The 1980s brought to fruition some of the major challenges of the previous two decades in the national struggle for equal rights. Numerous barriers to advancement fell and other overt acts of discrimination ended or decreased. Sandra Day O’Connor became the first female Justice on the U. S. Supreme Court, and the Court issued landmark decisions advancing the rights of women. Geraldine Ferraro became the first woman to be named a major political party candidate for national office. African American Civil rights leader Jesse Jackson ran for the Democratic Presidential nomination and became a powerful influence in the election and the party. Dr. Martin Luther King’s birthday was declared a national holiday. Dr. Kathryn Sullivan became the first American woman to walk in space.

The Section's work continued, however, on the range of civil rights, civil liberties, and human rights issues within its purview. On the civil rights policy front, for example, it continued its successes in sponsoring ABA House of Delegates resolutions opposing discrimination in the sale and rental of housing; opposing federal financial assistance for any institution discriminating in any of its operations; supporting federal legislation prohibiting discrimination on the basis of disabilities; and supporting amendment of the ABA standards for law schools to forbid discrimination against persons with disabilities.

In the 1980s the Section also took up where it had left off in the 1970s in attempting to gain ABA support of a change in federal public accommodations provisions to prohibit discrimination in private clubs that derive a substantial portion of their income from business sources. In 1981, in the face of opposition, the Section proposed, but ultimately withdrew, this proposal, as well as a corollary one calling for amendments to the ABA Model Code of Judicial Conduct to make it inappropriate for a judge to hold membership in any organization practicing invidious discrimination. The Section won approval of the private clubs measure the following year, but lobbyists representing private clubs then launched a successful campaign to reverse the policy. The Section and other supporters persisted however, and in 1983, the decision to reverse the nondiscrimination policy was itself reversed. The Section and the Standing Committee on Legal Ethics subsequently , persuaded the House of Delegates to amend the Canons of Judicial Conduct to incorporate the invidious discrimination provision. In 1988, the Section put these policies to use in developing an ABA amicus curiae brief in the U. S. Supreme Court case of New York State Club Association v. City of New York, a challenge of a New York City provision that prohibited discrimination by clubs. The ABA's position was victorious when the Court ultimately upheld the constitutionality of the New York City provision.

Another painful struggle that confronted both the nation and the legal profession in the 1980s was the onset of the AIDS epidemic. Initially, the widely held belief was that HIV/AIDS occurred primarily in the gay and lesbian population, but the issue took on new urgency as the general public became more aware of and affected by HIV/AIDS among friends or family members. In 1987, the Section persuaded the ABA to establish the AIDS Coordinating Committee to address the legal issues raised by the epidemic's impacts. In 1988, the Committee produced a book-length white paper entitled, AIDS: the Legal Issues that made a fundamental difference in the national HIV/AIDS debate by providing sound information about the disease and clearly analyzing the legal issues surrounding it. In the early days of the epidemic, the white paper was one of a handful of reliable sources available to policymakers and legal scholars struggling with these issues. Numerous other publications have followed. Today, the Committee and the Section's AIDS Coordination Project continue to be a primary source of expertise on the evolving and critical legal issues raised by HIV/AIDS that now reach into almost every area of law practice.

During the 1980s, the Section similarly helped address legal and public policy concerns of other growing populations requiring advocates. The changing economy and national political leadership in this decade had many results, among them the increasing number of homeless persons in the shelters and on the streets of almost every community. The Section’s concern with the increasing number of homeless individuals, including families and children, resulted in the establishment of the Representation of the Homeless Project to focus on issues such as fair and adequate housing and entitlements and other benefits for the homeless. Growing awareness about juveniles' use of drugs and alcohol led to a special initiative in this area as well.

The Section's work on privacy issues of concern in the 1980s also has fostered additional interest in this topic in several other parts of the ABA. During this period, revelations of business or governmental abuse of personal records data and the proliferation of sources for private data led the Section to initiate a project that sponsored and implemented four annual two-part symposia on privacy. Each year's symposia featured programs emphasizing the policy and implementation phase of the privacy project. In an unprecedented fashion, the project brought together a group of representatives from the legal profession, business and industry, government, academia, and the media to explore the possibilities of common agendas for legislative advocacy on privacy initiatives. The Section also sponsored several resolutions designed to encourage individual privacy protections, including approved policies supporting enhanced protections from electronic surveillance and nongovernmental use of federally collected personal data.

The 1980s also brought the Section's increased involvement in substantive human rights-related activity to address needs of both U. S. immigrants and persons living abroad. The Section identified many concerns affecting immigrants, but early efforts to put in place ABA policies calling for reform of the country’s immigration laws failed. Ultimately, however, the ABA did adopt Section resolutions supporting the continued right of judicial review for aliens subject to deportation and the right of immigrant travel during emergencies declared by the president, as well as a resolution urging other governments to prohibit state and local police from acting as immigration officers. The Section also established the Haitian Legal Assistance Pro Bono Project, which recruited and trained lawyers to represent Haitian refugees seeking asylum in the United States, and the Section supported the ABA's creation of a Coordinating Committee on Immigration Law to provide a prominent voice for immigration concerns within the ABA. Since then, the Section has continued to work closely with the Committee and the ABA Center on Immigration on immigration policy.

Another important policy resolution enacted during this period addressed a need of long-term immigrants. At the urging of the Section, the ABA went on record urging the U.S. Congress to provide appropriate relief to Japanese-Americans detained and removed from their homes during World War II and denied equal justice under the law.

On the international human rights side, several Section initiatives coincided with the growing business and governmental concern about the global economy and its relationship to international human rights. In 1985, the ABA adopted a Section proposal to oppose South Africa's apartheid policy and urge the federal government to do the same; the following year, the ABA urged the immediate release of all political prisoners in South Africa. Other important human rights-related policies supported by the Section endorsed the creation of a federal right of action for both aliens and U. S. citizens against persons who, under color of foreign law, engage in acts of torture or extrajudicial killing; urged the United States to promote and protect human rights in China and Iran; and urged an end to the proliferation and testing of nuclear weapons.

But the Section made the greatest mark on the ABA in the human rights arena with a series of projects it undertook to increase lawyers' direct involvement in helping address human rights concerns. For example, together with the Section of International Law and Practice, the Section helped develop and implement the "Rule of Law" letter process, in which the ABA President officially expresses concern to heads of state of other nations concerning documented abuse of due process protections or other human rights violations. The ABA continues to produce Rule of Law letters today.

Another important and much more visible Section initiative aimed at opening the door for ABA members to participate in and encourage the protection of international human rights was the International Human Rights Trial Observer Project, under which some of the ABA’s most distinguished lawyers and judges travelled overseas to observe trials having significant human rights implications.

Observers are appointed by the President of the ABA in consultation with the chairs of the Section of Individual Rights and Responsibilities, the Section of International Law and Practice, the Standing Committee on Law and National Security, and (the former) Standing Committee on World Order Under Law, the ABA entities that have been involved most regularly in human rights-related issues on behalf of the Association. The observers carry out their role in accordance with specific guidelines; they do not participate in or comment upon the proceeding while serving as observer. The aim is to ensure compliance with international norms simply through the observer's presence at the proceedings. At the end of a mission, the observer submits a report to the ABA President , who then makes the findings public, writes to the head of state of the country visited, or takes other action, as appropriate.

In 1986, Fred Gray, attorney for the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and then-president of the National Bar Association, represented the ABA in its first trial observer mission when he attended the trial of several civilians accused of conspiracy in an attempted coup against the president of Liberia. The presiding judge refused to accept the jury's unanimous "not guilty" verdict and entered a mistrial. The ABA President expressed concern about the proceeding to the U. S. Secretary of State and the government of Liberia. This led to a meeting between the ABA President and the Liberian Minister of Justice, after which the Liberian embassy notified the ABA that all political prisoners in Liberia, including all of the defendants in the trial observed by the ABA representative, had been released.
Other trial observers have attended proceedings involving activity in Yugoslavia, the former Soviet Union, South Africa, South Korea, Poland, Pakistan, Chile, Malaysia, West Bank, Czechoslovakia, Singapore, Cameroon, Malawi, and Northern Ireland.

Although not currently funded as an ongoing Section activity, the project has inspired independent trial observer appointments by ABA Presidents over the last several years in response to concerns about specific cases in various parts of the world. The ABA and the Section also undertook their first activity involving election observers during this time.

In March 1990, the Soviet Republic of Georgia boldly became the fourth Soviet Republic (after Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia) to take parliamentary action condemning its inclusion in the Soviet Union. In May 1990, following riots and government violence, the Parliament called for new elections to choose 250 members for seats in Georgia's new unicameral parliament. Fearing Soviet government intervention in election activities, Georgia asked international non-governmental organizations, including the ABA, to send election observers to monitor the elections. The delegation members had strong backgrounds in Russian/Soviet politics and history, had visited Soviet Georgia previously, and had traveled extensively in the former Soviet Union.

Relying upon international standards for election observation, the delegations visited 30 election sites throughout the Republic. In its published report of its activities, the delegation outlined serious concerns about the election process and local administration. The team concluded, however, that the elections reflected a celebration of freedom of expression and right of self-determination of the Georgian people. Despite a turbulent campaign, the elections themselves were peaceful and orderly.