Public Policy > Our Policy Positions > Civil Rights & Civil Liberties

Civil Rights & Civil Liberties

“To protect that right, every unjustifiable intrusion by the government upon the privacy of the individual, whatever that means employed, must be deemed a violation of the Fourth Amendment.” – Justice Louis D. Brandeis, Olmstead v. U.S. 438, 478 (1928)

News

Boston Bar Urges President Obama to Veto NDAA for FY12

Thursday, December 22, 2011
The Boston Bar Association sent a letter to President Obama urging him to veto the National Defense Authorization Act of 2012 because certain sections impinge on fundamental rights that are a core component of life in a constitutional democracy and central to the Boston Bar Association’s mission of access to justice.
+ Read Entire Article

BBA Signs on to Amicus Brief Challenging DOMA

Committed to ensuring that the Constitution’s guarantees of equal protection effectively protect all people from invidious discrimination, whether on account of race, gender, national origin, religion, alienage, or sexual orientation, the Boston Bar Association has signed on to an amicus brief arguing that classifications based on sexual orientation must be subjected to heightened scrutiny.
+ Read Entire Article

Let's Extend Equal Rights to Everyone in Massachusetts

Thursday, June 02, 2011
Since legislation was first filed in 2007, the BBA has supported adding “gender identity and expression” to the state’s civil rights laws and to the list of offenses that are treated as hate crimes. A simple update to the Massachusetts discrimination laws, An Act Relative to Transgender Equal Rights really is a civil rights bill that would provide explicit protection to transgender people.
+ Read Entire Article

The Issues

  • Privacy

    As data collection and information networks expand, data security and privacy issues are increasingly a central part of the legal landscape.  Legislators, regulators, businesses and lawyers are under increasing pressure to draft and implement effective laws, regulations, and security and privacy programs under rapidly changing technological, business and legal conditions. 

  • Same-Sex Marriage
    • The BBA believes that civil marriage is a basic civil rights issue fundamental to the freedoms and privileges guaranteed by the 14th amendment.  In recent years, the BBA has taken other actions in support of same-sex marriage, including:
    • In 2002, we filed an independent amicus brief in support of same-sex couples seeking the right to marry in Goodridge v. Dept. of Public Health. In the brief, we argued that denying civil marriage licenses violated the Massachusetts Constitution.
    • In 2005, we drafted a brief supporting the position of Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders (GLAD) in Cote-Whiteacre v. Dept. of Pub Health. We argued that the 1913 statute, which prevents non-resident couples from marrying in Massachusetts if that marriage would be void in their home state, was unconstitutional.
  • Death Penalty

    The BBA has repeatedly opposed legislation that would reinstitute capitol punishment and filed an amicus brief in Commonwealth v. Colon-Cruz. Our arguments point to flaws in the justice system, the death penalty's disproportionate effect on minority populations, and its failure to deter violent crime, and the fallibility of the justice system

  • See More of Our Work

    For more information or to learn how to get involved, please email Kathleen Joyce, Director of Government Relations, at kjoyce@bostonbar.org.