佐治亚律师杂志
2024年5月,卷. 29, No. 5
如果我们同意政治专家的观点, the general election this November will be one of the most consequential in our nation’s history.
目前亚洲最大娱乐平台竞选的民调数字喜忧参半, instilling both confidence and concern on both sides of this rematch of the 45th and 46th presidents who are seeking another term in the White House. 如果有什么接近确定的事情, 很可能直到选举之夜凌晨才会知道结果, 如果是这样的话——而且是由几个摇摆州的选举人票决定的, 包括格鲁吉亚.
国会的控制权也岌岌可危, 考虑到共和党目前在美国的微弱优势.S. 众议院和民主党在美国.S. 参议院.
这是合适的, 然后, that “民主之声” was selected as the theme for this year’s Law Day—promoted by the American Bar Association and observed annually on May 1 to celebrate the rule of law and cultivate a deeper understanding of the legal system. 根据美国律师协会, 今年的法律日庆祝活动认识到,在民主国家, 人民统治. 近250年来, Americans have expressed their political views and wishes by speaking their minds and voting in elections. In 2024, 美国将举行第60届亚洲最大娱乐平台选举, 美国人将解决有关民主和法治的基本问题.”
Law Day calls on the legal community to be part of the effort to encourage Americans to get involved in the 2024 elections by increasing their understanding of our electoral process; engaging in honest, civil discussions about the issues; taking advantage of early voting or turning out on Election Day; and helping to move our nation forward once the votes are counted and certified from a free and fair electoral process.
从2020年亚洲最大娱乐平台大选的后果中,我们记得并仍在忍受着什么, 告诉我们,阻碍国家前进的障碍可能会重演. 理查德Hasen, 加州大学洛杉矶分校法学院保卫民主项目主任, 在国家宪法中心的论坛上概述了他的担忧, 《十大电子游艺网站》,,于三月举行.
“我担心潜在的暴力,”哈森说. “I’m worried about people not believing the results of the election because this is what we saw in 2020. … [I]t’s become so much easier to share false information about elections being stolen or rigged. 我们现在有成千上万的人相信上次选举是被窃取或操纵的, 尽管有所有可靠的证据.
“[D]民主取决于那些处于劣势的人, 同意选举是公平公正的,同意下次公平竞争. 因此,我担心公众对结果的接受程度. 我担心可能发生针对选举官员的暴力事件, 反对投票工作人员, 对选民. 我们正处于历史上一个非常不稳定和两极分化的时刻. 我希望冷静的头脑能够占上风,我们能够度过这段时期.”
Hasen also cited “a legal hole” that threatens a repeat of the last presidential election aftermath when Congress will gather to count the Electoral College votes on Jan. 6, 2025.
He said the hole stems from manipulation of a law dating from the 1870s called the Electoral Count Act.
“Congress fixed some of the problems with that act when it passed the Electoral Count Reform Act in December of 2022,哈森说。. “还有一个非常广泛的理论,叫做独立州立法机构理论. There was an extreme version of it that would’ve let state legislatures potentially put in an alternative slate of electors. 最高法院似乎在一个叫做 摩尔v. 哈珀 这是上个学期决定的.”
但今年早些时候,在 特朗普v. 安德森, the Supreme Court “left open the possibility that Congress could potentially try to disqualify an apparently winning candidate from having his or her electoral votes counted on grounds that the person participated in an insurrection and is therefore disqualified under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment,哈森说。. “ 特朗普v. 安德森 此案涉及各州是否可以取消候选人的资格, disqualify Trump—but left open in a very kind of unclear way what Congress might be able to do and when they might be able to do it. So that’s another scenario … that I worry about in terms of legal challenges to the results in 2025.”
The Law Day 2024 Proclamation drafted for state and local governments to adopt declares that “despite more than two centuries of progress, 我们的民主仍不完善.2021年,一份著名的国际报告将美国列为“倒退的民主国家”.“尽管今年的选举将对国家的未来起到关键作用, many Americans have said they do not intend to vote—believing that their votes do not matter or fearing that they will be ostracized or even harmed physically or economically if they speak their minds on the candidates and issues.
The Proclamation adds: “[M]embers of the legal profession should lead the way in promoting democracy by taking individual responsibility not only to speak up and vote but also to find the courage to listen, 相互尊重,并在通往更完美联邦的道路上达成一致.” This is one way that we can help ensure that our government remains responsive to the wishes of the people.
除了法律日宣传保护民主, 法律界正在采取高水平的行动. 去年8月, the ABA launched a task force to improve voter confidence in elections by addressing these and other challenges related to electoral integrity and to remind voters that their vote counts.
美国律师协会的美国民主工作小组由前联邦法官汉. J. Michael Luttig和前美国律师.S. 国土安全部部长杰·约翰逊, 目前是Paul Weiss在纽约和华盛顿的合伙人, D.C. The 乔治亚州律师协会 is ably represented on the task force’s leadership team by its Vice Chair Bill Ide, of counsel with the Atlanta office of Akerman LLP and a past president of the State Bar’s 青年律师科. 特别工作组的成员包括律师, 法律专业内外的退休法官和其他国家领导人.
The mission of the task force is to: (1) inspire and mobilize America’s duty-bound legal profession to actively support and defend American democracy, the Constitution and the rule of law; (2) ensure that lawyers are educated and held accountable to their professional obligations to support and defend our democracy, the Constitution and the rule of law; and (3) leverage the legal profession to educate the public on the reasons for, 以及, 民主和法治.
“Lawyers actually are uniquely qualified and uniquely positioned to support and defend our democracy, 我们的宪法和法治,去年,勒蒂格在接受微软全国广播公司联合主席采访时说. “律师们宣誓支持和捍卫美国宪法, 反对一切外国敌人, 但也包括国内——如果不是特别国内的话.”
Johnson said an important part of the task force effort is going to be to remind Americans that their vote counts, 他们的投票很重要. “他们的投票很重要,他们的投票是民主的本质,”他说. “民主是我们在这个国家享有的一切的根源.” You can find out more about the Task Force for American Democracy and supporting its work on the ABA’s website, www.americanbar.org.
庆祝法律日, 美国律师协会主席玛丽·史密斯写道, “当我们的开国元勋们在235年前开会起草宪法时, 他们开始了一项改变世界的实验. 美国将不是一个国王的国度,而是一个法治的国家. 从那时起, generations of Americans have worked to defend and improve our system of laws and to ensure that the laws are applied equally and justly. ... 今天,我们的国家和世界正处于一个转折点. 在国内和全球,独裁者和独裁者威胁着法治. 我们的民主正处于紧张状态. 我们都必须用我们的声音来维护我们的法律制度,确保我们的民主, 作为构思, 存到.”
今年选举的利害关系再高不过了. 我们民主的未来取决于选民对我们的选举制度是否有信心. I encourage all Georgia lawyers to uphold our responsibility to lead the way in promoting and protecting the principles of our Constitution and do our part to ensure that our elections at the local, 州和国家层面都是自由和公平的,这样我们的国家才能向前发展.