice Daniel Crothers,
ABA Standing Committee on Ethics
and Professional Responsibility
Q: What advice would you give North
Dakota lawyers interested in becoming
more involved in the ABA?
Justice Crothers: Dive in!  The ABA has
hundreds of thousands of members but only
a small percentage of them are active in
governance and the committees or sections.
One cannot expect to immediately be
appointed to a standing committee. However,
after taking time to meet and know those
active in the committees, most lawyers
and judges will find they are welcomed
and encouraged to participate more fully.

The agenda of the ABA House of Delegates
at the Annual Meeting included a number
of practical or interesting topics. As
with American popular culture, the ABA
resolutions were occupied with issues of
sexual identity, discrimination and related
topics. Some resolutions that may be of
interest to SBAND members, include the
following:
Resolution 102 Inquiries Allowed and
Prohibited for Bar Admission
This resolution seeks to eliminate bar
admission questions relating to mental
health history, diagnoses, or treatment when
determining character and fitness.
Resolution 103A Confidentiality of Law
Enforcement and Juvenile Delinquency
Records
The recommendation asks to make
juvenile delinquency and criminal records
confidential for the benefit of future
employment, education, housing and credit.

Resolution 104 Maximum 30-Minute Wait
Time at Polls
The ABA Standing Committee on Election
Law seeks to achieve an aspirational goal of
having a maximum 30-minute wait time at
the polls.
Resolution 105 ABA Opposing
Limitations on Punitive Damages
This resolution asks the ABA to oppose
federal legislative efforts to limit or prevent
punitive damages for claims of patient harm
supposedly caused by manufacturers of
FDA-approved medical devices.
Resolution 106 Psychotropic Medications
for Children in State Custody
The Health Law Section seeks to create
policies that allow for administrative
oversight of psychotropic medications for
children in state custody and for state courts
to develop appropriate protocols.
Resolution 109A Addressing Domestic
Violence and Assault
The ABA Commission on Domestic &
Sexual Violence seeks funding to enforce
improved policies and protocols involving
the prevention of “intimate partner violence,
stalking, and sexual assault” on college
campuses.
(continued on next page)

North Dakota’s Delegates attend the
ABA Annual Meeting July 30 to August 4

Judge James Hill addresses the delegates at the ABA
Annual Meeting in Chicago.

North Dakota’s delegation to the ABA Annual
Meeting pictured here from left are Chief
Justice Gerald VandeWalle, Judge James Hill
and Dan Traynor.

SUMMER 2015 21