Our system of law and order is an integral part of the American Republic. Our Constitution ensures due process to all American citizens, but law and order also requires that there be well-educated and well-trained lawyers to practice the law correctly. DEI threatens this important aspect of our system.
A Federalist article by Monroe Harless details Professor John Lawrence Hill’s critique of Indiana University’s recent curriculum changes at the Robert H. McKinney School of Law. Hill criticized the implementation of DEI standards mandated by the American Bar Association (ABA). He pointed out that the new “responsible lawyering” course for first-year students politicizes legal education and indoctrinates students into radical leftist ideology.
Hill’s primary objection centers on the ABA’s Standard 303(c), introduced in February 2022. This standard requires law schools to provide education on bias, cross-cultural competency, and racism. At IU McKinney, this standard is used to push racial Marxism on future lawyers. While the standard could be met through various educational experiences, the faculty chose to create a mandatory DEI course, which he said undermines traditional legal education principles.
Things got worse when the curriculum committee proposed moving constitutional law to the second year to accommodate the new DEI course. Professor Hill vehemently opposed this, correctly noting that first-year constitutional law is foundational and has been a staple in legal education for a century. This shift was ideologically motivated, aiming to replace the core values of liberty, individuality, and equality with the DEI paradigm.
Thankfully, Constitutional Law remained a first-year class, but Professor Hill still voiced the important concern that radical left-wing DEI ideology is encroaching on core American values in our critical legal educational institutions.
This post originally appeared at https://www.phyllisschlafly.com/constitution/is-dei-replacing-the-law-in-law-schools/
