ABA defends its diversity scholarships as protected free speech
June 17 (Reuters) - The American Bar Association said on Monday that a scholarship program designed to boost diversity among law students is protected free speech, in a bid to toss a lawsuit brought by a prominent conservative group alleging the program is discriminatory.
The ABA's 25-year-old Legal Opportunity Scholarship is protected under the First Amendment, the organization said in a motion to dismiss, opens new tab filed in an Illinois federal court. The ABA also claimed that plaintiff American Alliance for Equal Rights lacks standing to sue.
'The ABA has a First Amendment right to distribute funds as it deems appropriate, consistent with its organizational goals,' the motion said.
The Alliance, which is led by anti-affirmative action activist Edward Blum, had sued the ABA in April alleging that the Legal Opportunity Scholarship program discriminates against white applicants because they are ineligible to apply.
Blum was the architect of the 2023 Supreme Court affirmative action case that barred the consideration of race in college admissions.
The Alliance said it is representing an unnamed white male law school applicant who alleges he would apply for the $15,000 scholarship were he eligible. The ABA awards between 20 and 25 such scholarships annually to incoming law students, according to its motion to dismiss.
That anonymous member lacks standing to sue because the lawsuit does not show he was 'ready and able' to apply for the Legal Opportunity Scholarship, the ABA claims. He did not take any 'concrete steps to express his interest in, or apply to' the scholarship program beyond 'words of general intent,' according to the motion.
Reached by email for comment on Tuesday, Blum said none of the 18 lawsuits the Alliance has filed in the past two years alleging racial discrimination have been dismissed for lack of standing. 'It seems likely that this assertion will fail,' he said.
Blum also called the ABA's First Amendment claim a "Herculean stretch."
The ABA declined to comment on Tuesday.
The ABA's motion also claimed that the Legal Opportunity Scholarships are discretionary gifts and not contracts that are subject to the federal law requiring equal rights in making and enforcing contracts.
The ABA had in October revised the criteria for its judicial clerkship program, which encourages judges to hire diverse law clerks, to eliminate references to minority students and "communities of color."
The ABA made that change after a different conservative legal group, the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, had filed a complaint against the ABA with the U.S. Department of Education in May 2024 and threatened further legal action, alleging that the ABA was illegally discriminating by using racial quotas.
Read more:
ABA sued over diversity scholarships by conservative group
ABA strikes 'minority' and 'of color' from clerkship criteria amid lawsuit threat
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
12 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
George Santos ripped for ulterior motive after emerging from oblivion with pro-Trump message
Convicted fraudster and former Congressman George Santos released a video praising President Donald Trump 's leadership as the U.S. teeters on the brink of war with Iran. Breaking his silence after he was sentenced to over seven years in prison for wire fraud and identity theft, Santos, 36, took to social media to speak out against critics of the commander-in-chief amid the Israel-Iran conflict. 'Hey folks its been real, and its also been a minute,' the convicted former congressman says in a selfie video posted on X. 'I'm kind of here just because I needed to stand by President Trump for this, because it's important to me.' Santos shared in the video that he learned from the Iranian community in the new York district he used to represent all about the country's revolution and the overthrow of the shah in 1979. 'The Ayatollah is a regime of terror, of suppression, of lack of liberties. I just want to remind everybody President Trump is doing the right thing in assisting Israel in clearing the Ayatollah and eradicating them from the face of the earth.' 'It's time to free Iranians. It's time to allow Iranians to be free again and to eliminate the threat of nuclear terror in the Middle East.' His message seemed to be a direct hit at some of Trump's MAGA fans including ex-Fox News star Tucker Carlson and others who have warned him against directly attacking Iran. But the 95-second long video from home may have had another motivation, some astute X observers mentioned, like earning the prison-bound Santos a pardon from the president. 'Pardon hunting,' one user commented on Santos' video. Another wrote: 'Might as well go hard for the pardon, nothing to lose at this point.' 'Wait, I thought you were in jail?' commented someone else. Santos was ordered by a New York court to surrender by July 25. 'No more stop,' Santos defended the president in the video. 'This is a misguided attack on a man who's trying to make the world a safer place.' 'Iran must be dealt with with force,' he added. 'It is time, and high time we take action.' 'I stand with Israel for fighting this oppressive regime, and I stand with all of those involved in ridding the earth of this cancer that is the Ayatollah.' The fraudster pledged to stand by Trump whatever he decides. During Santos' case earlier this year, the prosecution painted the former lawmaker as a bombastic serial liar who eventually turned to criminality to support his expensive lifestyle that was built on audacious fabrications. Santos would go on tirades on social media, claiming he did not commit crimes that he admitted in court and lashing out at his detractors. Some of the evidence included how Santos called Department of Justice a 'cabal of pedophiles.' It also included social media posts in which he denied using campaign funds to make purchases at Hermès, despite having done so. 'Santos did use campaign contributions made to Redstone Strategies LLC to make luxury purchases at, among other stores, Hermès,' the prosecution argued. The former congressman was also ordered to pay at least $373,749.97 in restitution and forfeit over $200,000, according to a plea agreement he made last year.
The Independent
15 minutes ago
- The Independent
Judge says government can't limit passport sex markers for many transgender, nonbinary people
A federal judge expanded a ruling Tuesday that blocked the Trump administration from enacting policy changes to sex markers on passports for many transgender and nonbinary Americans. In an executive order signed in January, the president used a narrow definition of the sexes instead of a broader conception of gender. The order says a person is male or female and it rejects the idea that someone can transition from the sex assigned at birth to another gender. U.S. District Judge Julia Kobick granted a motion to apply her earlier ruling to people who want a passport different than the male/female sex designation they were given at birth and those who want an X designation. The ruling applies only to those people who are currently without a valid passport, those whose passport is expiring within a year, and those who need to apply for a passport because theirs was lost or stolen or because they need to change their name or sex designation. Initially the ruling only applied to the six plaintiffs in the case. Last month Kobick, who was appointed by President Joe Biden, sided with the American Civil Liberties Union's motion for a preliminary injunction, which stays the action while the lawsuit plays out. It requires the State Department to allow six transgender and nonbinary people who are plaintiffs in the lawsuit to obtain passports with sex designations consistent with their gender identity. 'The Executive Order and the Passport Policy on their face classify passport applicants on the basis of sex and thus must be reviewed under intermediate judicial scrutiny,' Kobick wrote. 'That standard requires the government to demonstrate that its actions are substantially related to an important governmental interest. The government has failed to meet this standard.' In its lawsuit, the ACLU described how one woman had her passport returned with a male designation while others are too scared to submit their passports because they fear their applications might be suspended and their passports held by the State Department. Another mailed in their passport on Jan. 9 and requested a name change and to change their sex designation from male to female. That person was still waiting for their passport, the ACLU wrote in the lawsuit, and feared missing a family wedding and a botany conference this year. In response to the lawsuit, the Trump administration argued the passport policy change 'does not violate the equal protection guarantees of the Constitution.' They also contended that the president has broad discretion in setting passport policy and that plaintiffs would not be harmed by the policy, since they are still free to travel abroad.
BBC News
24 minutes ago
- BBC News
Navratilova: 'I wouldn't have left home for Trump's America'
Fifty years ago, Martina Navratilova left everything she knew in communist Czechoslovakia to start a new life in the an 18-year-old high school pupil, she was one of the Cold War's most high-profile defectors - and she would go on to become one of tennis's most iconic speaking to the BBC's Amol Rajan, she says that she fears the US now "wouldn't let me in"."I'm not loyal to [US President] Donald Trump," she says, adding that she worries the US has become a "totalitarian" state. Since President Trump took office in January, his administration has carried out sweeping immigration raids, sparking protests in parts of the country. He has also instituted a travel ban for citizens from 12 countries, and there have been reports of tourists being detained at the border."If I were now still in that same position [as in 1975] and I had to go live somewhere, it would not be America, because it's not a democracy at the moment," she she speaks about US politics, Navratilova's frustration is palpable. She believes people haven't noticed what she says is a situation that is gradually getting US, she adds, is "definitely turning against migrants"."I mean, people are getting chucked out by Homeland Security, they're getting chucked out because they're not on board completely with Donald Trump's agenda… because they're not kissing the ring," she decision to defect to the US in 1975 wasn't an easy one to make, she says. She describes having an "idyllic" childhood growing up in Revnice, in modern-day Czechia, with a loving family that she was leaving behind. "I never knew when I would see my parents again - or if I would see them."But doing so changed the course of Navratilova's life. She told a press conference at the time that she left Czechoslovakia because she wanted to become world number one in tennis - and that she "couldn't do it under those circumstances at home".She did indeed go on to become number one - both in women's singles for 332 weeks, and women's doubles for a record 237 weeks. She is now widely considered to be one of the world's greatest tennis players. Navratilova is a dual US and Czech citizen, and still lives in the US with her wife, model Julia Lemigova. Does she worry that, in the current political climate, she could lose her own citizenship?"Everything is up in the air right now, and that's the whole point. Everybody's walking on eggshells, not knowing what's going to happen."There is, however, one extremely divisive subject on which she has previously said she agrees with President Trump - transgender women's participation in is firm in her belief that the inclusion of trans women in women's tennis is "wrong". She says she doesn't agree with current World Tennis Association (WTA) rules, which state transgender women can participate in women's games if they provide a written and signed declaration that they are female or non-binary, that their testosterone levels have been below a certain limit for two years, and that they sustain those levels of says she feels trans women have biological advantages in women's sports - a belief that is hotly debated."There should be no ostracism, there should be no bullying," she says, "but male bodies need to play in male sports. They can still compete. There is no ban on transwomen in sports. They just need to compete in the proper category which is the male category. It's that simple." She adds: "By including male bodies in the women's tournament, now somebody is not getting into the tournament - a woman is not getting into the tournament because now a male has taken her place."In December last year, Britain's Lawn Tennis Association changed its rules, meaning transgender women can no longer play in some female domestic tennis in April, the UK's Supreme Court ruled that the legal definition of a woman is based on biological sex. Asked if she felt tennis should follow the lead of the UK court, she says: "100%"Pushed on whether we should "spend a bit more time being sympathetic to" trans people, Navratilova replies: "Very sympathetic - but that still doesn't give them a right to women's sex-based spaces." 'Oh my God, I'm going to die' Navratilova has been open about her battles with cancer over the last 15 was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2010, at the age of 52. Then, 13 years later, it returned - along with a second, completely unrelated cancer in her throat."The way I found out, I went like this", Navratilova says, smacking her hands on the sides of her face as if shocked by something. "And I'm like, 'oh, this lymph node is a little bit bigger'. And a couple of weeks later, it's still bigger."Following a scan, doctors also caught the second cancer in her breast."We got the results, and it's cancer," she says. "And I'm like, 'Oh my God, I'm going to die'."Although she says the treatment was "hell", she feels "all good" now."Knock on wood, all clear, and no side effects at all - other than red wine still doesn't taste good, so I've gone sideways towards tequila and vodka," she laughs. "I'm lucky. The cure was hell, but the aftermath has been great."Has having cancer changed Navratilova at all?"Cancer taught me to really appreciate every day, which I was doing pretty much anyway," she says. "But most of all, to not sweat the small stuff. It's fixable." Amol Rajan Interviews: Martina Navratilova is on BBC 2 at 19:00 on 18 June, and on BBC iPlayer.
