Opinion ID: 1892988
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: did the board violate examinees' rights to equal protection when transferring essay scores?

Text: Examinees assert that they were discriminated against by the Board when attempting to transfer essay scores such that their Fourteenth Amendment equal protection rights were violated. They assert that the relief they are entitled to is admission to the bar. Examinees argue that the Board granted the right to transfer essay scores to white applicants while denying the same right to black applicants. Furthermore, examinees contend that the Board only gave notice of a change in policy allowing essay transfers to some while denying notice to others. They contend that this difference in treatment between whites and blacks gives rise to a suspect classification necessitating remedial relief as required by United States v. Paradise, 480 U.S. 149, 107 S.Ct. 1053, 94 L.Ed.2d 203 (1987), and Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg, 402 U.S. 1, 91 S.Ct. 1267, 28 L.Ed.2d 554 (1971). The chancellor made no finding of racial discrimination. The record does not compel such a finding. Of those who benefitted from the Board's foray into essay score transferring, at least one was black. There is no support for the proposition that examinees similarly situated were treated differently at all, let alone because of race. Nor is there support for a claim that the distinctions, i.e. the 20 month time period, analogized to the MBE, requirement which has been in the law since 1983, or the 70.0 raw score requirement drawing a rational line, were adopted with a racially discriminatory motive. There was neither an attempt to show that the procedure adopted by the bar had an impact more racially disparate than the bar examination itself nor an attempt to show that the bar examination as a whole is unlawful. The examinees complained here that they were hindered in this regard by the lack of discovery. The record reflects, however, that the trial court allowed such discovery as was requested.