ABA considers crackdown on disruptive conduct after Stanford shout down.

New accreditation standard would require law schools to‌ ban‍ behavior that ‘hinders free ‍expression’

The American Bar Association could soon ⁢require all law schools to bar “disruptive conduct that hinders free expression,” according⁣ to a proposal from the group’s accreditation arm.

The group’s Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the‍ Bar, which accredits all law schools in the United States, proposed​ the rule⁤ after hundreds of‌ students at ⁣Stanford Law ⁢School shouted down a sitting federal judge⁢ in March,​ prompting House ⁣Republicans to call on the ‌bar association to⁢ investigate⁤ the school. Those‍ events were “in the‍ background” of the draft ​requirement, according to an ​August 2 memo from the bar association. Yale Law School and the University⁣ of California Hastings Law School experienced similar⁣ disruptions in 2022, each instigated by progressive students upset about a conservative speaker.

The ​accreditation standard reads ⁢as a direct response to those incidents. Law schools must “protect the rights ⁤of faculty, students, and⁣ staff to communicate ideas that may be ‌controversial or unpopular,” the draft requirement states, including through⁣ public demonstrations. At the same time, the standard would prohibit protests that stifle “free expression by preventing or substantially interfering with ‍the carrying out of law school⁤ functions or‌ approved activities.”

The proposal comes amid accusations ⁣that the bar ‍association has‌ stifled free speech through its accreditation process. The group drew criticism last year when it required all law schools to instruct students that ​they have a duty to⁢ eliminate ‌racism, a move that many law professors, including 10⁤ at Yale, said would imperil academic⁣ freedom ⁢and result in compelled speech. It also considered ⁤requiring law schools to “diversify” their student bodies—only to axe the proposal a month before the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, the ​case that outlawed race-based college admissions.

The American Bar Association declined ‍to⁤ comment.

Though the group has long required law schools to have policies protecting academic ‌freedom, it has offered few specifics on what those policies should entail. As ⁣disruptive protests become increasingly common on law school campuses, experts say the proposal would fill an important ​gap.

“The current standard doesn’t‌ provide⁢ any substance,” Paul Lannon, an attorney at Holland ⁤& Knight who specializes in⁢ education law, told ABA Journal, which is published by the American Bar Association.‌ “This kind of guidance from the ABA is long​ overdue.”