Monday, November 19, 2007

Professor John Freeman and former Chief Justice Chandler call for disclosure in SC bar exam mess

This is a story that will not die. Rumors continue to abound that the Trusts and Estates section of the bar exam was thrown out to (1) help passage rates at the Charleston School of Law, (2) help the children of prominent law makers receive a law licence, and/or (3) help law clerks to several state court judges receive a law license.

At this point, the state Supreme Court needs to issue a statement explaining why the T&E section was tossed. Had it done so when it first scrapped the section, this story would never have taken off. Instead, we now have rampant speculation. One USC Law Professor has described the story as a "scandal." While I personally doubt any monkey business regarding the bar exam changes, most South Carolinians are left to infer that bar exam passage is just one more facet of our back-slapping, good-old-boy system of judicial politics. The profession is called into disrepute.

To clear the air, the Court should provide an explanation of the time line of events and the grading error and/or question framework error corrupting the T&E section. I hope we hear something before the Thanksgiving holiday; otherwise, this story will be around for some time.

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