When SFFA v. Harvard was first decided, we were flooded with what were effectively solidarity posts — Biglaw firms and universities sent out statements reaffirming their steadfast commitment to fostering diversity no matter what the Supreme Court decided. Then the lawsuits happened. Since then, big-name firms like Morrison Foerster skipped the courtroom and decided to remove the diversity language that was getting them in trouble. The ABA even tried to adapt on the fly and floated the idea of diversifying diversity, whatever that means. Well, enough time has passed and the party is over. The ABA’s recent judicial clerkship revision gets rid of even needing to worry about minorities all together. Reuters has coverage:
The 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…Now, law schools are “encouraged to select a diverse group of students,” and judges have no hiring parameters.
That encouragement will have about as much force as asking Supreme Court justices to divulge how generous their friends are on time. References to minority students usually get treated as referring to racial minorities, but don’t be fooled — this is gonna hurt women and a bunch of other students too. An attorney working with the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty (because of course it’s them) saw the change as a win, saying that “all students deserve a fair shot at employment and no one should be judged based on the color of their skin.” That sounds great in a vacuum. It is facially true — no one’s resume should be judged differently because of their race or gender — but that’s not how the world works right now. Getting rid of inclusion efforts is marketed as a way to make choosing from the hiring pool fairer, but it actually just makes it easier to leave minority applicants to drown.
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ABA Strikes ‘Minority’ And ‘Of Color’ From Clerkship Criteria Amid Lawsuit Threat [Reuters]
Earlier: ABA Council Proposes Language Change To Nix ‘Diversity’ From Law School Considerations
ABA Committee Decides To Diversify Diversity. It Should Come With A Clear Reason For Why That’s Important
Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s. He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who cannot swim, a published author on critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at [email protected] and by tweet at @WritesForRent.