South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson has expressed opposition to proposed changes in the American Bar Association’s (ABA) admission standards for law schools. He argues that these changes contravene a Supreme Court ruling by incorporating racial preferences in student admissions.
“Merit should be the criteria for law school admission, not racial preference,” stated Attorney General Wilson. “The U.S. Supreme Court already made it clear that law schools can’t admit students and hire faculty based on race, and yet the American Bar Association’s new standard is telling them to do just that.”
Wilson has joined a coalition of 21 state attorneys general in addressing their concerns to the ABA’s Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar. The letter they submitted highlights how the ABA’s revised “Diversity and Inclusion” standard does not align with the Supreme Court’s decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard.
“As you well know, the Supreme Court held in SFFA that the use of race in the admissions process at Harvard and the University of North Carolina violated the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause,” states the letter from the attorneys general. They argue that despite this ruling, the ABA’s new standard appears to encourage law schools to ignore this directive against racial discrimination.
“In its current form, the Standard all but compels law schools to consider race in both the admissions and employment contexts,” continues their letter.
The group urges the Council of the American Bar Association to amend its standard, emphasizing compliance with federal laws prohibiting race-based admissions and hiring practices.
This initiative was led by Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti and includes participation from attorneys general across Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and West Virginia.
