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October 14, 2025 — In Honor of George Floyd
Garden State Bar Association Statement on Political Violence
On this day, the birthday of George Floyd, the Garden State Bar Association honors his life and the movement his tragic murder gave birth to. Five years ago, Mr. Floyd’s death under the knee of a police officer in Minneapolis reverberated across our nation and the world, igniting a renewed movement for racial justice and police accountability. His killing was not only a personal tragedy but, in the eyes of many, a public lynching—one that awakened a long-overdue reckoning with systemic violence against Black bodies in America.
We also pause to remember Heather Heyer, the courageous woman murdered when a white supremacist drove his car into a crowd of counter-protesters in Charlottesville in 2017. Her death reminds us that the fight against hate, political violence, and racial terror is ongoing and manifests in many forms. Heather’s sacrifice must not fade from our collective memory, just as George Floyd’s life must remain an enduring call to justice.
But today, the forms of political violence we face are not limited to those carried out by individuals. Increasingly, we are witnessing the exercise of state power, through law enforcement, immigration raids, and the deployment of federal and military resources, targeted disproportionately at Black and Brown communities. Across cities like Chicago and elsewhere, reports of ICE and National Guard forces rounding up immigrants, detaining residents without cause, and disrupting neighborhoods under the guise of “enforcement” represent a chilling escalation of racially motivated state violence.
These acts are not isolated; they are the logical and predictable consequence of a judiciary that has sanctioned discrimination under color of law. As we cautioned in our September statement on Noem v. Perdomo, the Supreme Court’s decision to permit federal officers to detain individuals based on race, language, or occupation legitimizes racial profiling at the highest level. When our courts redefine equality to mean neutrality in the face of oppression, they license injustice. When they transform “reasonable suspicion” into a proxy for race, they convert the Constitution into a weapon against the very people it was meant to protect.
This trend marks a perilous moment for democracy. What begins as the erosion of equal protection quickly becomes the normalization of a political violence that is bureaucratic, procedural, and often invisible until its impact is felt in the broken families, vanished neighbors, and communities living in fear.
On this day, we reaffirm that silence is complicity. The Garden State Bar Association denounces all forms of political violence, including what is now being carried out under the banner of law and order. We call upon our members, our colleagues in the bar, and our partners in the community to resist any attempt to weaponize government power against marginalized populations. We demand accountability from those who wield authority and from the courts that bless their actions.
We also recommit ourselves to the vision articulated by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a world in which justice, dignity, and equality are not conditional, but universal. That vision is imperiled today, but it is not lost. It endures wherever people stand up for the rule of law grounded in humanity, not hierarchy.
The GSBA remains steadfast in its mission to advocate, educate, and litigate for justice. We will continue to stand with organizations, community leaders, and policymakers who share our belief that racialized violence, whether through the barrel of a gun or the stroke of a judicial pen, has no place in a free society.
May we honor George Floyd, Heather Heyer, and all who have suffered from politically sanctioned violence not only through remembrance but through unrelenting action to build the just society they envisioned.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 18, 2025
JOINT STATEMENT FROM THE HISPANIC BAR ASSOCIATION OF NEW JERSEY AND GARDEN STATE BAR ASSOCIATION ON THE SUPREME COURT’S RULING IN NOEM V. PERDOMO
On Monday, September 8, 2025, the United States Supreme Court, in a 6–3 ruling, stayed a District Court order that had barred federal immigration officers, particularly ICE, from detaining individuals in Los Angeles based solely on their race, ethnicity, language, location, or occupation.
This ruling is profoundly disturbing. The Court’s reasoning, ostensibly rooted in notions of "reasonable suspicion," perversely sanctions the kind of profiling that the Court itself has recently declared unconstitutional in other contexts, notably the ban on affirmative action in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard. While that decision held that race may not be considered to correct historical and structural inequities, here, the same justices now permit race to be weaponized as a tool of enforcement. This disparity was noted by California Attorney General Rob Bonta who aptly remarked, “So schools can't consider an applicant's race” but the government now “can use race as a factor to discriminate.”
The District Court had documented in painstaking detail the horrific conditions faced by those swept up in the mass raids that targeted individuals for detention based upon their protected characteristics. Migrants and even U.S. citizens were thrown into a basement detention facility, where they were denied access to sufficient food, water, and lawyers. Attorneys who attempted to reach clients were blocked by vans, drowned out by honking, and even sprayed with chemicals to prevent communication. The court found this conduct to be punitive, unlawful, and without legitimate justification, designed to break the spirit of those detained and cut them off from legal advice and due process.
This ruling affirms an accelerating and disturbing trend in which the Supreme Court systematically erodes egalitarianism under the guise of legal authority. It joins a series of decisions – from upholding the Muslim ban to dismantling protections for marginalized communities, to weakening voter protection laws that point to a downward trend for constitutional protections and checks and balances. The Court has become a catalyst, rather than a check, for institutional racism.
Indeed, this decision will do grave harm to those most vulnerable. By allowing stops based on “apparent race or ethnicity,” speaking Spanish or accented English, working at certain locations, or holding certain jobs, it accords legitimacy to baseless assumptions and stereotypes an unchecked enforcement network that humiliates, traumatizes, and criminalizes entire communities. As Justice Sonia Sotomayor rightly stated, "We should not have to live in a country where the Government can seize anyone who looks Latino, speaks Spanish, and appears to work a low wage job."
Alex Fajardo, President of the Hispanic Bar Association of New Jersey (HBA-NJ), made the following remarks: “This ruling opens the door to discriminatory practices that undermine the principles of equality and justice we strive to uphold. In essence, this practice turns Latinos regardless of their immigration status, into second class citizens and terrorizes millions of our hardest-working Americans based on how they look and speak, as well as the work they do. This ruling sets a dangerous precedent that extends beyond any impact to the Latino community. The implications of this decision are particularly troubling in light of the ongoing systematic attack on diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives aimed at supporting individuals who have been disadvantaged through no fault of their own.” Fajardo added that the HBA-NJ “stands united with other prominent organizations, like the GSBA, in advocating for justice and equality for all, and will continue to oppose discriminatory practices that harm our communities.”
Joel Clymer, President of the Garden State Bar Association (GSBA), made the following remarks: “This decision represents not only a legal failure but a moral one. The District Court heard compelling evidence that detainees, some of them U.S. citizens, were subjected to degrading treatment, confined in facilities where they were denied food, water, and access to counsel. Instead of upholding the Constitution’s promise of equal protection, the Supreme Court has allowed race and ethnicity to become the very grounds for suspicion and detention. This is the definition of state-sanctioned racial profiling. History has taught us that when our courts legitimize such practices, they entrench a caste system that diminishes us all.” Clymer added that the GSBA “stands in solidarity with organizations, like the HBA-NJ, and other civil rights organizations in saying unequivocally: this country cannot afford to normalize injustice under the guise of law.”
We firmly reject any legal standard that treats people as less deserving of liberty and dignity because of their identity, their language, or the color of their skin. The Fourteenth Amendment’s promise of equal protection must not be an artifact of principle, but a robust guarantee. This moment demands that bar associations, civil rights groups, legal educators, and all conscientious professionals recommit to resisting the codification of race-based oppression.
We call on legal professionals to challenge and oppose any enforcement or judicial practices that sanction racial profiling or discriminatory stops. We call on lawmakers and policymakers to enact statutory protections that prohibit the use of race, language, or perceived occupation as enforcement criteria. And we call on the public to recognize that threats to one community’s rights are threats to all, especially when cloaked in state-sanctioned authority.
Supreme Court rulings should not cement racial subordination, they must reaffirm the constitutional ideals of liberty, justice, and equality for all.
PRESS RELEASE
Garden State Bar Association Statement on Supreme Court Decision Against Affirmative Action
07/07/2023
Newark, New Jersey – Throughout our nearly 50 year history, the Garden State Bar Association has served as an advocate to collectively tackle challenges in order to improve the lives of African-Americans and other historically disenfranchised groups and we will continue to advance efforts designed to empower and lift us toward justice, true liberty and equity.
The Supreme Court’s ruling against affirmative action is incredibly disheartening as it dismantles concerted efforts exerted to address race inequality in higher education and will have profound implications for Black, Latino, Native American, Asian American and other underrepresented communities. For over 50 years, affirmative action – a policy that allows the use of race as a factor in deciding student admittance to colleges and universities – has been crucial for increasing educational access and equity and has given many underrepresented students the opportunity to be in spaces that could truly make a difference in their lives and future generations. The Court found that Harvard and the University of North Carolina’s affirmative action programs violated the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment by using race-conscious admission policies that benefited applicants from underrepresented backgrounds. Not only does this decision undermine universities’ abilities to maintain and increase diversity on their campuses but it will also further entrench the already-existing structural barriers to higher education.
Race is a factor in real life, regardless of the Supreme Court’s decision. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s words hit the mark: “Deeming race irrelevant in law does not make it so in life.” This is why we must continue to work towards stripping away the barriers to access and opportunity for those who have been historically discriminated against.
For further information, please contact info@gardenstatebar.org
The GSBA is New Jersey's oldest and largest professional organization for African American judges, lawyers and law students.
An affiliate of the National Bar Association
Congratulations, Tiffany Williams Brewer!
Tiffany Williams Brewer was selected as the Vice Chair Elect for the ABA Litigation Section and will officially be voted as Vice Chair in August at the ABA Annual Meeting.
She will be the second African American woman in the 50-year history to serve as Chair.
The Litigation Section is the largest section in the ABA.
Voter DISENFRANCHISEMENT in new jersey
October 2019
by James Alexander Lewis, Esq
Read the article HERE
GSBA SUPPORTS NEW JERSEY BILL NUMBER S-2100
January 2019
The Garden State Bar Association supports New Jersey Senate Bill Number S-2100, as it will restore the fundamental right to vote to nearly 100,000 New Jersey citizens who are either in prison, on parole, or on probation. PRESS RELEASE
GSBA Launches Reaching Back As We Climb Mentoring Program
The GSBA is excited to announce the official kickoff of our 2018-2019 Reaching Back As We Climb Mentorship Program. This program is designed to match law students and attorneys young in the practice (5 years or less) with seasoned practitioners. We will have more details for participants, so please do sign up!
Below, are two links to applications. The first is for those seeking to be matched with a mentor; the second is for those seeking to be matched with a mentee. Please fill out the form (5 minutes max) and send your resume to email provided on the applications.
Mentee Form: https://docs.google.com/…/1FAIpQLSc6IPbDg5p2LCp2QO…/viewform
Mentor Form: https://docs.google.com/…/1FAIpQLSdE0mg0_SdGkIQP8…/viewform…
Should you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please feel free to email Cliff Dawkins, GSBA-YLD Chair, directly at Clifford.dawkins@jacksonlewis.com
GSBA Supports Michellene Davis, E.V.P. & Chief Corporate Affairs Officer at RWJBarnabas
October 2018
Read the letter HERE.
GSBA Opposes Proposed CHANGES TO THE N.J. CONSUMER FRAUD ACT
September 2018
The GSBA stands alongside the NAACP, New Jersey State Bar Association, New Jersey Association for Justice, Hispanic Bar Association of New Jersey, New Jersey Citizen Action, Consumer League of New Jersey and many other consumer groups who oppose this legislation. PRESS RELEASE
GSBA PRESENTS THE ARCHER GSBA DIVERSITY SCHOLARSHIP SUMMER
ASSOCIATE PROGRAM
February 2018
The GSBA in partnership with The Archer Firm and Panasonic present a summer associate program for diverse law students.
PRESS RELEASE I APPLICATION
GSBA ARGUES FOR DISCLOSURE OF DASH-CAM RECORDINGS
July 11, 2017
The GSBA joined as amicus curiae in the matter of North Jersey Media Group, Inc. v. Township of Lyndhurst, which was argued before the NJ Supreme Court. The case held that dash-cam recordings and use of force reports are subject to disclosure under the common law. READ MORE
GSBA URGES DIVISION OF ELECTIONS NOT TO RELEASE VOTER INFO
July 10, 2017
The GSBA sent a letter to state officials opposing a request from the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity which seeks sensitive voter information and would likely lead to voter suppression. READ MORE
GSBA REQUESTS THE COURT TO EXPAND THE SCOPE OF ITS PROHIBITION OF DISCRIMINATORY CONDUCT IN THE PROFESSION
June 30, 2017
The Garden State Bar Association supports an adoption of the ABA Model Rule governing the conduct of attorneys which provides additional safeguards against discriminatory conduct. READ MORE
GSBA PUSHES FOR DIVERSITY-FOCUSED REQUIREMENTS IN ATTORNEY CONTINUING EDUCATION
June 30, 2017
Following the adoption of ABA Resolution 107, the GSBA urges New Jersey to require that attorneys attend diversity and inclusion programming in order to fulfill biennial continuing legal education credits. READ MORE
