Pictured:
A
potential
lawsuit
The
ABA
has
been
struggling
with
diversity
on
several
fronts.
On
one
hand,
they’re
struggling
to
articulate
the
importance
of
diversity
in
a
post
SFFA
v.
Harvard
world,
and
trying
not
to
set
requirements
that
will
put
law
schools
in
legal
trouble
on
the
other.
Since
the
decision,
they’ve
been
drafting
alternative
calls
to
action
that
range
from
schools
showing
that
they’re
actively
not
discriminating
against
applicants
to
no
call
at
all.
Whatever
wording
they
use
is
suspect
to
a
lot
of
prodding.
Reuters
has
coverage:
Attorneys
general
from
21
Republican-controlled
states
have
warned
the
American
Bar
Association
that
its
law
school
diversity
rule
is
unlawful.
The
coalition
of
state
lawyers
on
Monday
sent
a
letter
to
the
arm
of
the
ABA
that
accredits
law
schools
opposing
both
its
current
diversity
standard
and
a
proposed
revision
of
that
rule
under
consideration.
The
anti-racial-diversity
brigade
takes
issue
with
the
notion
that
schools
would
be
required
to
demonstrate
a
commitment
to
including
groups
that
have
been
systemically
excluded
from
the
profession
with
“concrete
action.”
Now
that
scrubbing
any
attempt
at
equity
toward
the
disenfranchised
is
on
the
table,
we
get
to
see
what
moving
“with
all
deliberate
speed”
actually
looks
like.
Given
the
Court’s
14th
Amendment
jurisprudence,
the
law
looks
to
be
on
the
AGs’
side.
They
argue
that
removing
any
reference
to
race
would
actually
benefit
the
schools
by
making
it
less
likely
that
they’d
be
sued
over
their
admissions
practices.
Nice
claim,
but
is
that
actually
true?
Non-racial
commitments
to
“diversity”
will
still
piss
them
off.
For
example,
one
of
the
lesser
discussed
avenues
of
being
a
diverse
candidate
is
having
served
in
the
military.
Facially,
admitting
a
student
because
of
their
military
service
doesn’t
seem
to
run
against
the
14th
Amendment.
But
once
you
factor
in
that
Black
Americans
are
over-represented
in
the
military
or
that
the
Army
is
seeing
a
sharp
decline
in
White
recruits,
will
the
changing
demographics
of
the
people
serving
the
country
open
up
law
schools
to
accusations
of
privileging
race
by
proxy?
Republican
State
AGs
Oppose
American
Bar
Association’s
Revised
Diversity
Rule
[ABA
Journal]
Earlier:
ABA
Committee
Decides
To
Diversify
Diversity.
It
Should
Come
With
A
Clear
Reason
For
Why
That’s
Important.
13
State
AGs
Band
Together
To
Focus
On
What
Really
Matters
—
Preventing
Affirmative
Action
Chris
Williams
became
a
social
media
manager
and
assistant
editor
for
Above
the
Law
in
June
2021.
Prior
to
joining
the
staff,
he
moonlighted
as
a
minor
Memelord™
in
the
Facebook
group Law
School
Memes
for
Edgy
T14s.
He
endured
Missouri
long
enough
to
graduate
from
Washington
University
in
St.
Louis
School
of
Law.
He
is
a
former
boatbuilder
who
cannot
swim, a
published
author
on
critical
race
theory,
philosophy,
and
humor,
and
has
a
love
for
cycling
that
occasionally
annoys
his
peers.
You
can
reach
him
by
email
at [email protected] and
by
tweet
at @WritesForRent.