ABA looks to strip 'race and ethnicity' from law school diversity rules
By Karen Sloan
Aug 19 (Reuters) -The American Bar Association is poised to eliminate references to “race and ethnicity” from its law school diversity and inclusion rules to comply with the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling barring colleges from considering race in admissions.
The ABA body that accredits law schools voted on Friday to gather public comments on a revised rule under which schools must provide access to “all persons including those with identities that historically have been disadvantaged or excluded from the legal profession.”
That would replace the current rule that schools provide “full opportunities” for “racial and ethnic minorities” and have a diverse student body “with respect to gender, race, and ethnicity.”
Republican attorneys general from 21 states in June told the ABA that the current diversity and inclusion standard runs afoul of the court’s ruling “by requiring explicitly illegal consideration of race.” Two weeks later, 19 Democratic attorneys general responded with their own letter defending the legality of the current standard.
The ABA was already working to revise the standard when it received the dueling letters, but the new version goes further than previous proposals by eliminating references to race, ethnicity and gender, among other things.
The ABA will circulate the proposal for public comment and could approve it as early as its meeting in November. The change would then need final approval by the ABA's House of Delegates, which next meets in February.
The latest proposal shifts focus away from a “laundry list of identities” to the rule’s larger access goal, said University of Oklahoma law professor Carla Pratt, who sits on the ABA’s Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admission to the Bar.
The proposal also calls for the “diversity and inclusion” standard to be renamed the “access to legal education and the profession” standard. The only reference to race appears in guidance clarifying that the rules don’t require schools to take race or other identity characteristics into account in admissions or hiring decisions.
The proposed change comes at a time when diversity and inclusion initiatives are under increasing fire. The committee that developed the new rule reviewed the Supreme Court’s ruling, anti-diversity and inclusion laws adopted by various states, as well as the various letters from state attorneys general, Pratt said.
Read more:
21 states say ABA's law school diversity rule runs afoul of U.S. Supreme Court decision
19 states defend ABA law school diversity rule amid Republican warning
Reporting by Karen Sloan
Pinakabagong Balita
Disclaimer: Ang mga kabilang sa XM Group ay nagbibigay lang ng serbisyo sa pagpapatupad at pag-access sa aming Online Trading Facility, kung saan pinapahintulutan nito ang pagtingin at/o paggamit sa nilalaman na makikita sa website o sa pamamagitan nito, at walang layuning palitan o palawigin ito, at hindi din ito papalitan o papalawigin. Ang naturang pag-access at paggamit ay palaging alinsunod sa: (i) Mga Tuntunin at Kundisyon; (ii) Mga Babala sa Risk; at (iii) Kabuuang Disclaimer. Kaya naman ang naturang nilalaman ay ituturing na pangkalahatang impormasyon lamang. Mangyaring isaalang-alang na ang mga nilalaman ng aming Online Trading Facility ay hindi paglikom, o alok, para magsagawa ng anumang transaksyon sa mga pinansyal na market. Ang pag-trade sa alinmang pinansyal na market ay nagtataglay ng mataas na lebel ng risk sa iyong kapital.
Lahat ng materyales na nakalathala sa aming Online Trading Facility ay nakalaan para sa layuning edukasyonal/pang-impormasyon lamang at hindi naglalaman – at hindi dapat ituring bilang naglalaman – ng payo at rekomendasyon na pangpinansyal, tungkol sa buwis sa pag-i-invest, o pang-trade, o tala ng aming presyo sa pag-trade, o alok para sa, o paglikom ng, transaksyon sa alinmang pinansyal na instrument o hindi ginustong pinansyal na promosyon.
Sa anumang nilalaman na galing sa ikatlong partido, pati na ang mga nilalaman na inihanda ng XM, ang mga naturang opinyon, balita, pananaliksik, pag-analisa, presyo, ibang impormasyon o link sa ibang mga site na makikita sa website na ito ay ibibigay tulad ng nandoon, bilang pangkalahatang komentaryo sa market at hindi ito nagtataglay ng payo sa pag-i-invest. Kung ang alinmang nilalaman nito ay itinuring bilang pananaliksik sa pag-i-invest, kailangan mong isaalang-alang at tanggapin na hindi ito inilaan at inihanda alinsunod sa mga legal na pangangailangan na idinisenyo para maisulong ang pagsasarili ng pananaliksik sa pag-i-invest, at dahil dito ituturing ito na komunikasyon sa marketing sa ilalim ng mga kaugnay na batas at regulasyon. Mangyaring siguruhin na nabasa at naintindihan mo ang aming Notipikasyon sa Hindi Independyenteng Pananaliksik sa Pag-i-invest at Babala sa Risk na may kinalaman sa impormasyong nakalagay sa itaas, na maa-access dito.