Members going to Capitol Hill to convince lawmakers to fund legal services, reform criminal justice

The American Bar Association will conduct its annual effort to connect policymakers with constituents in the legal profession this week during its ABA Day 2016 from April 19-21. This year marks the 20th time that the ABA has brought distinguished lawyers from 48 states to Washington, D.C., to educate lawmakers on important issues such as funding for the Legal Services Corporation, and reform for our criminal justice system.

The ABA also presented four members of Congress with its annual Congressional Justice Award on April 19 to acknowledge their leadership on issues critically important to the legal profession.

This year's awardees are:

- Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-OH 3rd)

The ABA honors Rep. Beatty for her efforts to improve the American justice system, in particular for her focus on ensuring access to legal services and equal rights for all. She has demonstrated her commitment to these issues through her avid support for the Legal Services Corporation, paycheck fairness, voting rights, and through her efforts to bring affordable housing to distressed communities of color and to end the scourge of human trafficking.

- Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ)

Sen. Booker is being honored for his efforts to improve the criminal justice system, in particular for his leadership in focusing congressional attention on a problem of immense proportion-the tens of thousands of laws that impose unfair collateral consequences on people convicted of criminal offenses-and his efforts to create a more just and humane juvenile justice system. Through Booker's bipartisan efforts, provisions were added to S. 2123, the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act of 2015, to improve the treatment of juveniles in prison and address some of the collateral consequences that act as lifetime barriers to employment for former inmates.

- Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA)

The ABA honors Sen. Grassley for his leadership in improving the U.S. criminal justice system by introducing and staunchly advocating for both S. 2123, the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act of 2015, and S. 1169, the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Reauthorization Act of 2015. His efforts on behalf of victims of crime and children in foster care are two additional examples of his commitment to improving our justice system.

- Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI 5th)

Rep. Sensenbrenner is being honored for his many efforts to improve our justice system, particularly for his longstanding dedication to ensuring Americans the right to vote. He has been a steadfast champion on numerous issues currently before Congress that are of major concern to the ABA. They include reauthorization of the Second Chance Act, which provides funding for offender reentry programs that have been shown to reduce recidivism; reform of our badly broken civil asset forfeiture program; and passage of the Voting Rights Act of 2015.

The association will also present the American Bar Association Grassroots Advocacy Awards on April 20 to Miami attorney Neal Sonnett and the Military Spouse J.D. Network.

Sonnett is being honored for his years of service on behalf of the ABA on the issues of national security, civil liberties and criminal justice reform. The ABA honors the Military Spouse J.D. Network for advocating for licensing accommodations for military spouses attorneys, encouraging the hiring or military spouses and pushing for access to legal services for low-income military personnel.

Published: Wed, Apr 20, 2016