The American Bar Association (ABA) is considering cracking down on "disruptive conduct that hinders free expression," according to a memo released by the organization's legal education arm last Thursday.
"The development of the law and effective legal education require free and robust inquiry, exposition, and the exchange of ideas. Proposed Standard 208 seeks to ensure that law schools properly protect academic freedom for teachers and freedom of expression more broadly," the memo reads in part.
Proposed Standard 208 would necessitate law schools to "adopt, publish, and adhere to written policies that encourage and support the free expression of ideas" with standards that "protect the rights of faculty, students, and staff to communicate ideas that may be controversial or unpopular, including through robust debate, demonstrations, or protests" while barring "disruptive conduct" that hinders such expression or law school activities.
Concerns over legislative efforts to crack down on critical race theory instruction as well as disruptive outbursts believed to hinder controversial guest speakers' free speech on college campuses are behind the push, Reuters reported Friday.
"Both of these trends reflect an urgent threat to the training of lawyers," council member Daniel Thies said, per the outlet.
Stanford associate dean of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Tirien Steinbach's shutdown of Trump-appointed U.S. Circuit Court Judge Kyle Duncan during a presentation at the institution's law school earlier this year preceded the proposal.
Additionally, the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce penned a letter requesting Stanford's adherence to ABA Standard 405(b) – requiring law schools to have "an established and announced policy with respect to academic freedom and tenure" – be investigated.
Though the ABA's memo cited both incidents, the document stated that neither influenced the proposed freedom of expression standard.
The proposal moved forward on Friday when ABA’s Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar voted to send it out for public notice and comment and could be adopted, rejected or modified once the comment period has ended, according to Reuters' report.
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Other incidents on campuses across the U.S. have sparked concerns over animosity toward the free exhange of ideas, including Yale law students' attempts to shut down a bipartisan panel on civil liberties in March and unruly protests against women's sports activist Riley Gaines at San Francisco State University in early April.
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