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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NEW YORK, NEW YORK
March 26, 2026

The New York Women’s Bar Association (“NYWBA”) condemns the federal government’s continued weaponization of the criminal justice system against political enemies as an attack on the rule of law, our Constitution and our democracy.

Recently, the federal administration issued new legally dubious criminal referrals against one of Donald Trump’s outspoken political enemies, New York State Attorney General Letitia James. These referrals reflect an alarming escalation of the federal government’s pursuit of politically motivated prosecutions and lawsuits seeking not justice, but political retribution.

In Fall 2025, the federal government filed legally dubious criminal charges against AG James and James Comey, another outspoken critic of Trump. In each case, the indictment occurred weeks after President Trump publicly called on the “Department of Justice” to specifically bring such charges – even though career federal prosecutors determined there was insufficient evidence to warrant the filing of charges. In AG James’s case, the indictment occurred after a federal prosecutor refused to file the legally insufficient charges and resigned.  His replacement was an inexperienced prosecutor who followed the President’s directive. Both cases were ultimately dismissed by a federal court judge, who determined that the prosecutor who filed the charges was illegally appointed.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NEW YORK, NEW YORK
March 23, 2026

The New York Women’s Bar Association (“NYWBA”) strongly opposes the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act (“the SAVE Act”) pending in Congress. The SAVE Act threatens the very integrity of our electoral process by undermining the fundamental right to vote of all citizens, and particularly of women and other vulnerable populations, including the disabled, elderly, low income, minorities, and transgender individuals.

There is no doubt that the SAVE Act’s imposition on voters of new and unduly burdensome requirements for acceptable proofs of citizenship will disproportionately impact women. For example, the requirement that voters produce documentation explaining the discrepancy between their legal name and the name on their birth certificate will disparately impact female voters, many of whom change their last name upon marriage or divorce, as well as transgender individuals.

The unduly burdensome requirements for identity documents will effectively disenfranchise women and other populations who are less likely to have or be able to obtain satisfactory documentation: individuals who are low income, members of racial and ethnic minorities, transgender, elderly and/or disabled. In addition, the requirement that citizens present proof of citizenship in person eliminates alternative voter registration methods, such as by mail or online, unnecessarily rendering it more difficult for the elderly, disabled, caregivers and working class to exercise their right to vote.

The SAVE Act is wholly unnecessary. There is no empirical evidence of widespread non-citizen voting, the purported problem the SAVE Act seeks to address. Moreover, states already have in place adequate registration procedures for elections, which historically have been the province of state governments, not the federal government…

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Thank you for celebrating the New York Women’s Bar Association’s 2025 Annual Awards and Installation Dinner on June 9, 2025 at Tribeca 360.

The President’s Special Award was jointly presented to U.S. Representative Carolyn B. Maloney and Hon. Betty Weinberg Ellerin, along with Planned Parenthood of Greater New York and Safe Horizon.

The NYWBA mourns the passing of Cecile Richards on January 20, 2025. We honored Cecile at our 2016 Annual Dinner where she graciously accepted the NYWBA President’s Special Award for her work as then-President of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, and her zealous advocacy for reproductive rights and education.

In August of 2024, the NYWBA sadly announced the untimely death of Amanda B. Norejko, our dynamic friend, Past President, Board Member and Committee Co-Chair.

In Amanda’s honor, we have created a webpage that is devoted to her memory. Click here to view this page.