City Bar Justice Center Statement on Equal Justice Conference in Arizona

The City Bar Justice Center, which provides pro bono legal services to low-income New Yorkers, including immigrants, and advocates for enlightened reform of immigration laws, believes the new Arizona immigration law to be an unfair, unjust law that will cause great hardship to many people regardless of their immigration status. We have therefore urged that the upcoming ABA/NLADA Equal Justice Conference in Phoenix be moved to another site and are declining to attend unless it is moved.

It is ironic that the Equal Justice Conference, which is designed to increase access to justice by bringing together advocates and volunteer lawyers, is being held in a state that has passed a law that will discriminate against minorities and diminish the civil liberties of us all by requiring everyone to carry identity documents. As visitors on business, we have chosen to boycott this conference in Arizona to demonstrate our conviction that this law should be repealed.