This morning at 10:40 a.m. through Noon I’ll be participating in a panel discussion at The Federalist Society conference on whether the American Bar Association should be stripped of its monopoly power on accrediting law schools in light of mandates recently passed requiring, among other things, race-focused study for law students, and a pending proposal for “equity” focused education initiatives for students and faculty.
Johanna Markind, Esq. and I wrote about this at Real Clear Politics last February, ABA Forcing Wokeness on Law Schools:
Legal education is about to undergo a revolutionary change, with the American Bar Association poised to mandate race-focused study as a prerequisite to graduating from law school. It’s another instance of woke ideology being forced on the nation, and may necessitate that states revisit the ABA’s government-granted near-monopoly accrediting power.
Here’s the panel description from The Federalist Society event page (where you also can view the live stream)
Breakout Panel: ABA Accreditation of Law Schools:The U.S. Department of Education provides oversight of postsecondary institutions or program accreditation by reviewing federally recognized accrediting agencies. There is one such agency for accreditation of legal education institutions or programs: The American Bar Association’s Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar. The Secretary of Education, by law, is the official responsible for recognition of accreditation agencies based on her determination that the agency is a reliable authority as to the quality of education or training provided by the entities and programs the agencies review. The Secretary of Education has exercised that authority to recognize the ABA’s Council as the single accreditation agency for legal education. The ABA has held this position since its adoption of comprehensive standards in 1973–nearly fifty years.But the ABA writ large is an organization in decline as its substantial drop in membership–and resulting revenue–demonstrates. At the same time that ABA membership is declining, the ABA’s public and official positions on cultural and divisive issues remain. And now those positions are taking root not just in the ABA’s policy bodies but also within the Council itself. Most recently, the Council adopted new “anti-bias” educational requirements as part of its accreditation standards.Featuring:Hon. W. Scott Bales, Former Chief Justice, Arizona Supreme CourtProf. William Jacobson, Clinical Professor of Law and Director of the Securities Law Clinic, Cornell Law SchoolDr. Nicholas Lawson, Commissioner, ABA Commission on Disability RightsProf. Derek T. Muller, Professor of Law, University of Iowa College of LawModerator: Hon. Trevor N. McFadden, U.S. District Court, District of Columbia
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