NYSBA in the News: New Initiative to Examine Health and Well-Being and Expanding Eavesdropping to Include Hate Crimes

NYSBA in the News: New Initiative to Examine Health and Well-Being and Expanding Eavesdropping to Include Hate Crimes

7.2.2020

By Brendan Kennedy

On June 27 the New York State Bar Association’s (NYSBA) House of Delegates met virtually, concluding the second part of its summer meeting, discussed reports produced by several task forces, sections and committees.

The New York Law Journal quoted NYSBA President Scott M. Karson in a story about the House of Delegates approving a report from the Task Force on Domestic Terrorism and Hate Crimes, which recommended adding hate crimes to the list of offenses that allow for eavesdropping and video surveillance warrants.

“Why not define a hate crime as one which is eligible for eavesdropping? [It] makes more sense than to try to juggle the preexisting crime to fit the eavesdropping statute,” said Scott Karson, the association’s president, in an interview Monday.

The New York Law Journal quoted Karson in a story discussing the goals and objectives of the Attorney Well-Being Task Force, a new task force initiative that will be a centerpiece of his term as president.

Karson, the newly installed president of the NYSBA—he took over June 1—said that he had thought for months about wanting to make lawyer well-being and health a centerpiece of his time as president, if he were to get the position.

“Studies have shown rates of mental illness, fatigue, physical health problems, and substance use for attorneys that far exceed the national averages for other professions,” Karson said in a recent statement announcing the NYSBA’s initiative. “We need to eliminate the stigma associated with mental health treatment and make it easier for all lawyers to seek out the help that they need,” he added.