Bar Exam

Law Grad Apologizes for Gay Marriage Bar Exam Question

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A law grad who filed a lawsuit because he flunked the Massachusetts bar exam is apologizing to gays for being “an instrument of bigotry and prejudice.”

Stephen Dunne had filed a lawsuit claiming he failed the exam because he didn’t answer a question that required him to implicitly support gay marriage and parenting. He later withdrew the suit after bar examiners dropped the question from the next exam.

Dunne sent an e-mail apology to Bay Windows, a gay newspaper in Boston, and told an editor he is embarrassed at what he did.

In his letter, Dunne said he was writing to “apologize to the gay community for having been an instrument of bigotry and prejudice” by filing a misguided lawsuit that “regrettably perpetuated intolerance and animosity.”

Explaining himself in the interview, Dunne said he filed the lawsuit in anger. “It was a lashing out as a result of failing the bar exam,” he said. “I mean I think I failed by a fraction of a point and I skipped a question that was 30 points. So I obviously failed myself.”

Legal Blog Watch noted Dunne’s change of heart, citing Universal Hub as its source.

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