MORNING RANT: There’s a Growing Preference Cascade for More Red States to Revoke the ABA’s Monopoly on Law School Accreditation

Among the most powerful institutions captured by the left is the American Bar Association, with its monopoly power on law school accreditation. Until very recently, a degree from an ABA-accredited law school was necessary in all 50 states to be able to take the bar exam. Concurrently, the ABA had become radically left-wing, imposing its agenda on law schools. For instance, to maintain accreditation, the ABA had imposed a requirement that law schools demonstrate a commitment to diversity and inclusion, with statistical proof that its faculty and student bodies were diverse with respect to gender, race, and ethnicity.

As I documented at The American Spectator, Texas and Florida recently ended the ABA’s monolithic power, at least in those two states, and that the action of the two big red states should be a spark for other red states to follow suit. Specifically, ”The liberation of Texas and Florida law schools from mandatory, ABA-enforced woke orthodoxy is a major milestone. Other conservative states should quickly follow suit, helping accelerate the nullification of the ABA’s authority into a broad preference cascade.”

That preference cascade appears to be under way. The bright red state of Tennessee may be the next to defenestrate the ABA.

The Tennessee Supreme Court recently reached out to the Federal Trade Commission, seeking advice regarding the state’s reliance on the monopoly accrediting agency. Joined by the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee, the FTC has just assertively advocated for revoking the ABA’s monopoly in the state.

“FTC Urges Tennessee Supreme Court to Oppose the ABA’s Law School Accreditation Monopoly” [FTC Press Release – 5/01/2026]

Federal Trade Commission staff urged the Tennessee Supreme Court yesterday to open law school accreditation to competition by reducing its reliance on the American Bar Association (ABA) in determining which law schools provide sufficient education for their graduates to take the Tennessee bar examination. The letter was joined by the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee and officials at the Department of Justice, Antitrust Division.

Responding to the court’s invitation to comment on whether it should “modify, reduce, or eliminate” its reliance on the ABA, the letter recommended reforms to the current process.

Here is a link to the full FTC letter, which is also signed by Braden Boucek, the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee.

While I’m not sure there should even be accrediting agencies – bar exam results should be the proof of whether a law school is doing its job well – I can state with authority that the imprimatur of the ABA should be considered a demerit for a law school. The American Bar Association is so comically partisan that when Joe Biden tweeted that the 28th Amendment (“Equal Rights Amendment”) was now the law of the land, the ABA lent its support, urging ”all bar associations and the legal community as a whole to support implementation of the ERA” in accordance with Biden’s tweet.

Every red state governor needs to start being asked what actions are necessary in his or her state to eliminate the ABA’s accreditation monopoly, and to be pressed for a deadline to get it done. The preference cascade against the ABA is picking up speed, and it should soon be a badge of shame for any red state to still allow the ABA to retain control over its law schools.

[buck.throckmorton at protonmail dot com]

posted by Buck Throckmorton at 11:00 AM

| Access Comments