Lawyers object to ‘cruel’ DC Bar face mask rule for 12-hour exam

The Washington, D.C., bar exam will require test takers to wear a mask for the duration of the 12-hour exam, prompting some lawyers to condemn the requirement as unnecessary and burdensome.

The mask requirement was included in a memo sent to applicants for the professional legal test and applies to the upcoming test date in July. The existence of the memo was reported by the Washington Free Beacon.

LIBERALS BLAME REPUBLICANS, NOT BIDEN, FOR THEIR PURSUIT OF DEBT CEILING ‘PLAN B’

The mask mandate comes as Washington has abandoned all mask and social distancing mandates. Masks are no longer required in schools or in federal buildings, and the federal COVID-19 emergency is over.

The test’s masking requirement drew harsh words from a pair of attorneys who said masking will needlessly complicate a test that is notoriously difficult.

“Sitting for the bar exam is stressful enough! It is sadly ironic, since lawyers need to think rationally and weigh risks for themselves,” Jeff Stier, a senior fellow at the Consumer Choice Center, told the Washington Examiner.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

Ilya Shapiro, a senior fellow and the director of constitutional studies at the Manhattan Institute, decried the mask requirement as “cruel” and said he hopes test takers sue to nullify it.

“The technical legal term for this policy is ‘insane,’” Shapiro told the Washington Examiner. “Not only is the pandemic over, with (less harmful variants of) COVID endemic among other coronaviruses in our ecosystem, [but] masks have been shown to be an ineffective method of preventing transmission, particularly over long periods of time. To add this concentration-reducing burden to one of the most stressful professional experiences around is cruel. I hope test-takers sue the D.C. Bar.”

The Washington Examiner reached out to the D.C. Bar for comment.