ABA president Michelle A. Behnke warned against the erosion of public trust in the justice system
The American Bar Association has raised concerns about how recent actions by the US justice department have displayed political partisanship.
In a statement, the association noted how the department’s moves of late have gone against its historical status of being free from political influence. The ABA pointed to the use of government powers to intimidate people and groups based on their politics – a move that the association described as “antithetical to our system of justice and the rule of law.”
The ABA said it was “unacceptable” for political opponents, lawyers or law enforcement officials doing their jobs, organizations undertaking missions not supported by the US president, state attorneys general, and members of Congress to be threatened.
“Independence in the work of the Department of Justice has been the norm for decades going back to the time of Watergate. When that independence is threatened there is a negative effect on our justice system,” said Michelle A. Behnke, the ABA’s president, in the statement. “Prosecutorial decisions must be free from political direction so that we don’t have a corrosive loss of the public’s trust and confidence in our systems.”
The ABA called for a focus on “evidence, not ideology.” It highlighted the 1970s Watergate scandal which led to enhanced norms and rules to shield the justice department from political sway. The ABA itself passed a policy on the partisan politics of prosecutors and government lawyers 15 years previously.
In the policy, the association called for the US president and the attorney general to prevent justice department lawyers from allowing political interests to impact their decisions in relation to investigations or proceedings. Moreover, justice department lawyers should not think that they will be either rewarded or punished for not making decisions made based on such interests. The ABA said it was doubling down on its commitment to the policy in the current climate.
