Attorneys general from 19 Democratic-led states on Thursday pledged to help defend the American Bar Association’s requirement that law schools advance diversity goals, after a coalition of Republican-led states attacked the ABA accreditation standard earlier this month.
The U.S. Supreme Court’s June 2023 ruling curtailing the consideration of race in college admissions does not extend beyond that narrow context into ABA policies or corporate diversity programs, according to a Thursday letter the attorneys general sent to the ABA and Fortune 100 companies.
“Diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives are still lawful in the education context, and they are still lawful in other contexts as well,” said the letter, whose signatories include the top lawyers for California, New York, Illinois and Massachusetts.
The ABA did not immediately respond to requests for comment Thursday. The organization has said it is revising its diversity standard and could adopt changes as early as August.
Attorneys general from 21 Republican-led states, including Texas, Florida and Virginia, said in their June 3 letter to the ABA that its accreditation standard requiring law schools to diversify their student bodies, faculty and staff runs afoul of the recent Supreme Court ruling.
“By requiring explicitly illegal consideration of race, the ABA is working hard to burden every law school in America with punitive civil-rights litigation,” the letter said.
In their response on Thursday, the Democratic attorneys general said such arguments, including other challenges to corporate diversity programs, “contort the law.”
The ABA’s diversity standard does not require schools to make admissions decisions based on race or ethnicity, nor does it mention admissions at all, they wrote.
“It does not dictate how a law school may demonstrate its commitment to diversity and inclusion other than by providing full opportunities to underrepresented groups,” the letter said.
Read more:
21 states say ABA's law school diversity rule runs afoul of U.S. Supreme Court decision
American Bar Association denounces 'attack' on law firm diversity initiatives
