ABA President Carolyn B. Lamm is condemning the conviction and sentence of former Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi as a violation of international law.

Suu Kyi was convicted of violating the terms of her house arrest on Tuesday and sentenced to 18 months of additional house arrest. The Burmese democracy activist was convicted for a visit by an uninvited American, John Yettaw, who swam to her home. The sentence will keep Suu Kyi at home past the date of national elections in Myanmar, scheduled for 2010.

In a press release, Lamm called the conviction and sentence “an ongoing affront to the just rule of law by Myanmar's military junta.”

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The Indiana State Bar Association in collaboration with the Indiana Commission on Disproportionality in Youth Services will sponsor the "Summit on Racial Disparities in the Juvenile Justice System: A Statewide Dialogue" featuring W. Haywood Burns Institute Founder and Executive Director James Bell on Thursday, Aug. 27, at 8 a.m. at the Indiana Government Conference Center.

"Racial imbalance in the juvenile justice system is a complex issue and requires that all major points of contact in the system get actively involved in the Summit's dialogue," said R. William Jonas Jr., President, Indiana State Bar Association. "There is nothing more important to me, and especially to Indiana's youth, than the work that law enforcement officers, judges, prosecutors and others are doing to make sure the legal needs of all youth are addressed."

The Summit will include three panel sessions led by national speakers and Indiana public officials: "Role of Law Enforcement, Judge, Defender and Prosecutor in Reducing Disproportionality and Disparity"; "Collaborative Approaches to Addressing Disproportionate Minority Contact"; and "Policy Considerations and Economics of Reforming Disparate Practices in Juvenile Justice."

The Arizona State Bar’s sections have donated more than $71,000 to 84 law students since 2001. The money comes from the dues lawyers pay to participate in sections, not the general membership dues. Other sections like Criminal Justice also have created endowments.

About 6,500 of the State Bar’s 16,000 members are involved in sections.

The State Bar has 29 sections in which members sponsor continuing legal education seminars, conduct studies, and make recommendations to the State Bar’s Board of Governors. More than 10 of the sections have awarded scholarships.

The scholarships are awarded to law students at ASU, the University and Arizona, and the Phoenix School of Law.

New York State Bar Association President Michael E. Getnick (Getnick, Livingston, Atkinson & Priore, LLP of Utica and of counsel to Getnick & Getnick of New York City) today commended Governor David A. Paterson for recently signing an executive order that sets a goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in New York by 80 percent below 1990 levels by the year 2050. The administration’s directive is in line with a key recommendation of a recent State Bar Task Force on Global Warming report on how to address global climate change.

“The executive order signed by Governor Paterson represents another important step in working to address the effects of climate change caused by greenhouse gas emissions,” said President Getnick. “The State Bar, through the excellent work of our Task Force on Global Warming, has been in the vanguard of proposing common-sense solutions to this urgent problem. I am pleased that the Governor has taken action and I look forward to partnering with him in the future to help provide our children and families with a cleaner, more sustainable environment for generations to come.”

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