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NEWS AUGUST 10, 2020 ¦ 19

We didn’t get smarter. We just figured out what we While I remain skeptical that the bar exam is not
needed to do and how to do it. Good skills for suc- more akin to hazing and a rite of passage than an
cessful lawyering. We all went on to fulfilling careers empirically defensible tool to test deep knowledge,
as lawyers. I don’t see our judges abandoning it. On the other
The COVID-19 problem has thrown the normal hand, I am not aware that states with diploma privi-
bar examining process off track everywhere. Most leges have any worse malpractice stats or grievance
states don’t have the space to allow for in-person numbers than those with the test, so I don’t think
testing. Many have had to postpone their exams. some relief would expose the public to a flood of
Early attempts at online administration have run unprepared and dangerously inadequately equipped
into trouble, including one in Michigan which new lawyers who otherwise would have been identi-
may have been caused by hackers. Many students fied and sidelined.
don’t have quiet places to study or take the test. Thus, I’d grant provisional licenses to everyone
Most libraries are shut. Our spouses and children and let the details of the post-COVID testing regime
are home 24/7. Some places have spotty WiFi. (As work themselves out while taking a look at whether
I write this, I can’t attend my Tai chi class because some or all of the existing regime actually serves the
there is inadequate bandwidth at the tip of Cape public purpose we claim it does. Once things qui-
Cod.) Imagine trying to take a multi-hour exam, et down, we understand what the “new normal” is
under pressure, in the midst of all the distractions (and I guarantee it won’t be a return to the good old
this crazy disease has created when you keep losing days) and we have a test we know works and can
internet connectivity. be given without problems, the provisional licensee
The deans of Connecticut’s three law schools will be given an opportunity to take the test and get
pitched the idea of waiving the exam this year. Some a full license.
states have had this “diploma privilege” for years, If we go this route, we will have upheld our part
allowing graduates of schools in the state to enter of the social contract and, not coincidentally, done
practice without an exam. Only those wishing to a bit of justice for our soon-to-be colleagues at the
work elsewhere would need to take it, either here or same time.
in the states where they want to practice. The Bar ¦

Examining Committee wasn’t buying it, but the Mark Dubois served as the state’s first chief disci-
Chief Justice apparently hasn’t decided. plinary counsel.

Pence Criticizes Chief Roberts
As SCOTUS Enjoys High Approval

By Mike Scarcella and Marcia Coyle
Vice President Mike Pence in a new interview from conservatives about a spate of rulings in which
this week assailed Chief Justice John Roberts the chief justice aligned with the court’s liberal wing
Jr. by name, declaring him a “disappointment on issues of immigration, gay rights, abortion and vi-
to conservatives” and contrasting the Republican- rus-era restrictions on public gatherings for worship.
appointed judge with “principled conservatives” the Indeed, the Supreme Court has become ever more
Trump administration has picked for the federal an election issue, as Democrats fret over the health
courts. of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who recently disclosed a
Over the past few weeks, since the end of the Su- new bout with cancer, and some Republicans tee up
preme Court term, Roberts has faced new criticism
¦ Continued on PAGE 20

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