Accessing the Legal Playing Field: Examining the Race-Conscious Affirmative Action Legal Debate Through the Eyes of the Council of Legal Education Opportunity (CLEO) Program

This Article critically analyzes the evolution of the race-conscious affirmative action legal debate in higher education since the 1970s, with a particular emphasis on law school admission policies. Additionally, this Article examines how legal cases and anti-affirmative action policies correlate with the present function and future viability of a once federally mandated race-conscious affirmative action program, the Council on Legal Education Opportunity (CLEO). Part I of this Article outlines some of the historical barriers of underrepresented racial minorities in the legal profession. Part II explains the development of the CLEO program during the 1960s and its growth during the 1970s. Part III discusses the evolution of the affirmative action legal debate from the 1970s until the 2003 University of Michigan affirmative- action cases and evaluates the relationship between the escalating legal debate and the changes in the CLEO program over the past thirty years. Part IV of the Article is a summary on the feasibility of the CLEO program as well as the future of law school admissions for students of color, namely black students