These events often have a court tour component, which is the province of the bailiff’s offices. The students usually have a good time seeing their teachers put into irons and placed in the Court’s holding cells. Again, for obvious reasons, special security considerations apply when allowing students into the areas where criminal defendants may be held. We have found that such tours can only occur if no “in-custody” defendants are awaiting hearing or transport.

Now to the good part: a boatload of pizza and other food. Each Love the Law! event usually ends with judges, lawyers, support staff, and others sharing a meal with the students and teachers involved. The question-and-answer session usually continues during the meal. As one can imagine, some of the questions can be quite colorful. This part of the program is especially rewarding as every conversation is made better over pizza.

Diversity in Action

Love the Law! is a continuous work-in-progress to encourage diversity both internally and externally. Some of the inaugural programs were conducted with male-only legal professionals. The male-only aspect was not intentional. It was the practical reality of stumbling through the process of developing a good program for the students. The same was true for the inclusion of court staff and law enforcement personnel.

As time has gone on, Love the Law! has tailored events and participants with the help of student feedback to increase the diversity of legal professional involvement. For example, some of the female students expressed a deep interest in the law but noted that there were no female judges or lawyers to give their perspective. Other students noted that “it’s cool” that lawyers and judges presented; however, they would rather be a clerk or policeman or sheriff and were interested in the clerk’s and bailiff’s perspectives.

Today, judges, lawyers, court staff, and law enforcement of all genders, ages, and other demographic backgrounds are invited to participate in the programs. The more the better. We all have unique paths that we have taken to our respective places in the legal system.  Modeling alternative paths encourages people who might not otherwise consider the practice of law to consider it.

Events Across the State

            Love the Law! events have taken many shapes across the State. Love the Law! has hosted Boise High School students at the Idaho State Capitol Building, where students attended a Senate Judiciary and Rules Committee meeting. Shoshone Bannock Junior High and High School attended hearings at the Bingham County Courthouse. Lakeland High School attended hearings at the Kootenai County Courthouse. Skyview and Caldwell High School students spent a morning with Judge Dayo Onanubosi in Canyon County.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho has hosted events where students engaged in a panel discussion including Magistrate Judges, Assistant U.S. Attorneys, Probation Officers, the Deputy Chief U.S. Marshall, and the Federal Public Defender. Where an interest is raised, a Love the Law! event can be created to meet it.

Diversity in the Law School Pipeline Still Matters

Many people have asked us why the bench and bar would support such a program. There are many reasons beyond just helping kids who may not otherwise hear the message that they can succeed. Nationally, diversity in law school classes continues to increase. The national incoming class of law students in 2022 was the most racially and ethnically diverse class in history, including 36.6% students of color.[ii] This represents a 1.9% increase over 2021 and a 3.5% increase from 2019.[iii] In 2022, 57.7% of matriculants identified as Caucasian, 10.1% identified as two or more races, 9.4% identified as Hispanic/Latinx, 8.9% identified as Asian, and 7.8% identified as Black/African American.[iv]  For the 2022 class, approximately 14% identified as LGBQ+ and 0.6% self-identified as transgender, gender nonbinary, or genderqueer/gender fluid.[v]

Yet, as of 2021, diversity in law school enrollment still lags behind the minority share of the population and potential law school candidates (college graduates between the ages of 25-34) by roughly 10%.[vi] The University of Idaho College of Law also lags 2023 national statistics by roughly 7%, with 30% of the 2023 class identifying as a student of color.[vii] Nationwide, the largest disparity between the general population and law students is among students identifying as Black and Hispanic.[viii] Further, minority law students continue to graduate from law school at lower levels.[ix] The data suggests that efforts to increase the diversity of the law school pipeline are still worth our time.

That is not to say that Idaho lacks diversity. Idaho has a strong history of perseverance through adversity that is on-par with any other place on this Earth. Its people are hard-working, generous, and noble – regardless of background. But the value of diversity cannot be over emphasized. Increased diversity in the legal profession is tied to increased public trust and confidence in the legal system as a whole.[x] There is also a statistically significant correlation between superior performance in the profitability of organizations and the increased diversity in leadership teams for those organizations.[xi] It helps participants in both the legal profession and the legal system to know that the judicial branch of government is not controlled by a single race, gender, sexual orientation, or any other social category in which we might put ourselves.