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Victims of sex assault should not have to disclose it when applying for bar admission, House says

By Amanda Robert

August 6, 2024, 1:05 pm CDT

Bar applicants should not have to disclose a history of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, sexual harassment or stalking, the ABA House of Delegates said Tuesday.

The Commission on Domestic & Sexual Violence submitted Resolution 800, which urges character and fitness entities and other bar admission authorities to provide an exception to victims of these crimes who choose not to report any related “legal, administrative, law enforcement or academic proceedings” in their applications.

If a bar applicant voluntarily discloses that they were a victim of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, sexual harassment or stalking, Resolution 800 further urges character and fitness entities and other bar admission authorities to focus only on conduct or behavior that could “demonstrate a lack of character and fitness to practice law in a competent, ethical and professional manner.”

Maricarmen Garza, chair of the Commission on Domestic & Sexual Violence, introduced the resolution, saying she has worked with many survivors who have struggled to share their stories of abuse and violence.

“The fear and the pain that accompany those experiences are so overwhelming that some survivors decide to remain silent, not to seek accountability of the perpetrator that offended them or to seek the relief they are entitled to,” Garza said. “In my work, I have also learned of colleagues—now fellow lawyers—who did not report their abuse for fear that it would label them in some way, that they would never be able to shake their status as victims or that they might be disbelieved.

“This reality only deepens my conviction that we must address these systemic barriers that further silence survivors within our profession,” she added.

Follow along with the ABA Journal’s coverage of the 2024 ABA Annual Meeting here.

Bar admission authorities may require disclosure of all legal proceedings to which applicants were a party, according to the report accompanying the resolution. For survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault and similar crimes, this could include civil restraining orders and on-campus disciplinary cases in which they were a petitioner or complainant. It could also include complaints filed against survivors “as a tactic of abuse,” the report says.

Garza also noted that the resolution does not seek to lower the standards for entry into the legal profession, but rather aims to refine these standards to reflect a more nuanced understanding of the impact of trauma.

“I ask you to reflect on the profound effect that passing this resolution will have, not only on the individual survivors who will benefit from it but on the moral integrity of our profession,” she said.

The House overwhelmingly adopted Resolution 800.

It previously passed a measure in 2015 urging bar licensing entities to remove admission questions that ask about mental health history, diagnoses or treatment.