Law students offered therapy in wake of recent US Supreme Court rulings

Listen to this article

By Steve Schuster
[email protected]

Feeling anxious? Depressed?

Three recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings apparently have some law students on edge (not to mention probably many practicing attorneys, professors and the general public).

In the wake of the recent decisions impacting affirmative action, religious freedom and student debt forgiveness, Boston University School of Law students were offered therapy, according to a written statement issued by BU Law Student Government Association’s (SGA), FOX News reported.

As previously reported, The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday struck down affirmative action in college admissions, restricting higher education institutions from considering race in college admissions, according to court documents obtained by the Wisconsin Law Journal.

Also as previously reported, the Supreme Court used the case of a Christian mailman who didn’t want to work Sundays to solidify protections for workers who ask for religious accommodations. In a unanimous decision the justices made clear that workers who ask for accommodations, such as taking the Sabbath off, should get them unless their employers show doing so would result in “substantial increased costs” to the business.

According to the statement, the law school is not directly providing therapy for students, but merely providing guidance for the psychotherapy resources already available.

In response to the Court’s ruling on affirmative action, the association wrote, “As many of our students know and Justice Sotomayor says in her dissent, ‘ignoring race will not equalize a society that is racially unequal.'”

Local Attorney reaction

In response to BU Law’s suggestion of therapy regarding recent Supreme Court verdicts, Milwaukee attorney Michael Hupy said, “Sick! You must be kidding.”

“What would these lawyers do if they had to stand next to a client convicted of first-degree murder at the time of his sentencing. What would they do if they worked for the innocence project and they knew their client was in jail for 11 years for a crime he did not commit?” Hupy asked.