The New Jersey State Bar Association's Board of Trustees met this month to take positions on pending legislation, law changes and amicus matters.

The association's Board of Trustees met on July 18 at the New Jersey Law Center in New Brunswick. The trustee board sets policy and official positions of the association, which is the largest organization of judges, lawyers and other legal professionals in New Jersey.

The trustees supported two pieces of pending legislation. They backed A-3456/S-2100, a pending bill that would remove the prohibitions on voting by people who are convicted of an indictable offense who are on parole, probation or serving a sentence. The bill would end the historic disenfranchisement of people with felony convictions, and affects roughly 100,000 individuals. They also voted to support A-4699/S-2938, which would make it a violation of the Consumer Fraud Act for anyone to try to get companies and businesses to hire them to file an annual report, without saying that the state provides a portal that the companies can choose to use.

The association will submit comments on the proposed New Jersey guardianship statutes and portions of Title 3B. The proposal is an overhaul of the guardianship act. The association's Elder and Disability Law Section expressed the belief that the existing statutes provide the necessary protections, and noted that the changes may not accomplish the intended goals and could hurt New Jersey's most vulnerable residents.

Several dynamic speakers were approved to offer programs for the New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education. The speakers include: historian Glenn LeBoeuf, who will speak on the role of the women who fought in the Civil War and the effect their participation has had on the law; Stephen Easton, who will revisit Irving Younger's 10 ­commandments of cross examination; Barron K. Henley, who in the coming weeks will speak on mastering Microsoft Word for lawyers; Marty Latz, who will return to the seminar lineup this fall with advice on negotiation strategies; comedian Sean Carter, who will provide an entertaining look at ethics dilemmas during the holiday season; and Tina Weber and Lisa Marcy, who will provide a Halloween offering called “The Psychopaths Among Us—Unveiling and Conquering Them to Win Your Cases.”

The trustees also agreed to seek additional information in State v. Andrews to determine if the association will ask for amicus status. The case addresses whether criminal defendants can be forced to disclose the PIN numbers or passwords for their electronic devices.