Bloomberg Businessweek - USA (2020-08-03)

◼ POLITICS Bloomberg Businessweek August 3, 2020

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eliminate.Onitsface,though,a NationalGarden

ofAmericanHeroesisa harmless,eventreacly

proposition—asalve,maybe,forAmericanstruly

painedbyimagesoftarnishedequestrianbronzes.

ButtheJune 26 directiveis darker,andfarmore

consequential.Theexecutiveordercontainsa pro-

visionenablingthesecretaryoftheDepartmentof

HomelandSecuritytodispatchfederalpoliceforces

“toassistwiththeprotectionofFederalmonuments,

memorials,statues,orproperty.”Investingfederal

agencies,includingtheDepartmentofJustice,with

thepowertosummonfederalpolice,evenover

objectionsfromlocalandstategovernments,it

servesasthestatutoryauthorityforDiligentValor,

theoperationata federalcourthouseinPortland.

(OnJuly29,DHSandOregonGovernorKateBrown

saidtheyhadagreedtoa withdrawalplan.)Attorney

GeneralWilliamBarrspentJuly 28 testifyingbefore

theHouseJudiciaryCommitteeonthedeployment,

amongothermatters.Atthehearing,Democratic

RepresentativeDavidCicillineofRhodeIslandsaid

federal“officersareusingabhorrenttactics”suchas

teargasagainstpeacefulprotesters;Barrresponded

thatsuchmethodsareneeded“todispersean

●Manystatesarestickingwithin-person

examsdespiteCovid-19risks

country.Atleasteightstatesrequiredtest-takersto

signwaiversagreeingnottosueif they’rehospital-

izedfromthedisease.California,Illinois,NewYork,

andotherstateshavemovedthetestonline,andsev-

eralaretinkeringwitha provisionallicensingsystem

thatwouldallowlawschoolgraduatestoworkasan

attorneyundersupervisionpriortopassingthebar.

“It’sbafflinganddispiritingthatsomestates

are defiant” about delaying their in-person

exams,despitetheclearhealthrisks,saysDaniel

Rodriguez, a professor atthe Northwestern

UniversityPritzkerSchoolofLaw.“It’sbeena real

mess.Thedisconformitydisservesus.”

The state-by-state disarray affectsroughly

45,000recentgraduatesofU.S.lawschools,who

typicallyplantotakeandpassthebarexamthe

summeraftergraduationsotheycanbelicensed

topracticelawimmediately.It’salsoraisedques-

tionsaboutthevalueoftheexam—whichsome

see asan important vetting tool and others

THEBOTTOMLINE Trumphasbecomethestatue-defender-in-

chief,usingmonumentsasa rationaleforcrackdownsanddecreeing

thecreationofa nationalstatuegarden.Sofar,votersaren’tbiting.

“Inept.

Incompetent.

Careless.

Reckless. You

know, they’re

not the ones

whose lives will

be put at risk”

Taking the Bar: Now Even

More Stressful

Britni Prybol graduated from law school in North

Carolina in May, eager to start a career as a patent

attorney. But she didn’t take the state’s bar exam

held on July 28 and 29. The two-time cancer sur-

vivor, who’s still getting hormonal chemotherapy

treatment, feared that sitting in the same place

for two days with hundreds of other test-takers

would put her at risk of contracting the corona-

virus and potentially spreading it to her husband

and 7-year-old son.

“We keep thinking North Carolina will do the

right thing,” Prybol says, referring to calls to move

the test online or offer temporary law licenses

during the pandemic. “It’s been so disheartening.

It’s made me question why I went to law school if

this profession is going to treat its newest mem-

bers this way.”

A total of 23 states, including North Carolina,

went ahead with in-person bar exams the last week

of July, even as cases of Covid-19 rose across the

unlawful assembly, and sometimesunfortunately

peacefulprotestersareaffectedaswell.”

Joe Biden’s sizable lead in presidential

preferencepollssuggeststheStatuedämmerung

is not high on the list of priorities among the vot-

ers Trump needs to win over. Ultimately, the presi-

dent seems to misunderstand not just why but also

how so many monuments are coming down. City

and state lawmakers are responsible for removing

more statues than angry crowds are: The prospect

of demonstrators leveling memorials has spurred

officials to follow through on past promises to

remove the more odious ones.

Take Birmingham. The day after protesters

pulled down the statue of Linn—on Jefferson Davis

Day, a state holiday in Alabama—the mayor ordered

that the nearby Confederate Soldiers & Sailors

Monument be removed as well. Although images

of toppled, graffiti-covered statues will no doubt be

among the enduring visuals of this era, cranes are

doing most of the work. �Kriston Capps