By American Bar Association
The American Bar Association has released the final report of its Cornerstones Commission, “Lawyer as Public Citizen: Collaboration, Civics & Civility,” which examines how lawyers can rebuild trust in institutions and strengthen civil liberties and democratic values through sustained partnership in their local communities.
The report summarizes findings from seven state, local and affinity bars that received subgrants from a $200,000 award in 2023 to the ABA from the American Arbitration Association International Centre for Dispute Resolution as part of the “Cornerstones of Democracy: Civics, Civility and Collaboration” initiatives.
The AAA-ICDR Foundation awarded the grant to the ABA to help bars across the U.S. strengthen democracy and the rule of law.
“Our democracy and the rule of law depend upon the active engagement and participation of our populace,” former ABA President Deborah Enix-Ross noted in the report’s forward.
“Democracy is durable and sustainable only if we all participate.”
The grant recipients were selected to receive funding for programming on fostering community dialogue, improving understanding of the rule of law and helping to restore confidence in democratic processes.
“The work of these seven grantees has advanced civic norms across their communities through creating opportunities to interact across differences, by intentionally building collaborative skills through education and practice,” the report says. “In the short-term, this work has helped slow the advance of affective polarization, reduce the likelihood of conflict and helped bridge difference. In the long-term, we posit and hope, democracy will be strengthened by resting on a more stable social political foundation.”
The report emphasized that the “core pillars” of structuring and organizing democracy “rest in the central tenets of liberalism: freedom, rule of law and pluralism. This is the underlying assumption of these seven projects. That democracy can only work when citizens reflect and understand these three pillars,” it said.
When the AAA-ICDR Foundation grant was launched, bar partners were particularly encouraged to develop programming that built community bridges and dispute resolution grounded in a positive vision of local solutions to strengthen democracy.
The bar partners and their projects included:
National Asian Pacific American Bar Association: Invested in a cohort of Indiana-based AAPI community leaders by training them on the parameters of advocacy and lobbying within the restrictions of 501(c)(3) status and organizing coalitions for issues of common cause.
National Native American Bar Association: Empowered native communities through fostering connection and collaboration across regional and national networks of native lawyers who ran educational programs for native communities on civic duties, including voting and voting rights.
Oakland County (Michigan) Bar Association: Expanded law-related educational programming for students and voters, through its annual Youth Law Conference by expanding scholarships and enhancing partnerships with community organizations to expand marketing efforts for the Judicial Candidate Forums.
Omaha Metropolitan Bar: Held town hall meetings for the Omaha legal community and in partnership with local civic, faith and higher educational institutions. The bar also expanded CLE programming on elections and expanded its message of civility and community engagement through its Bar Talk podcast.
Ohio State Bar Association: Paid digital media campaign to drive Ohio voters to Judicial Votes Count, a nonpartisan voter information page. The Ohio bar worked with other community partners, especially other media organizations, to raise the profile of the site and encourage the participation of Ohio judges in the project.
State Bar of Montana: Expanded public access to the Citizens’ Law School, a statewide program designed to elevate understanding of the legal system and increase civics education.
Washington County (Pennsylvania) Bar Association: Designed and implemented programs to help nudge the community from “Crazytown” (the moniker given in a national news article) to “Civiltown.” The bar launched a variety of civics and civility-focused programming with a wide range of local and national partners.
The Cornerstones of Democracy — Civics, Civility and Collaboration initiative was authorized at Enix-Ross’s request to the ABA Board of Governors and cochaired by U.S. District Court Judge Adrienne Nelson and attorney William Weisenberg. The work of the Cornerstones Commission culminated in the final report but will continue through the newly formed Center on Civic Engagement, Education and the Rule of Law.
The American Bar Association has released the final report of its Cornerstones Commission, “Lawyer as Public Citizen: Collaboration, Civics & Civility,” which examines how lawyers can rebuild trust in institutions and strengthen civil liberties and democratic values through sustained partnership in their local communities.
The report summarizes findings from seven state, local and affinity bars that received subgrants from a $200,000 award in 2023 to the ABA from the American Arbitration Association International Centre for Dispute Resolution as part of the “Cornerstones of Democracy: Civics, Civility and Collaboration” initiatives.
The AAA-ICDR Foundation awarded the grant to the ABA to help bars across the U.S. strengthen democracy and the rule of law.
“Our democracy and the rule of law depend upon the active engagement and participation of our populace,” former ABA President Deborah Enix-Ross noted in the report’s forward.
“Democracy is durable and sustainable only if we all participate.”
The grant recipients were selected to receive funding for programming on fostering community dialogue, improving understanding of the rule of law and helping to restore confidence in democratic processes.
“The work of these seven grantees has advanced civic norms across their communities through creating opportunities to interact across differences, by intentionally building collaborative skills through education and practice,” the report says. “In the short-term, this work has helped slow the advance of affective polarization, reduce the likelihood of conflict and helped bridge difference. In the long-term, we posit and hope, democracy will be strengthened by resting on a more stable social political foundation.”
The report emphasized that the “core pillars” of structuring and organizing democracy “rest in the central tenets of liberalism: freedom, rule of law and pluralism. This is the underlying assumption of these seven projects. That democracy can only work when citizens reflect and understand these three pillars,” it said.
When the AAA-ICDR Foundation grant was launched, bar partners were particularly encouraged to develop programming that built community bridges and dispute resolution grounded in a positive vision of local solutions to strengthen democracy.
The bar partners and their projects included:
National Asian Pacific American Bar Association: Invested in a cohort of Indiana-based AAPI community leaders by training them on the parameters of advocacy and lobbying within the restrictions of 501(c)(3) status and organizing coalitions for issues of common cause.
National Native American Bar Association: Empowered native communities through fostering connection and collaboration across regional and national networks of native lawyers who ran educational programs for native communities on civic duties, including voting and voting rights.
Oakland County (Michigan) Bar Association: Expanded law-related educational programming for students and voters, through its annual Youth Law Conference by expanding scholarships and enhancing partnerships with community organizations to expand marketing efforts for the Judicial Candidate Forums.
Omaha Metropolitan Bar: Held town hall meetings for the Omaha legal community and in partnership with local civic, faith and higher educational institutions. The bar also expanded CLE programming on elections and expanded its message of civility and community engagement through its Bar Talk podcast.
Ohio State Bar Association: Paid digital media campaign to drive Ohio voters to Judicial Votes Count, a nonpartisan voter information page. The Ohio bar worked with other community partners, especially other media organizations, to raise the profile of the site and encourage the participation of Ohio judges in the project.
State Bar of Montana: Expanded public access to the Citizens’ Law School, a statewide program designed to elevate understanding of the legal system and increase civics education.
Washington County (Pennsylvania) Bar Association: Designed and implemented programs to help nudge the community from “Crazytown” (the moniker given in a national news article) to “Civiltown.” The bar launched a variety of civics and civility-focused programming with a wide range of local and national partners.
The Cornerstones of Democracy — Civics, Civility and Collaboration initiative was authorized at Enix-Ross’s request to the ABA Board of Governors and cochaired by U.S. District Court Judge Adrienne Nelson and attorney William Weisenberg. The work of the Cornerstones Commission culminated in the final report but will continue through the newly formed Center on Civic Engagement, Education and the Rule of Law.
