LDF and 15 Other Civil and Human Rights Legal Organizations Urge the American Bar Association to Maintain Law School Standards Advancing Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and[...]

Today, the Legal Defense Fund (LDF) and fifteen other civil and human rights legal organizations issued a letter to the Council Chair of the American Bar Association's (ABA) of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar, urging the chair to oppose the proposed repeal of the ABA's Standard 206, which requires law schools, as a condition of accreditation, to take concrete actions demonstrating a commitment to diversity and inclusion for students and faculty. In the letter, the organizations emphasize that Standard 206 remains both lawful and necessary to help ensure that Black people, other people of color, and people from other underrepresented communities, who continue to face barriers to entering the legal profession, can fairly access opportunity.

In the letter, the civil and human rights organizations underscore how the ABA's Standard 206 helps ensure equal opportunity for all law students and faculty, especially Black people and people from other underrepresented communities. While the Trump administration has baselessly attacked institutions of higher education, law organizations, and other organizations advancing diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility, courts have frequently blocked these regressive efforts, acknowledging that the administration has recklessly misinterpreted federal civil rights laws. Further, the U.S. Department of Education's proposed changes to the requirements for accreditors like the ABA-which set standards of quality for higher education institutions-do not prohibit the type of lawful actions Standard 206 encourages. 

Together, the organizations underscore that the ABA should continue to encourage lawful efforts by law schools that advance equal opportunity for all, not only to remediate barriers, but also to maintain faith in the fairness and legitimacy of the United States legal system.

"At its upcoming August meeting, the ABA Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar has the opportunity to make a historic commitment to provide equal educational opportunities for all and stand up to political pressure by maintaining Standard 206. It is no coincidence that the cases setting the foundation for Brown v. Board of Education and the end of racial segregation first addressed the segregation of law schools in this country. If the institutions that feed our legal system are incapable of reflecting true justice themselves, then societal faith in that system may weaken. The ABA has an obligation to prevent that erosion of faith. The ABA must therefore stand strongly behind its values. LDF and the undersigned organizations strongly urge the ABA to maintain Standard 206," the letter reads in part.

Read the full letter, signed by the following organizations:

The Legal Defense Fund (LDF)

American Association of University Women (AAUW)

Clearinghouse on Women's Issues

Equal Justice Society

Equal Rights Advocates

Feminist Majority Foundation

LatinoJustice PRLDEF

Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law

Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights

NAACP

National Center for Law and Economic Justice

National Disabled Legal Professionals Association (d/b/a Crip the Law)

National Urban League

National Women's Law Center

Secular Student Alliance

Southern Poverty Law Center

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Founded in 1940, the Legal Defense Fund (LDF) is the nation's first civil rights legal organization. LDF has been completely separate from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) since 1957, though it was founded under the leadership of Thurgood Marshall while he was at the NAACP. LDF's Thurgood Marshall Institute (TMI) is a division of LDF that undertakes innovative research and houses LDF's archive. In all media attributions, please refer to us as the Legal Defense Fund or LDF (do not include NAACP) and refer to the Institute as LDF's Thurgood Marshall Institute or TMI.