100 signatures reached
To: California Supreme Court
Retroactive Admission
Admit applicants who took the California Bar Exam and received scores between 1390 and 1439 within the last five years. Do not require these applicants to retake the ONLINE October 2020 bar exam. The last administration of the bar exam was in Feb. 2020, and 376 applicants received passing scores based on the Supreme Court decision to lower cut scores.
Why is this important?
FAIRNESS, INCLUSION, and EQUALITY.
The Supreme Court lowered the bar passage score for the California bar exam 2 months after the February 2020 bar results were made public. If the passing score on the Feb. 2020 exam had been reduced to 1390, five percent more white test takers would have passed the exam, but eight percent more Latinos, seven percent more Asians and 13 percent more Blacks would also have passed. The percentage of woman applicants have not been disclosed by the committee.
Please support recent eligible applicants who have passed previous bar exams with the new cut score of 1390 to 1439 but are unable to retake the exam due to the high fees and costs associated with taking the exam, wildfires, and the numerous issues caused by the pandemic from unemployment, school closures, and the novel Corona virus.
Make California attorneys more representative of the state and provide greater access to justice for low- and middle-income Californians in need of legal assistance.
The State Bar of California does not want to make the exam retroactive because they will lose money. The State Bar of California will not make admissions retroactive without guidance from the Supreme Court.
Please sign this petition, share with friends and family, and support our future generation of legal minds during these times of social injustice.
DID YOU KNOW-
The State Bar of California will receive $317,080 in test fees from the 376 repeater applicants that have to retake the online October 2020 exam to receive the same score the received in February 2020. Bar Exam fee: $677; Laptop fee: $153; Total to retake online OCT bar exam $830. Bar preparation courses range from $2,500-$10,000.
Law school graduates are required to take the California bar exam after graduating from law school and passing moral character and an ethics exam if they want to practice law in the State of California.
Support this petition so this new generation of legal advocates can make an impact in the legal field.