Monday, November 30, 2009
Law school disclosure
I would like to discuss a very relevant topic to most students in our class. I wanted to know what everyone thought about the information that you must disclose about criminal proceedings against you up to the time you applied to law school. I for one have never been in trouble with the law other than minor traffic violations. I wanted to look at the thought that every application stated that you should omit any traffic violations that are minor, i.e. speeding violations. I found it interesting that our society, well at least the lawyers view traffic offenses not detrimental to the integrity of the practice of the law. We consciously break the laws and when we get caught, we pay the fine for doing so. Why have these acts been deemed okay to commit while others like simple retail theft or minor drug possession leads to the possibility of not being admitted to law school or the state bar. If lawyers don't take traffic laws seriously, then how can we be expected to do so as normal citizens?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I have never been arrested for anything, neither anything drug or traffic related. Though I can understand your point in this entry: all laws, at some level, are important. Clearly something like killing someone is a worse crime than a traffic ticket, but respect for the law, the law as something greater than one's self, is what we must remember.
ReplyDeleteAre these disclosures for convictions or prosecutions? If prosecutions are treated as prohibitive, law schools seem to have little respect for the "innocent until proven guilty" principle.
ReplyDeleteI think that respect for the law is necessary for all people, especially those whose future is going to revolve around it. However, I do think that under certain circumstances some violations should be forgiven. When it comes to traffic tickets or speeding tickets, I think that the extent of these tickets and how frequent they have been should be taken into account. When someone has gotten several traffic tickets and don't have enough regard for the justice system to pay them in a timely manner or to learn their lesson, then a problem arises in their level of respect for the law.
ReplyDeleteI personally have gotten two traffic tickets throughout my lifetime and an underage drinking citation. The tickets were paid on time and the citation was expunged once I completed community service and alcohol classes. Now, I believe that in taking responsibility for my actions and taking the necessary measures to right my wrongs put me in a better sense of the law than those who have multiple run-ins and have neglected to take care of their mistakes. If the people who chose to work within the justice system cannot understand people's mistakes, then who is supposed to?
In response to Mr. Kurdys's question, law schools ask if you have ever been "arrested, charged, cited, accused, or prosecuted for any crime...or the subject of an investigation..." While I do find this interesting and agree that it is strange that you must disclose even an accusation and not traffic violations, there are two things to keep in mind. First, minor violations such as possession charges (of small amounts of course) do not preclude you from law school or the bar. As long as it happened in the past, the "I was a kid doing dumb things" excuse works just fine. Also, while I disagree with the logic here, they probably view traffic violations as too common to warrant significant attention.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the law should be looked at with respect and people should follow all laws. If laws are not respected then people will not follow anything and there will no deterrence from crimes. I do not think it’s a big deal that law schools do not ask students if they had any traffic violations. Minor crimes and misdemeanors are not really important and should not bar someone from law school. Everyone makes mistakes and it is an injustice to the system if people look to closely in telling that a person has bad character because of a speeding ticket. I do not think there are any problems with law schools not caring about minor offenses. They are irrelevant and petty citations that do not have much weight on your actions in society.
ReplyDelete