As an African American lawyer, I am offended that law school deans are using “diversity” as the reason why the California Bar Exam’s cut score should be lowered. We all know that the racial disparity in passing rates has been around for a long time (and it even exists in states with lower cut scores). So, you will not solve the disparity in passing rates by lowering the cut score. A sincere interest in solving the racial disparity issue would involve a real analysis of the causes and potential solutions that can be implemented to eliminate the disparity. This would improve diversity in the bar nationwide.
So, why the sudden interest in lowering California’s cut score? I would submit that it is because the overall average passing score in California is now consistently below 50%, and the law schools do not want to admit that they have lowered their admissions standards to keep the lights on. The result is they are taking in large numbers of students and saddling them with huge student debt despite the fact that they know those students have almost no chance of ever passing the bar exam. Also, their ABA accreditation may be in jeopardy if their graduates continue to have such low bar passage rates. That is the elephant in the room. They should stop pretending that there is a newfound interest in diversity that is driving this issue, and you should stop letting them get away with it.
