Summary: A complaint filed with the ABA over BYU Law’s practice of removing students that go against their honor standards will move forward.
Brigham Young University J. Reuben Clark Law School is a school affiliated with the LDS church. Students that attend the school are asked to abide by an honor code. Brad Levin, a law graduate and director of FreeBYU, contends that requiring students to follow the honor code and expel them for not following it violates ABA accreditation standards.
Levin appealed to the Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar Section of the ABA in January. The beginning of April he received a letter that explained that his complaint passed the initial review and was referred to the organization’s accreditation committee for further consideration. The complaint accused the school’s policy of expelling students for not following the honor standards of violating ABA rules that protect against religious discrimination.
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Investigations over compliance of accreditation standards are confidential even after the decisions are made. The only exception is when a school is formally censured. The spokeswoman for the University, Carrie Jenkins, said Levin originally filed a complaint with their regional accreditor but was unsuccessful. She explained, “The ABA is now following its standard process for addressing this sort of complaint. We remain confident that the law school is in compliance with accreditation standards and look forward to the ABA’s resolution of this matter.”
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Law schools are given 30 days to respond to complaints over compliance, which BYU did. The next step is to wait for the managing director for legal education’s decision over whether the school is in compliance or not. If the school is not in compliance, then the issue goes before the accreditation committee for further review.
Members of the church are able to attend the school at a reduced price. Non-members are able to attend the school but are held to the same standards as members. Leaving the church and speaking out against its values may result in expulsion from the school. Levin graduated from the law school but was almost kicked out for writing a book on same-sex marriage.
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Religious law schools cannot reject applications solely based on religion. They are given flexibility, such as not having to support LGBT organizations if the religion affiliated with the school opposes homosexuality.
Source: http://www.nationallawjournal.com/home/id=1202755256157
Photo: universe.byu.edu