Dear St. John’s Law Family:
In light of recent events, law students have expressed concerns with the consequences of getting arrested during a protest, and how that may affect their admission to the New York State Bar. Accordingly, it is important for law students to be aware of the legal background concerning the implications of a possible arrest, and ultimately have those implications in mind when making their individual decisions to engage in civil disobedience. This article is meant to provide the relevant statutes under New York State Law that may be in conflict with questions like those on the Character and Fitness portion of the New York State Bar Application, and to provide students a starting point for understanding their rights during these times.
Currently, Question 27 on the New York State Bar Application Character and Fitness portion asks “Have you ever, either as an adult or juvenile, been cited, ticketed, arrested…..” and Question 35 asks “within the past seven years, have you engaged in any conduct or behavior that, as applied to you: [a] resulted in arrest, discipline, sanction or warning…” These questions require students to disclose information, not only about convictions that may be pertinent to the relevant applicant’s character and fitness to practice law, but also arrests that are not currently pending and did not result in a conviction.
Additionally, pursuant to New York State Human Rights Law §296 (16) it is unlawful for a licensing agency, such as the New York State Bar, to “make any inquiry about, whether in form of application or otherwise, or to act upon adversely to the individual involved, any arrest or criminal accusation of such individual not then pending against that individual which was followed by a termination of that criminal action or proceeding in favor of such individual.” N.Y. Exec. Law § 296 (McKinney).
With that being said, NYS Human Rights Law § 296(16) is in direct conflict with Questions 27 and 35 on the Character & Fitness portion of the NYS Bar Application. This is because § 296 (16) states that, when prompted by an improper question, an individual may answer as if there had been no arrest whatsoever. N.Y. Exec. Law § 296 (McKinney).
Students should recognize that the preceding information is not legal advice, but instead an opinion that the aforementioned questions on the Character and Fitness application are in conflict with, and possibly in violation of the New York State Human Rights Laws. Further, it is the goal of the Labor Relations and Employment Law Society to provide students who may be interested in protesting or taking part in civil disobedience relevant information so each student can make their own informed decision. We encourage students to take a more extensive look at these laws outside of this publication as well.
Lastly, if the student body is interested, the Labor Relations and Employment Society will be discussing possible dates and times to hold a Q+A session for students and faculty members that would like more information on this topic.
Thank you all for your time and we hope everyone remains safe.
Sincerely and In Solidarity,
LRELS Executive Board 2020-2021
