ABA has been around since 1878. It is the primary accrediting organization for university law schools, and its stated mission is "commitment to the mission of defending liberty and pursuing justice."
However, Sarah Parshall Perry of Defending Education told AFN that mission and what they actually engage in do not actually agree.
"That's because the ABA is using its accreditation powers to force law schools to adopt diversity, equity, and inclusion mandates, and that shapes who gets hired, what gets taught, and how future lawyers think," says Perry. "In fact, their standard, a model Standard 303, for every law school who wants ABA accreditation in the country indicates students have to take six credits of racism and cross-cultural competency training before they graduate and can sit for the bar."
That, she says, makes ABA a monopoly with a very progressive viewpoint.
Defending Education documents these things and others in a new report called “AccreditEd: American Bar Association.” They discovered, states Perry, that 72 law schools are participating in the standard.
"These are on websites that are accessible to the average American. They are not behind payrolls. They are not behind student login information, and they have not been blinded from the public,” says Perry. “Seventy-two of them have openly recorded that they are following Standard 303 to include diversity, equity, and inclusion training in American public law schools."
ABA is the sole accreditor, she says, of 196 law schools in the country. For most states, with very few exceptions, one has to graduate from an ABA accredited law school to be able to sit for the bar.
Perry says that makes ABA a gatekeeper for professional licensing as well.
"They collect more than half a billion dollars in membership dues a year, but they are more progressive than they are actually committed to excellence in law school education," Perry continues. "What we've discovered in our report is nothing short of astonishing."
Key takeaways from the report include:
1. The University of California, Berkeley Law requires the completion of "one or more race and law course(s) totaling at least two units (class of 2026 and beyond) from a menu of classes that substantially focus on how laws and legal institutions shape and are shaped by racism and other forms of systemic inequality."
2. The University of California, Irvine School of Law has a Race and Indigeneity Requirement that states that "students must complete a minimum of 2 credits in a graded course including substantial content relating to, race and indigeneity, structural inequity, and the historical bases for such inequity."
3. Loyola University Chicago School of Law claims its mission is to "prepare graduates who will be ethical advocates for justice and equity, who will lead efforts to dismantle legal, economic, political, and social structures that generate and sustain racism and all forms of oppression, and who will advance a rule of law that promotes social justice."
4. Boston University (MA) Law Professor Jasmine Gonzales Rose, a "leading critical race theorist," was tasked in 2023 with implementing the school's programming for ABA Standard 303(c). Gonzales Rose, who previously led legal research and policy projects at BU's "Center for Antiracist Research," said she aimed to "enhance our antiracist, anti-bias, and cross-cultural competence learning at BU Law."
5. Rutgers Law School's (NJ) Academic Requirements and Information includes a "Racial Equity Requirement" which states that all J.D. students "must complete at least one elective course that includes content relating to structural inequality, discrimination, culture context, and cultural competency." Racial equity themes include "discrimination, oppression, and/or systemic bias based on race," "how law is shaped by race-based assumptions about justice, rights and morality," and "how law historically influences and has been influenced by power, privilege, and biases based on race, ethnicity, and/or the intersections of race and national origin."
Defending Education is not alone in its criticism. The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board has written an op-ed called "How The ABA Spreads DEI In Law Schools."
AFN is seeking comment from ABA.
