The American Bar Association (ABA) approved a measure on Saturday that redefined its accreditation requirements and diversity standards for law schools nationwide.
A revision to Standard 211, or the Equal Opportunity and Diversity standard, was passed in Chicago by the ABA's Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar.
The revision calls for law schools to show they are taking "concrete action" to diversify both their students and faculty, said William Rakes, chair-elect of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar of the ABA.
"Its not that much of a change, its more a matter of clarification," Rakes said.
Law schools, rather than pledging to implement "equal opportunity and diversity", must now show that they are making adequate attempts to do so, including things such as appointing a diversity officer, hosting forums or making diversity an integral part of recruitment, Rakes said.
According to Rakes, the move to revise the standard comes after the Supreme Court rulings involving the University of Michigan three years ago. In Grutter v. Bollinger, the Supreme Court ruled that race can be taken into account for law school admissions but should not be the "sole factor" or the "whole factor" in determining acceptance, Rakes said.
According to Susan Palmer, dean of admissions at the University of Virginia Law School, the University has implemented these measures long before the Supreme Court's ruling.
"The law school does not have lectures but, rather, lively discussion," said Palmer. The opinions a student brings to the classroom are not limited to preparation for class but also include the student's background, which may include a person's gender, sexual preference or religion, Palmer said.
"Every law school in the county wants to have the liveliest possible mix -- is race a part of it? Yes, it is," Palmer said.
As to the revisions to the ABA's standards, "I don't see any difference in ways we do work here, we've always considered widest possible range of attributes to bring to law school," Palmer said.
A student must have graduated from an ABA accredited institution in order to take the bar exam in most states.
Critics such as David E. Bernstein, a law professor at George Mason University, say that the revision will enforce an ABA monopoly on universities and force racial preference in hiring and admissions.
"I don't think that that ABA should be setting uniform standards for all law schools with the threat of loss of accreditation to enforce the uniformity," he said.
Bernstein said that one of the biggest problems with the newly proposed standard is that they cut down on debate over how to best diversify law schools and help minority students at law schools.
Bernstein also said that the ABA's changed standards don't address a more serious problem facing minorities in law school: many do not pass the Bar exam upon graduation, nor do many even graduate.
"They have not resolved the problem in getting the people they have recruited to actually become lawyers," he said.
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