The Massachusetts Delegation, which included MBA President Marsha Kazarosian and MBA President-elect Robert W. Harnais, met with Senator Elizabeth Warren (top), Rep. Richard Neal (second from top) and Rep. Jim McGovern (second from bottom) during American Bar Association Day in Washington, DC, on Wednesday, April 15. Bottom photo (from left): Kazarosian, Mary Ryan, Alice Richmond, Harnais and Judge Collings.
Massachusetts Bar Association President Marsha V. Kazarosian,
President-elect Robert W. Harnais and Director of Media and
Communications Jason M. Scally participated in American Bar
Association Day in Washington, DC, on Wednesday, April 15. ABA Day
gathers bar leaders from across the country to lobby their
congressional delegations on issues of importance to the organized
bar.
This year, ABA Day participants focused on over-incarceration
and asked members of Congress to reauthorize and update the
Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA) and enact
smart sentencing reforms, including the reduction of mandatory
minimum sentences. Funding for Legal Services Corporation at the
Administration request of a minimum of $452 million was also
urged.
The MBA has participated in ABA Day since its inception 19 years
ago. At Wednesday's Opening Session, the ABA announced that this
year's group of participants from around the country was the
largest ever.
Joining the MBA representatives this year as part of the
Massachusetts delegation were Hon. Robert Collings, magistrate
judge from the U.S. District of Massachusetts; past MBA President
Alice Richmond, who is also a former ABA treasurer; attorney Mary
Ryan, chair of the ABA's Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public
Service; leaders from the Boston Bar Association, including BBA
President Julia Huston, BBA President-elect Lisa Arrowood and BBA
Director of Government Relations & Public Affairs Michael
Avitzur; and paralegal Stephanie Belz from Rubin and Rudman.