Monday, July 09, 2007

Do Not Pass the Bar, Do Not Collect $200

The bar exam works like this - you a presented with a fact pattern and question. You're expected to spot the issues and apply the law as it exists, regardless of your opinion on the correctness of that law. Stephen Dunne must have missed that day of bar review. He is suing the state bar of Massachusetts because *shudder* the bar exam had a question that involved gay marriage. Stephen was so offended, he couldn't answer the question:

Stephen Dunne, who is representing himself in the case and seeks $9.75 million, said the bar exam was not the place for a 'morally repugnant and patently offensive' question addressing the rights of two married lesbians, their children and their property. He said he refused to answer the question because he believed it legitimized same-sex marriage and same-sex parenting, which is contrary to his moral beliefs.

* * *

The 'disguised mechanism to screen applicants according to their political ideology has the discriminatory impact of persecuting and oppressing (Dunne's) sincere religious practices and beliefs' protected by the First Amendment, and was 'invasive and burdensome,' according to the lawsuit filed last month.
I like the response of the editor of Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, who called the suit "idiotic" and said Dunne was "completely missing the point about what it means to be a lawyer." Amen, brother.

7 comments:

Unknown said...

yeah, JDB, sure glad we never run into a 'morally repugnant and patently offensive' question in the practice of real law. It just ain't for wimps.

SweetlyDemure said...

Hmmm...methinks someone did not do as well as he hoped on the MBE portion of the exam.

OR he is incredibly crafty and has begun jockying for a position in the DOJ and wants to capture Alberto Gonzales' attention. After all, he must be looking to replace Monica Goodling, et al., right?

KULA said...

Don't forget that you have to do all that stuff for each question in 1.8 minutes. This guy obviously spent way too much time reading the questions, that he failed the exam.

Unknown said...

$9.75 million huh?

Guess what kind of lawyer he wants to be when he grows up?

What happened to the idea of Justice being blind?

JD Byrne said...

Guess what kind of lawyer he wants to be when he grows up?

The kind with really nice pants, I imagine!

:-)

Anonymous said...

The United States Constitution forbids individual states from preventing qualified attorneys from practicing law based on the lawyer’s political leanings. Massachusetts violated the Constitution by including a question on homosexual marriage on the Massachusetts bar examination.
No state can refuse the granting of a law license based upon one’s particular viewpoint.

jedijawa said...

Hmm...did the test seek a viewpoint answer or did it ask an objective question of how the law applied? The law doesn't just apply to people who a potential lawyer likes. What a jacknut!