On June 5, the National Legal Foundation file a so-called “Comment Letter” with the Supreme Court of Maine, urging it to reject the adoption of an ethics rule based on American Bar Association Model Rule 8.4(g). Read the letter here. So, what is this all about?
Model Rule 8.4(g) is a rule that would expose lawyers to discipline if they “discriminated” based on sexual orientation or gender identity or (in some states) related bases. The problem is that this is actually a “speech code” for lawyers and an extreme version of political correctness.
The NLF’s letter explained that Christian lawyers should not discriminate against LGBT clients in rendering “neutral” services, for example, representing them in an auto accident case. However, lawyers need to remain free to decline representation in matters that would further the homosexual agenda when their religious beliefs require that, for example, when a lawyer might not want to assist a same-sex seeking to adopt. Furthermore, the NLF explained that many of the terms used in the Model Rule are so vague that a Christian lawyer—or any lawyer cannot know when he or she has violated it.
The NLF has previously filed similar letters in Nevada, Louisiana, Tennessee, South Carolina, Arizona, and New Hampshire.