NY Amends Bar Application To De-Emphasize Non-Criminal Encounters With Police

After review of the “disproportionate rates of policing and prosecution experienced in communities of color,” New York’s Appellate Division has reduced the impact that prior encounters with law enforcement will have for future applicants seeking bar admission in the state, Jason Grant reports for the New York Law Journal. Applicants will no longer need to list juvenile cases adjudicated in Family Court or report any encounters with law enforcement (including arrests, tickets and citations) that did not result in either formal criminal charges or “an indictment, trial, conviction or guilty plea.”

The decision was made to “promote equity and fairness in the character and fitness interview process” of the Bar Admission Questionnaire, the justices of the New York Appellate Division announced on Thursday.