May 9, 2022
Via Email
Nancy Cozine Oregon State Court Administrator Email: ojd.info@ojd.state.or.us
Chief Justice Martha Walters Oregon Supreme Court Email: martha.l.walters@ojd.state.or.us
Dear Ms. Cozine and Chief Justice Walters,
On behalf of the OGALLA Board, we write to convey our overwhelming support for diploma privilege for the February 2022 bar examinees. The Uniform Bar Examination (UBE) is increasingly regarded as a questionable measure of readiness for practice, and its remaining claim to fairness has been standardization. When the February cohort of examinees took the bar, the conditions in the exam room took away that standardization.
No matter how long or how hard February’s exam takers studied, the conditions in the exam room impacted their results differently than other bar examinees across the county. Alternatives to diploma privilege do not adequately level the playing field in this case. Offering a future exam at no cost does nothing to address the time and income the February cohort sacrificed to sit for an exam that was inadequately administered.
Continued months of exam preparation will carry a financial burden despite waiver of a second exam fee. This burden will disproportionately impact examinees already marginalized in the legal community. Lowering the cut score risks stigmatizing February examinees despite the fact that the inadequate testing conditions were completely out of their control. Diploma privilege allows examinees to move on without adding to the stress and exhaustion of this unfortunate experience.
Oregon has now seen two years of high achievement from the cohort of examinees who received diploma privilege in response to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on examinees. We see no reason not to extend the same opportunity to the 2022 February examination cohort, who endured equally adverse circumstances through no fault of their own. By doing so, the Oregon legal community would demonstrate that it prioritizes equity and values the well-being of its newest members.
Sincerely,
Alletta Brenner, Board Co-Chair
Megan Hinzdel, Board Co-Chair