What
should
I
do?
(Image
via
Getty)
Picture
this.
You’re
a
law
student
who
went
to
school
with
the
sole
purpose
of
using
your
degree
to
represent
people
who’ve
suffered
civil
rights
violations.
You
don’t
come
from
a
family
of
lawyers
like
many
members
of
your
cohort.
You
were
inspired
to
protect
the
rule
of
law
because
your
uncle
was
beaten
by
4
officers
for
jaywalking
on
a
quiet
street.
He
had
a
strong
case
but
he
couldn’t
afford
a
lawyer
because
the
financial
hardship
ushered
in
because
he
couldn’t
work
after
police
fractured
his
collarbone
and
femur
really
put
a
dent
in
the
family’s
finances.
Your
hope
is
that
if
and
when
this
happens
to
someone
else,
you
can
be
there
to
represent
them
and
their
family,
even
if
the
only
thing
they
can
pay
you
in
is
appreciation.
It
is
2024
and
police
brutality
is
being
widely
protested.
The
names
of
people
killed
by
the
police
fill
the
air
like
the
COVID
we
all
ignore:
Kiyln
Lewis,
Sonya
Massey,
Robert
Jones.
With
each
new
name,
underlined
portions
of
your
Constitutional
and
Criminal
Law
outlines
feel
more
real.
You
realize
that
you
are
specially
positioned
to
join
in
the
campus
protests.
Not
only
because
you
see
what
could
have
been
your
uncle
in
each
of
the
names
the
protestors
chant,
but
because
you
want
to
be
there
on
the
scene
to
name
everyone’s
rights
if
the
police
decide
to
respond
to
protected
activity
with
gas
canisters.
Unfortunately,
there’s
a
looming
question:
will
attending
this
protest
jeopardize
your
entire
reason
for
going
to
law
school?
If
you’re
living
in
California,
it
depends.
Reuters
has
coverage:
Bar
admission
authorities
in
California
will
consider
applicants’
participation
in
campus
protests
on
an
“individual
basis”
during
the
moral
character
process,
following
an
internal
review.The
working
group
declined
to
endorse
any
blanket
policies
regarding
campus
protest
involvement,
instead
concluding
that
moral
character
reviews
should
look
at
the
“specific
facts
relevant
to
the
individual
applicant”
and
take
into
account
relevant
state
and
federal
precedent.
Do
you
risk
it?
What
if
you
went
to
school
to
litigate
on
behalf
of
ANWR
and
wanted
to
join
a
protest
against
law
firms
playing
a
role
in
exacerbating
climate
change?
What
if
you
were
caught
protesting
genocidal
conditions
in
Darfur?
In
Gaza?
Even
if
your
actions
during
the
protest
fit
squarely
in
the
protected
by
the
First
Amendment
box,
would
knowing
that
your
evaluators
will
be
looking
to
the
“specific
facts
relevant
to
the
individual
applicant”
give
you
any
sense
of
security?
Probably
not;
if
studying
in
a
library
and
prayer
at
a
seminary
can
be
labeled
disruptive,
there
are
no
real
parameters
on
what
degree
of
voicing
discontent
is
fair
game.
It
may
comfort
the
Bar
to
lean
on
flexible
judgement
criteria,
but
students
have
their
future
careers
at
stake.
They
deserve
something
more
concrete
than
dressing
up
a
maybe
by
saying
“everyone
will
be
evaluated
on
an
individual
basis.”
Calif
Bar
Considers
Campus
Protests
In
Moral
Character
Review
For
Lawyer
Licensing
[Reuters]
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.