About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

12 T. Marshall Law Review 359 (1986)
The Law School Admission Test as a Barrier to Almost Twenty Years of Affirmative Action

handle is hein.journals/thurlr12 and id is 373 raw text is: THE LAW SCHOOL ADMISSION TEST AS A BARRIER TO ALMOST TWENTY YEARS OF AFFIRMATIVE ACTION EuLIus SIMIEN* I. INTRODUCTION The purpose of this article is to review the accomplishments and failures of affirmative action in the legal educational arena over the last fifteen to twenty years. The most substantial accomplishments have been significant increases in the enrollment of minorities, other than Blacks,1 into American law schools.2 At the same time, affirmative action efforts have wholly failed to significantly increase Black enroll- ment in law school. In an effort to review these accomplishments and failures, this article reviews statistics on representation of females, Blacks and other minorities in the bar and in law schools. These statistics will show that although females3 and other minorities4 are not yet pro- portionally represented in the bar,5 an end to this disparity is in sight. * J.D., Louisiana State University Paul M. Herbert Law Center; LL.M., Columbia Univer- sity School of Law; Assistant Professor, Louisiana State University Paul M. Herbert Law Center. An earlier draft of this article was submitted by Professor Simien in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a seminar in legal education while he was a J.S.D. Candidate at Columbia University School of Law. Professor Simien graciously thanks Peter L. Strauss and George A. Bermann for their insightful comments and recommendations. He is also grateful for assistance from Dennis Anosike, research assistant of Louisiana State University. Although these individuals greatly contributed to the final product, Professor Simien acknowledges that all of the views expressed are his own and do not necessarily reflect their views. 1. Unless indicated otherwise, whenever the terms Black or Blacks are used in this article, it is meant to refer to non-hispanic Blacks, hispanic Blacks are included in the term other minorities. 2. Although there is no way to verify the connection between these increases and affirma- tive action efforts, it is noteworthy that significant increases in their enrollment have coincided with these efforts. However, much of the increase in female enrollment has been due to an in- creased interest by females. In the years between 1980-81 through 1984-85, the Law School Ad- mission Test (LSAT) scores of females were no more than 0.5 points less than males LSAT scores also, in each of those years, the average Grade Point Average (GPA) of females was better than males GPA's. See Law School Admission Council's National Statistical Report. 3. Females are a traditional educational minority because of their past gross underrepresen- tation in the nation's educational system. 4. Whenever the term, Hispanic, is used in this article it is meant to refer to Hispanics (both Black and non-Black) and other racial minorities. 5. According to the 1980 United States Census, 51.4201o of the population were females

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most