Letter from New York City Bar Association Supporting Change to Question 26

In this letter the New York City Bar Association "urge[d] the Administrative Board of the Courts . . . to amend Question 26 of the Application for Admission . . . "  Their letter includes the argument that Question 26 "contributes to racial inequity in our profession:"

Unquestionably, Question 26 of the Application for Admission to Practice as an Attorney and Counselor-at-law in the State of New York is one such practice that contributes to racial inequity in our profession. Today, 2.3 million New Yorkers have conviction records,10 and in both
the criminal and juvenile legal systems, Black and brown communities are overrepresented due to decades of over-policing and prosecution of people of color.11  As such, any general inquiry by the Character and Fitness Committees into arrest and conviction information disproportionately burdens applicants of color, and might chill individuals of color from pursuing a legal education in the first place. Indeed, people with arrest records who are considering applying to law school are well aware of Question 26; most New York law schools include language identical or similar to Question 26 in their law school admission application. By failing to comply with New York State law and requiring the disclosure of confidential and sealed information protected by the Family Court Act § 380.1 and Executive Law § 296(16), UCS only exacerbates the impact of racially disparate treatment in the criminal and juvenile legal systems, and tightens the gates to our profession even more.