Latest Case: United States v. Benoit (Criminal Law)

What About the Bar Exam After the 2020 Dust Settles?

VIKRAM DAVID AMAR

Illinois law dean and professor Vikram David Amar comments on some of the questions commentators and analysts are, or will soon be, asking—specifically why we have bar exams for legal licensure, and, assuming we retain them, what they should look like going forward. Amar observes the limitations of the so-called diploma privilege advocated by some and suggests that states adopt greater interstate uniformity in their bar exams, shift toward more performance (as opposed to memorization) exams, and move away from being so time pressured.

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United States v. Benoit

Docket: 19-1476

Opinion Date: September 17, 2020

Judge: Ojetta Rogeriee Thompson

Areas of Law: Criminal Law

The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's conviction of one count of transporting child pornography and one count of possessing child pornography, holding that Defendant's sentence was substantively reasonable and that the district court did not abuse its discretion when it imposed two special conditions of supervised release. Defendant pleaded guilty without a plea agreement. After a hearing, the district court sentenced Defendant to 156 months in prison and imposed conditions of supervised release that included restrictions on Defendant's contact with children. The First Circuit affirmed, holding (1) Defendant's 156-month sentence was not outside the universe of reasonable sentences; and (2) there was a sufficient relationship between Defendant's criminal conduct and the conditions limiting his contact with his son.