Columbia Law School has decided to delay exams for law students to overcome “trauma” of Ferguson, Garner decisions. It is the first such delay of exams for such decisions that I have seen at a law school and it has attracted criticism from both academics and lawyers as a poor preparation for real life as lawyers. Nevertheless, students at Harvard and Georgetown are now demanding the same right to delay their exams. Columbia has brought in a A “trauma specialist” to work with students. The University of California-Irvine has also offered such counseling to facilitate “healing, grieving and support.”
Robert E. Scott, Columbia’s interim dean,issued the following announcement: “For some law students, particularly, though not only, students of color, this chain of events is all the more profound as it threatens to undermine a sense that the law is a fundamental pillar of society to protect fairness, due process and equality.”
The decision was made after a group of minority students petitioned the schools, stating that it was difficult to sit for exams and apply legal principles that are used to “deny justice to so many black and brown bodies.” Calling the cases “legal violence,” the Columbia Law School Coalition of Concerned Students of Color wrote that
“We have struggled to compartmentalize our trauma as we sit and make fruitless attempts to focus on exam preparations. In being asked to prepare for and take our exams in this moment, we are being asked to perform incredible acts of disassociation that have led us to question our place in this school community and the legal community at large. . . We sit to study with the knowledge that our brothers and sisters are regularly killed with impunity on borders and streets; we sit to study with the understanding that our brothers and sisters are marching to have our humanity recognized and valued by a system that has continually failed us.”
As both a litigator and academic, I also question the decision to delay exams. As lawyers, we are often asked to continue to work after highly traumatic decisions. I have seen judges make highly prejudiced and insulting decisions in court. I commend the schools for reaching out to students and I sympathize with students who feel deeply injured by what they view as injustice. When I was a law student I was deeply upset by the ruling in Bowers v. Hardwick, 478 U.S. 186 (1986) that upheld the criminalization of homosexual relations. It prompted me to discard my applications to over half of the Court as a Supreme Court clerk applicant. However, I understood that lawyers have to continue function in the face of such decisions. The best course in my view is for law schools to hold seminars and meetings exploring these decisions and their merits as well as discussions on how to work for change. However, as lawyers, we work in a field of stress where the rights, and sometimes the lives, of our clients are always in the balance. To put it simply, we worked in a trauma-filled environment. As a civil libertarian, the last ten years have been some of the most depressing of my career as core constitutional principles are stripped away or ignored. One has to learn to use such disappointments to rekindle your commitment to justice . . . even against all odds.
I have seen delays in exams when there have been protests on campus and public interest rallies that disrupt studying, including for those engaging in the protests. This is the only time that I have seen a grand jury decision or a case ruling prompt a delay due to “trauma.” I also do not see where the line will be drawn in the future for students. Would students who opposed criminal charges in Ferguson be given the same option if the result was different? Could religious students claim the same option after a Supreme Court decision refusing to recognize a core right of free exercise? I am unsure of how the law school rates the levels of trauma or makes this case-by-case determination.
The concern shown for the students at these schools is commendable and I am reluctant to add my voice to those who question the decision. However, I do not view this as helpful in shaping lawyers for what they will encounter in practice or in life.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2873022/UCLA-Professor-forced-apologize-racially-insensitive-divisive-exam-question-set-Ferguson-shooting-sparked-outrage.html
UCLA Professor forced to apologize after ‘racially insensitive and divisive’ exam question he set about Ferguson shooting sparked outrage
Question was whether Michael Brown’s stepfather should be indicted for shouting ‘burn this b—- down!’ after the Darren Wilson grand jury decision
Professor of Law Robert Goldstein asked his students whether the remark warranted a criminal charge of inciting violence
Question criticised as racist and improper
Other professors called the students who complained ‘delicate flowers’
fyi – they are ‘special snowflakes’ not delicate flowers. 😉
fyi – actually they are bunch of entitled twits. Who, in their right mind, would hire them?
Charlie: “I was a law student when Bush v. Gore occurred. Not to diminish these students’ trauma caused by the current outrage, but when that case conclusively demonstrated …. I, too, was traumatized. Eventually, I recovered and continued with my studies and my career.”
Actually Charlie, it was never about the election. It was a violation of the separation of powers at the highest apex possible. And since each and every one of those nine b******s had an obligation to dismiss the case as non-justiciable (See Warth v. Seldin), the politics was irrelevant.
If I was a law student in December, 2000, I would have petitioned for a full refund.
And yet these pansies need time to get over the trauma of the grand jury not indicting Officer Wilson?
It would be far less traumatic if they’d bother to read the transcript.
Msjettexas, as I understood the Garner issue, he was told by police to do something, but didn’t. The job of a policeman is to keep streets safe. Just driving away was not an option.
Karen S, when I heard this I thought their hangovers were really bad. It shows the maturity of the student. If you have important exams coming, you make a decision. Going to protest was not the best for your exams.
I just watched “America” with narration by Dinesh D’Sousa, and had a visceral reaction. The first half is a deeper look at the history ascribed to us about Indians, The Mexican War, the Civil War. The second half was about the decline in our country. Detail about Saul Alinsky and the changes Obama has pushed, while lying to us. The goal is alarming and I fear for our country and our way of life. Obviously I’ll be doing more reading.
wow , the US is becoming more like a third world country where exams get postponed all the time . In addition , torture/enhanced interrogations and indefinite detention without a trial, are common.
@Dust Bunny Queen
True dat! What a bunch of pussies and weenies! Maybe in addition to “Personal Days”, companies can start providing a more defined “Emotional Trauma Days”??? With no set limits because how can you limit the number of “emotional traumas”???
OK, sooo I was traumatized by Gruber. . .and the Obamacare Rollout. . .and the Deferred Deportation Memos. . .and the IRS Scandal. . .and Fast and Furious. . .and Benghazi. . .etc. etc. etc.Oh Look! I just got the whole darn year off!
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
Bailers,
You’re going to ban a word I had to look up; darn it!
Trope should be in the list of banned words for next year. It has lost its meaning other than for people to use as a quasi intellectual insult.
Mommy issues galore here today. 10+ torture proponents in a VERY small space, trying to measure how ‘tough’ they are. If it weren’t so transparent and sad, it might be funny. Your comments have become a trope for male insecurity.
zedalis – somebody put their pop psychology hat on today.
LOL
You had to work because a Republican was in office? Well, at least you’re honest about the government dependency problem for liberals. Two more years and it will be time for many to get back to work. More trauma; yikes!
I was a law student when Bush v. Gore occurred. Not to diminish these students’ trauma caused by the current outrage, but when that case conclusively demonstrated that the even the majority of the U.S. Supreme Court is a pawn of the Republican party, I, too, was traumatized. Eventually, I recovered and continued with my studies and my career. Hey, someone had to work because we all knew that the Oval Office would be empty (minded) for the foreseeable future.
I thought the country actually learned from that when we twice elected Obama (i.e., someone who can read, write, but and count), but memories are short and it appears we might be heading down that path of economic and war destruction again in 2016.
“It prompted me to discard my applications to over half of the Court as a Supreme Court clerk applicant…work for change…One has to learn to use such disappointments to rekindle your commitment to justice.”
exactly. it should be less about themselves, their personal trauma during exams, and rather focus their energy now and in their futures on working for justice ( many of those experiencing gross injustice in this country will never have the opportunities afforded those who attending a prestigious law school).
The essence of trial lawyering from the plaintiffs and the criminal defense side is wrapped up mostly in the ability to fight against all odds for what’s right, get your ass kicked by the system, and then to get right back up and do it again…relentlessly…and then you die and go to…H. How could the training so far miss the mark?
Just silly. And wimpy. Oh wait, I feel traumatized by, uh, whatever. “Can I get an extension of the statute of limitations on my lawsuit filing, Your Honor, pretty please? Some people don’t even know what real trauma is. This ain’t it. Unless you’re in the morgue.
The scariest? These people will be in Congress in a decade or so. If you didn’t live in Ferguson, what’s the trauma? Nothing compared to the trauma I felt seeing a headless corpse of a little girl with her head at her side. This is a holocaust in real time. Where is the outrage? Think about her at dinner with your family during holiday season, which of you could be missing?
Can you imagine any of these worthless weenies in Bastogne in the winter of 1944?
The 101st Coalition of Concerned Students of Color formed an all-round perimeter using posters, chants and raised fists.
Three whining battalions were commandeered and formed a temporary grievance group.
The most famous quote of the battle came from the 101st’s acting commander, Columbia’s interim dean Robert E. Scott.
When confronted with a written request from the students to delay fighting, his reply was one word: “Sure!”
The world keeps turning – the sooner they learn the better
So these particular CU law students may be pursuing a different career track than client representation.
Senior Lecturer at a law school sounds about right.
Keep in mind that not all JDs practice. For example, it’s common for middle/senior administrators to pick up a JD without an intention to join a state bar.
Some JDs, as several of my classmates did, leverage their law degrees as community organizers and activists.
So these particular CU law students may be pursuing a different career track than client representation.
These soon-to-be lawyers had better be prepared for a life of trauma when their real life court decisions go the “wrong” way (in their opinion). Interim Dean Scott appears to be grasping for some points from his ultra PC peers. Hopefully his interim will be short.