The ABA supports a strong, well-financed Legal Services Corporation to provide civil legal services for the poor. The ABA opposes legislation that would limit the types of legal services made available to the poor, would dismantle the current effectively operating and locally controlled delivery system, or would reduce federal financial support. The ABA supports the reinstatement of the tax-preferred status of Section 120 group legal services benefits. The ABA urges the federal, state and local governments to take immediate steps to ensure the provision of sufficient funding for indigent defense services. The ABA supports the provision of legal assistance for low-income military personnel as a matter of right.

The ABA urges that Guantanamo detainees who are charged with criminal law violations be prosecuted in Article III courts. If the Attorney General certifies that a detainee cannot be prosecuted in such courts, prosecution should occur in other regularly constituted courts, consistent with due process, the laws of war, the Geneva Conventions and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Detainees no longer considered to be enemy combatants should be released or resettled, and any remaining individuals detained as enemy combatants should be granted prompt habeas corpus hearings with full due process rights and access to counsel. The ABA opposes torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of detainees in U.S. custody. The ABA urges Congress to adopt legislation that outlines procedures governing federal civil cases implicating the state secrets privilege.

The ABA urges that Congress and the President seek to maintain a balance between support for stronger governmental power to protect public safety and for protecting the integrity of our justice system and maintaining our nation’s individual liberties. The ABA urges Congress to strengthen federal habeas corpus review of state criminal convictions and expand federal resources to assure that capital defendants receive adequate representation at trial and on appeal. The ABA opposes the enactment of mandatory minimum sentences, supports elimination of federal sentencing disparities for drug offenses and supports expanded reliance on alternatives to incarceration. The ABA supports enactment of legislation to ameliorate the punitive effects of collateral sanctions to convictions affecting jobs, housing, voting and privacy. The ABA supports reauthorization and strengthening of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act. The ABA supports federal legislation to assess and address racial and ethnic disparities in the criminal justice system, including the use of racial and ethnic profiling. The ABA supports comprehensive legislation to improve the response of federal, state and local governments and of the criminal justice systems to address elder abuse, neglect and exploitation and urges federal, state, local, tribal and territorial governments and their prosecutors to vigorously prosecute cases of elder abuse, neglect, and financial exploitation.

The ABA opposes federal legislation to preempt state medical liability laws and legislation to require patients injured by malpractice to utilize "health courts" that deny injured patients a right to a trial by jury or full compensation for injuries caused by medical negligence. The ABA supports proposed "Patients’ Bill of Rights" legislation which would amend ERISA so that it no longer would preempt various state health care liability laws. The ABA supports legislation to provide for certainty, predictability, and efficiency to the Medicare set-aside process in Workers’ Compensation cases. The ABA supports the privacy and security of medical records and supports legislation to increase access to health care for all Americans.

The ABA supports legal immigration based on family reunification and employment skills, due process safeguards in immigration and asylum adjudications, and judicial review of such decisions. The ABA also supports increasing access to counsel for those in immigration proceedings, including, when necessary, government-appointed counsel for unaccompanied children and mentally ill and disabled persons. The ABA opposes detention of those in removal proceedings except in extraordinary circumstances and supports the use of alternatives to detention. The ABA supports strengthening the ICE National Detention Standards and promulgating the Standards into legally enforceable regulations.

The ABA urges the use of bipartisan advisory judicial nominating commissions comprised of diverse representatives of the community and prenomination consultation between the President and the Senate. The ABA supports legislative efforts to strengthen the federal judiciary, including enactment of a substantial judicial pay increase and the prompt filling of judicial vacancies. The ABA opposes initiatives that undermine the judicial process, including legislation that strips the courts of jurisdiction to hear cases involving constitutional right or infringes upon the separation of powers between Congress and the courts. The ABA opposes enactment of federal legislation that circumvents the Rules Enabling Act such as the proposed "Sunshine in Litigation Act" and "Lawsuit Abuse Reduction Act." The ABA urges Congress to fund the Social Security Administration at a level that will enable it to address the serious backlog of disability claims and otherwise carry out its mandated responsibilities.

The ABA believes that primary regulation and oversight of the legal profession should continue to be vested in the court of highest appellate authority of the state in which the attorney is licensed. The ABA opposes federal laws or regulations that would interfere with the confidential attorney-client relationship, including: bankruptcy law provisions that impose new liability and regulations on bankruptcy debtor attorneys; unnecessary federal regulation of the legal profession, such as the FTC Red Flags Rule; and federal government policies that pressure companies and other organizations to waive attorney-client privilege and work-product protections, or to take certain punitive actions against employees, such as not paying their attorneys’ fees, as a condition for obtaining credit for cooperation during investigations.

The ABA endorses legal remedies and voluntary actions to eliminate or prevent discrimination that take into account as a factor race, national origin, or gender. The ABA supports preservation of and full funding for the Thurgood Marshall Legal Educational Opportunity Program to help disadvantaged students obtain a legal education. The ABA supports enactment of Civil Rights Tax Relief Act of 2003 provisions that were not included in P.L. 108-357. The ABA supports providing federal voting rights to residents of the District of Columbia.

The ABA supports adequate funding for domestic and international agencies that promote the rule of law, including the prompt payment of U.S. assessments to the United Nations for its regular and peacekeeping expenses. The ABA supports ratification of certain international treaties, including the Convention on the Law of the Sea (LOS), the Rome Statute for an International Criminal Court, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the American Convention on Human Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The ABA supports simplification of the tax laws to the maximum extent possible, consistent with basic equity, efficiency and the need for revenue, so that such laws can be easily understood and complied with by the taxpayers and fairly and consistently administered and enforced by the Treasury Department.