Brian L. Buniva 2020-11-21 05:13:42
Bias – Can We Eliminate It?
EVERY SO OFTEN THERE COMES a time in our history when we are forced by the events around us to pause and look inward. I believe we are currently in such a time.
To say that 2020 has been tumultuous is perhaps the understatement of the decade. In January and February, the Coronavirus pandemic was raging around the world and just getting a foothold in the U.S. As spring blossomed, federal and state emergency executive orders limited public gatherings, called on us to “stay at home,” and generally prohibited visitation with our loved ones isolated in their homes, or, tragically, in longterm care facilities.
In addition to the unprecedented public health crisis (more than 9,000,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases and more than 232,000 deaths in the US as of this writing), our nation and our Commonwealth have also witnessed a reinvigorated cry for justice stemming from the deaths of far too many African Americans. The death of George Floyd along with others has ignited protests in Virginia and throughout our country and led to calls for sweeping criminal justice reforms. Some of us have been surprised by the intensity of the outcry, but for many others the shootings and deaths were merely an all too common expression of the unintended vestiges of implicit bias. Is there a role for the Virginia State Bar in this discussion? I believe the answer is yes.
Before the next meeting of the Bar Council in late February, you will have an opportunity to advise your Council members of your views on a proposal to provide continuing legal education credit for courses on the elimination of bias. Seize that opportunity on this important issue.
The Founding Fathers claimed that “all men are created equal,” but in 1787 the vote was limited to white men who owned property. It took more than “four score and seven years” and the slaughter of more than 800,000 Americans in a Civil War before African American men were given the right to vote. It took 133 years after the adoption of our Constitution before white women were given the right to vote with the passage of the 19th Amendment. Many African American and other minority women (and men) were not allowed to exercise the right to vote until the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was enacted and enforced, some 178 years after the adoption of our Constitution.
Why did the bias in favor of white property-owning men to the exclusion of all other men and women come to be and why did it take a full 178 years to change? There is insufficient space here to delve into that question. Suffice it to say that when we take the time to look inward most of us are hard pressed to deny that unconscious bias (racial and otherwise) does indeed exist.
The question coming before the February Bar Council meeting is whether members of the Bar should receive continuing legal education credit for courses discussing the issue of bias in the legal profession, its roots, and hopefully its elimination.
The proposal will add “elimination of bias” as a topic along with the topics of legal ethics and professionalism for which two credit hours are currently required annually. Offerings on elimination of bias are defined as trainings that relate to bias (race, gender, economic status, creed, color, religion, national origin, disability, age, or sexual orientation) in the legal profession. To be eligible for elimination of bias CLE credit, a program must address diversity or bias issues in the legal profession (e.g. among lawyers, in a law firm, or in the courtroom).
Numerous written comments were received by the October 2 deadline, with a significant number of commenters thoughtfully weighing the pros and cons. It is important to note that neither professionalism nor legal ethics will be replaced by the addition of this new topic. The amendment merely makes it possible for this new topic to receive CLE credit, as it does in nearly ten other states. Please contact your representatives on Council and let your voices be heard on this important issue. The contact information for members of the Council can be found at https://www.vsb.org/site/about/council.
Published by Virginia State Bar. View All Articles.
This page can be found at http://virginialawyer.vsb.org/article/President%E2%80%99s+Message/3818787/684193/article.html.