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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has dismissed an Indiana man’s suit in which he claims he should be able to sit for the bar exam even if he didn’t go to law school. The federal appellate court dismissed it for failure to timely pay the required docketing fee.
Clarence K. Carter filed his suit against the Indiana Supreme Court and state Board of Law Examiners in March 2010, after a previous similar suit was dismissed for not paying the filing fee. Judge Tanya Walton Pratt dismissed Carter v. Chief Justice, et al., No. 1:10-CV-328, earlier this year for failure to state a claim that warrants relief.
Carter filed a motion in April for leave to proceed on appeal in forma pauperis. On May 17, the 7th Circuit denied the motion and ordered him to pay the fee by the end of the month or else the case would be dismissed pursuant to Circuit Rule 3(b). Carter filed another motion at the end of May asking the judges to reconsider. The 7th Circuit denied the motion to reconsider June 1 and dismissed the case June 10.
Carter’s suit argued that the Indiana Supreme Court and BLE violated his constitutional rights to due process and equal protection to sit for the bar exam. Carter had applied to several law schools but wasn’t accepted. Admission Rule 13 says that in order to sit for the exam, a person must graduate from an American Bar Association approved law school.
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