The American Bar Association's section on Legal Education has released a set of "core principles and values" with regard to law school accreditation. At quick glance, this document seems largely to restate what has been said before. But one item jumped out at me.
Consistent with the rule of law, the Standards should encourage participation in the profession by students, graduates and teachers from all backgrounds and ideologies.
This is the only reference to diversity in the entire document. And they don't even use the d-word. And there are no synonyms like under-privileged or the like. What an amazing retreat from the never-ending stream of DEI materials from the ABA? Moreover, this substantive goal can only be achieved "consistent with the rule of law." That is a roundabout way of saying "consistent with Title VI as interpreted by SFFA." I'm glad the ABA finally got the message.
Even more amazing is the reference to "ideologies." I think this is a way of saying the ABA now favors diversity of thought! That is, the ABA will now "encourage participation in the profession by students, graduates and teachers" on the political left and the right. Will overt and implicit political bias in faculty hiring now be subject to the ABA's scrutiny? I am skeptical. But this standard at least goes in the right direction.
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