Following up on my previous post, ‘White Students Not Eligible to Apply’: ABA Sued Over Race-Based Law School Scholarship:  Reuters, ABA Defends Its Diversity Scholarships as Protected Free Speech:

The American Bar Association said on Monday that a scholarship program designed to boost diversity among law students is protected free speech, in a bid to toss a lawsuit brought by a prominent conservative group alleging the program is discriminatory.

The ABA’s 25-year-old Legal Opportunity Scholarship is protected under the First Amendment, the organization said in a motion to dismiss filed in an Illinois federal court. The ABA also claimed that plaintiff American Alliance for Equal Rights lacks standing to sue.

“The ABA has a First Amendment right to distribute funds as it deems appropriate, consistent with its organizational goals,” the motion said.

The Alliance, which is led by anti-affirmative action activist Edward Blum, had sued the ABA in April alleging that the Legal Opportunity Scholarship program discriminates against white applicants because they are ineligible to apply.

The Alliance said it is representing an unnamed white male law school applicant who alleges he would apply for the $15,000 scholarship were he eligible. The ABA awards between 20 and 25 such scholarships annually to incoming law students, according to its motion to dismiss.

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