Paul L. Caron
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Wednesday, October 9, 2024

ABA Strikes ‘Minority’ And ‘Of Color’ From Clerkship Criteria Amid Lawsuit Threat

Reuters, ABA Strikes 'Minority' and 'Of Color' From Clerkship Criteria Amid Lawsuit Threat:

ABA Judicial Clerkship ProgramThe American Bar Association has revised the criteria for its Judicial Clerkship Program opens new tab to eliminate references to minority students and “communities of color” after a conservative legal group alleged that the ABA was illegally discriminating by using racial quotas.

The program, founded 24 years ago to help boost the number of minority judicial clerks, previously required participating law schools to send between four and six students “from underrepresented communities of color,” while judges were asked to try to hire at least two “minority judicial law clerks” over five years. Now, law schools are “encouraged to select a diverse group of students,” and judges have no hiring parameters. 

The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty filed a complaint against the ABA with the U.S. Department of Education in May and threatened further legal action, though it never filed a lawsuit. Skylar Croy, an attorney with the institute, said on Tuesday it’s not clear when the ABA modified the criteria for the Judicial Clerkship Program. ...

“All law students deserve an equal shot to compete for prestigious post-law school employment,” Croy said in a prepared statement. “No one should assess them based on the color of their skin—especially not the ABA and especially not judges.”

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