NAWL Joins Bar Organizations' Statement in Support of the Rule of Law

March 26, 2025

Bar Organizations’ Statement in Support of the Rule of Law

CHICAGO, March 26, 2025 — We the undersigned bar organizations stand together with and in support of the American Bar Association to defend the rule of law and reject efforts to undermine the courts and the legal profession.

In particular, as outlined by the ABA:

We endorse the sentiments expressed by the chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court in his 2024 Year End Report on the Federal Judiciary, “[w]ithin the past year we have also seen the need for state and federal bar associations to come to the defense of a federal district judge whose decisions in a high-profile case prompted an elected official to call for her impeachment. Attempts to intimidate judges for their rulings in cases are inappropriate and should be vigorously opposed.”

We support the right of people to advance their interests in courts of law when they have been wronged. We reject the notion that the U.S. government can punish lawyers and law firms who represent certain clients or punish judges who rule certain ways. We cannot accept government actions that seek to twist the scales of justice in this manner.

We reject efforts to undermine the courts and the profession. We will not stay silent in the face of efforts to remake the legal profession into something that rewards those who agree with the government and punishes those who do not. Words and actions matter. And the intimidating words and actions we have heard and seen must end. They are designed to cow our country’s judges, our country’s courts and our legal profession.

There are clear choices facing our profession. We can choose to remain silent and allow these acts to continue or we can stand for the rule of law and the values we hold dear. We call upon the entire profession, including lawyers in private practice from Main Street to Wall Street, as well as those in corporations and who serve in elected positions, to speak out against intimidation.

If lawyers do not speak, who will speak for our judges? Who will protect our bedrock of justice? If we do not speak now, when will we speak? Now is the time. That is why we stand together with the ABA in support of the rule of law.

American Bar Association
Alameda County (California) Bar Association
Alexandria (Virginia) Bar Association
Allegheny County Bar Association (Pennsylvania)
Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers
Bar Association of Erie County (New York)
Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis
Berks County (Pennsylvania) Bar Association
Boston Bar Association
Boulder County (Colorado) Bar Association
Chicago Bar Association
Chicago Council of Lawyers
Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association
Columbus (Ohio) Bar Association
Connecticut Bar Association
Contra Costa (California) County Bar Association
Detroit Bar Association and Foundation
Erie County (Pennsylvania) Bar Association
First Judicial District Bar Association (Colorado)
Hennepin County (Minnesota) Bar Association
Hispanic National Bar Association
Hudson County (New Jersey) Bar Association
Illinois State Bar Association
Kansas Bar Association
Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association
Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Foundation
Lawyers Club of San Diego
Long Beach (California) Bar Association
Louisville Bar Association
Maine State Bar Association
Middlesex County (New Jersey) Bar Association
Milwaukee Bar Association
Minnesota State Bar Association
Monroe County (New York) Bar Association
Nassau County (New York) Bar Association
National Asian Pacific American Bar Association
National Association of Women Lawyers
National Conference of Bar Presidents
National LGBTQ+ Bar Association
National Native American Bar Association
New Jersey Women Lawyers Association
New Mexico Black Lawyers Association
New York City Bar Association
New York County Lawyers Association
North County (California) Bar Association
Board of Governors of the Oregon State Bar
Passaic County (New Jersey) Bar Association
Philadelphia Bar Association
Queens County (New York) Bar Association
Ramsey County (Minnesota) Bar Association
San Diego County Bar Association
San Fernando Valley (California) Bar Association
Santa Clara County Bar Association (California)
South Asian Bar Association of North America
State Bar of New Mexico
Virgin Islands Bar Association
Board of Governors of the Washington State Bar Association
Worcester County (Massachusetts) Bar Association

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NAWL Responds to the Supreme Court Decision in Louisiana v. Callais

April 30, 2026

Yesterday, the United States Supreme Court issued its decision in Louisiana v. Callais , ruling 6–3 that Louisiana’s congressional map creating a second majority-Black district is an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. In reaching that decision, the Court narrowed how Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act may be used to remedy racial vote dilution, despite prior findings that Louisiana’s earlier maps likely infringed on the voting rights of Black residents. This decision marks a serious setback for voting rights and democratic participation. For nearly six decades, the Voting Rights Act has served as a cornerstone of our legal system’s effort to confront and remedy structural discrimination in the electoral process. By restricting the tools available to address unequal representation, the Court’s ruling makes it harder to correct long standing disparities in who has a voice in our elections. In a dissent read aloud from the bench, Justice Elena Kagan cautioned that the Court’s decision undermines one of the last effective tools for protecting fair representation. Describing the ruling’s impact on the Voting Rights Act, she wrote that Section 2 is now “all but a dead letter,” unable to fulfill its core purpose. She highlighted that a democracy cannot function as promised when the law prevents meaningful remedies for electoral systems that lock some communities out of political power. NAWL is committed to a democracy that works for everyone, supported by a legal system that recognizes discrimination and acts to correct it. As lawyers, judges, advocates, and scholars, we understand that voting rights are foundational to all other rights. NAWL will continue to engage its members on the implications of this decision through education and dialogue. We invite NAWL members to continue this important conversation by attending our session “ Louisiana v. Callais : Voting Rights and the Future of Our Democracy” at NAWL’s 2026 Annual Meeting in Chicago on July 22–23 . Hear from Jessica Ellsworth (Partner and Co-Chair, Supreme Court and Appellate Practice at Hogan Lovells), Samuel Spital (Associate Director-Counsel at the Legal Defense Fund), Franita Tolson (Dean of USC Gould School of Law), and Wendy Weiser (Vice President, Democracy at Brennan Center for Justice). Our expert panel will examine the implications of this decision and its future impact on voting rights and the rule of law.

NAWL Joins Bar Organizations' Statement in Support of the Rule of Law

Bar Organizations’ Statement in Support of the Rule of Law

NAWL Responds to the Supreme Court Decision in Louisiana v. Callais

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