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Bar Associations
ABA is dedicated to defending sexual assault survivors in bar admissions course of, letter says
ABA President Mary Smith is asking an ABA fee to check the prevalence and impression of bar admissions questions that require survivors of home violence, sexual assault and stalking to reveal their involvement in authorized and administrative proceedings. (Picture courtesy of ABA President Mary Smith)
ABA President Mary Smith is asking an ABA fee to check the prevalence and impression of bar admissions questions that require survivors of home violence, sexual assault and stalking to reveal their involvement in authorized and administrative proceedings.
In a May 7 letter to 3 Democratic senators who raised the issue, Smith stated the ABA “shares your issues concerning the potential trauma, uncertainty and delays these disclosures have on survivors of home violence and sexual assault.”
Character and health questions on bar purposes usually require would-be legal professionals to reveal whether or not they have been a celebration to authorized or administrative proceedings, in line with Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware and Sen. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii.
In some states, broad wording might require survivors to reveal campus sexual misconduct complaints or safety orders associated to their experiences of home violence and sexual assault, the senators stated in an April 26 letter asking the ABA to check the difficulty.
Smith has referred the matter to the ABA Fee on Home & Sexual Violence, which plans to check the difficulty and develop a decision and report for consideration by the ABA Home of Delegates when it meets in August on the ABA Annual Meeting.
Specialists on the fee “reiterated that requiring survivors to retell the tales of their abuse and relive their trauma may be dangerous to them,” Smith wrote.
Smith identified that state supreme courts and their bar admissions authorities undertake admission guidelines, together with the precise info that should be included in character and health stories.
“This is a vital challenge for the ABA, and we’re dedicated to working with state supreme courts, the bar admission authorities created by these courts, and others to advertise a good course of and scale back any burdens on survivors,” Smith wrote.
The ABA has beforehand advocated for elimination of “discriminatory and traumatizing questions” from state character and health questionnaires, together with questions on candidates’ psychological well being historical past, Smith stated within the letter.
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