Access to Justice
Proposal for one-year degree for criminal justice lawyers rejected by Arizona Supreme Court
A proposal to allow graduates of a special one-year program to prosecute or represent criminal defendants has been rejected by the Arizona Supreme Court. (Image from Shutterstock)
A proposal to allow graduates of a special one-year program to prosecute or represent criminal defendants has been rejected by the Arizona Supreme Court.
The proposal by Arizona’s Administrative Office of the Courts would have created a master of legal studies degree that focuses on courses needed to practice criminal law, report Capitol Media Services via KAWC and Reuters. Graduates with a minimum B grade average who pass special licensing exams would have been allowed to work in criminal law.
Dave Byers, the director of the administrative office, told Reuters that the proposal that he advanced received “considerable pushback from the stakeholders.”
His plan was axed before preparation of a formal proposal or a pilot program to test it.
The idea was intended to send more people into rural areas to practice criminal law. Chief Justice Ann Scott Timmer told Capitol Media Services that the state supreme court recognized the unfilled need, particularly in rural areas, and that is why it told Byers to explore the proposal.
She acknowledged, however, that she had doubts about the plan, given the Sixth Amendment’s guarantee of right to competent counsel.
One other solution to the lawyer shortage, already in the works, is a four-year, part-time path to a law degree offered online at the Arizona State University College of Law. The school will offer the program beginning in January.
Another program, already adopted, allows those who come within 10 points of a passing score on the bar exam to get a law license after two years of supervised practice in a position with government or a nonprofit or in a rural area.
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