Thankfully, a controversial resolution to create a “First Amendment Preservation Section” of the Louisiana State Bar Association was defeated by the LSBA House of Delegates at its Sandestin meeting on June 8, 2017. See LSBA House of Delegates Actions (Jun. 8, 2017). The stated purpose of creating the new section was this:
The purpose of this Section is to provide a forum and an opportunity for group participation by individual attorneys who are dedicated to study legislation and jurisprudence impacting the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article I, Sections 7, 8, and 9 of the current Louisiana Constitution and who are dedicated to promote and protect laws supportive of the personal liberties guaranteed by the First Amendment.
See James J. Davidson, III, Resolution for Creation of First Amendment Preservation Section (Jun. 2017). On its face, a harmless and perhaps noble effort.
But its real purpose was to resurrect an ill-fated January 2017 resolution to create a “Christian Values Preservation Section.” That resolution was withdrawn from the agenda for the LSBA House of Delegates mid-year meeting on January 21, 2017. The proposal would have established a new section “to provide a forum and an opportunity for group participation by individual attorneys who are dedicated and Biblically inspired to preserve, protect and promote those laws which are based on and founded on Judeo Christian values and principles and which confirm our Country’s Trust in God.” Dozens of lawyers signed a letter addressed to the LSBA president expressing “grave concern” regarding the resolution, and contending that “the creation of such a section would be divisive, potentially destructive, and reflect poorly on our duty of justice to all.”
