The decision of the National Bar Association (NBA)--the nation's largest organization of black judges and lawyers--to invite Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to speak at its annual July convention has drawn sharp criticism from a number of the organization's members including A. Leon Higginbotham Jr., public service professor of jurisprudence at the Kennedy School of Government (KSG).

"The judicial council was never intended to be a special social elite group of persons who, after they become successful in public life, then forget or denigrate their brothers and sisters who still live in poverty and who are powerless and suffer from inadequate and ineffective public representation," Higginbotham wrote in a letter to each of the 840 members of the judicial council, a branch of the NBA composed of current and retired judges.

Taking issue with Thomas's conservative views and anti-affirmative action stance, yesterday Higginbotham, a retired federal appellate judge and longtime member of the NBA's judicial council, made an appearance on NBC's "Today" television program where he urged the NBA to rescind Thomas' invitation.

The invitation, which was extended months ago by the judicial council's chair, Louisiana Supreme Court Justice Bernette J. Johnson, has not been with-drawn.

Johnson did not return phone calls to her Louisiana chambers yesterday.

Thomas is scheduled to speak at the judicial council's luncheon, according to Randy K. Jones, president of the NBA and a federal prosecutor in San Diego.

"It is the prerogative of the chair of the judicial council to decide who will be the speaker at their luncheon," Jones said.

Jones also said Thomas' invitation does not imply the NBA's endorsement of his views.

"From an organizational standpoint, the NBA is made up of many different philosophies and ideologies," Jones said.

"I don't think [Thomas's] presence indicates our views one way or another," he said.

Others who support the invitation argue for an open dialogue with differentviews, noting that the NBA has invited othercontroversial speakers in the past, such as Nationof Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.

But Higginbotham disagreed.

"I am absolutely friendly to the marketplace ofideas," Higginbotham told USA Today yesterday.

"But we have to have some response toindividuals who articulate policies that are sovery harmful to minorities," he said.

"[Thomas's] record speaks for itself," said C.David Grayer, one of the organization's regionaldirectors.

"The NBA convention is not the right forum forThomas to speak," he said. "Let him go elsewhere."

Thomas, who has accepted the invitation, hasnot commented on the controversy.

In 1991, the 17,000-member NBA voted by a slimmargin to oppose Thomas's nomination to theSupreme Court