Facing the Klieg Lights: Understanding the "Good Moral Character"
Facing the Klieg Lights: Understanding the "Good Moral Character"
Facing the Klieg Lights: Understanding the "Good Moral Character"
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CLEMENSFINAL.DOC<br />
3/30/2007 12:51:01 PM<br />
290 AKRON LAW REVIEW [40:255<br />
take responsibility and could prevent a finding of rehabilitation. 365<br />
C. Mental Illness and Treatment<br />
1. Dealing With <strong>the</strong> Stress of Law School<br />
First-year law-school exams are difficult. 366 Many students seek<br />
counseling for depression or anxiety: “In 1993, one law school reported<br />
that twenty-six percent of all first-year law students who were surveyed<br />
acknowledged that <strong>the</strong>y had ei<strong>the</strong>r been diagnosed or received some<br />
form of treatment for a mental illness at least once in <strong>the</strong>ir lives.” 367 Yet,<br />
stress continues after law school in <strong>the</strong> work realm, where yielding to<br />
temptation could lead to disbarment and incarceration. 368 Law-school<br />
stress foreshadows future stress due to long hours and multiple job<br />
pressures. 369<br />
Ideally, mental health should not impact <strong>the</strong> character examination,<br />
except to <strong>the</strong> extent it relates to misconduct. The bar’s mental health<br />
questions are somewhat separate from morality. 370 The scope of <strong>the</strong>se<br />
questions has narrowed recently, as society has recognized that mental<br />
health is disconnected from morality and is covered by laws prohibiting<br />
discrimination against those with a disability.<br />
2. Scrutiny of Mental Health Treatment<br />
Applicants usually must disclose all mental health treatment, with<br />
only eight states not inquiring. 371 For example, <strong>the</strong> Florida Bar’s 2004<br />
365. Blum, supra note 169, at § 17; see also infra Parts III.F, IV.<br />
366. Adam J. Shapiro, Defining The Rights Of Law Students With Mental Disabilities, 58 U.<br />
MIAMI L. REV. 923, 923 (2004).<br />
367. Id. at 925 (citing Jon Bauer, The Character of <strong>the</strong> Questions and <strong>the</strong> Fitness of <strong>the</strong><br />
Process: Mental Health, Bar Admissions and <strong>the</strong> Americans with Disabilities Act, 49 UCLA L.<br />
REV. 93, 105 (2001)).<br />
368. MILTON C. REGAN JR., EAT WHAT YOU KILL 60-62 (Univ. of Mich. Press 2004).<br />
369. Janet Piper Voss, Helping Lawyers, Judges & Law Students: Lawyers’ Assistance<br />
Program Celebrates 25 Years, 19-OCT CBA Rec. 49 (2005).<br />
370. See, Herr, supra note 20.<br />
371. Shapiro, supra note 366, at 939 (citing Phyllis Coleman & Ronald A. Shellow, Ask about<br />
Conduct, Not Mental Illness: A Proposal for Bar Examiners and Medical Boards to Comply with<br />
<strong>the</strong> ADA and Constitution, 20 J. LEGIS. 147 (1994); Deborah Landan Spranger, Are State Bar<br />
Examiners Crazy?: The Legality of Mental Health Questions on Bar Applications Under <strong>the</strong><br />
Americans with Disabilities Act, 65 U. CIN. L. REV. 255, 256 n.8 (1996) (noting that <strong>the</strong>se eight<br />
states include Arizona, Massachusetts, Hawaii, Illinois, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Utah, and<br />
Virginia.)).