Alabama posted its two highest daily infection rates in the last week and its most COVID deaths in a day a mere four days ago. So, obviously, the in-person July administration of the bar exam will go forward as planned!
The state supreme court just issued an order requiring the Alabama State Bar to adhere to safety precautions and make arrangements for an alternative September bar exam that applicants can opt into. But the July bar exam is still going to happen regardless of the data pouring in daily.
Not even Lou Saban could stop the bar exam at this point.
But while the order begins “having considered the COVID-19 pandemic, and its potential impact on applicants for the July 2020 administration of the Alabama Bar Exam,” in reality the court appears to have… not done that. Nor did it take stock of every available sign along the way warning them not to go forward with this perilous plan.
For example, the venue becoming a ghost town on them. The Alabama bar is held in one location — the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex — and while the site officially puts on a brave face about working to provide a safe environment, the color scheme of their schedule really says it all:
The Masked Singer won’t even show up AND THEY’RE ALREADY WEARING MASKS. In the exam’s defense, there is more than enough room in the empty BJCC to give everyone a wide berth. People could be positioned 20 feet from each other if they wanted. But distance is only half the battle with infectious diseases. There’s still the lines to get in, the crowds moving in and out, the bathrooms, the recycled air… and just bringing people from all different corners of the state into one place and then promptly sending them back to spread the bug. The World Deer Hunters are the only other group that thinks anything is going to even be safe by the end of August and that seems, appropriately, like a game of Russian Roulette.
If that wasn’t enough, a hotel where bar applicants were encouraged to stay cancelled all reservations this week. Where are all these people supposed to stay when they come in for the test? And even if this is just one hotel, it should concern the bar examiners because hospitality businesses tend to follow the pack and one cancellation portends more to follow. At best it means a further crowding of applicants into fewer hotel spaces opening a disease vector independent of the testing venue.
There’s a classic joke about a guy who dies in a hurricane after denying help from a neighbor, a boat, and a helicopter, waiting for God to save him and upon reaching the afterlife having God scolding him, “I sent your neighbor, a boat, and a helicopter!” Infections are up. The venue is all but closed. No responsible entity — or Nick Cannon — wants to risk it. The hotels are shutting down. Seriously, how many more signs does Alabama need?
Joe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.