National Bar Association alarmed by racist comments

(NorthStarNews Today) — The National Bar Association (NBA), which represents 60,000 Black attorneys, judges, educators and law students, said it is alarmed by racist comments made by judges and court officials. The organization believes matters will get worse if U. S. Sen. Jeff Sessions, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for U. S. Attorney General, gets the job.

“Sessions ( R., Ala.) has an extensive documented history of racial intolerance for minorities,” said Kevin Judd, NBA’s president. “From this, the NBA has called on the U. S. Senate to reject Sessions’ nomination.”

Judd also said he was appalled by the behavior of court officials who use racial and ethnic slurs.

Recently, Judge James Oakley of Burnett County, Texas, stated via his Facebook page that a Black suspect in a police murder should have a rope around his neck and be lynched. Though he has since apologized, the NBA said Oakley’s behavior is not isolated. The National Bar Association is considering a system to collect data of reported discriminatory remarks and incidents.

The National Bar Association joined in issuing a joint statement with the Hispanic National Bar Association, the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, the National Association of Women Lawyers, the National LGBT Bar Association and the National Native American Bar Association in decrying the recent increase in hate-motivated violence and harassment.

The 84 chapters of the National Bar Association are located in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Africa and the Caribbean.

This article originally published in the December 12, 2016 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.