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Four state lawmakers have called on the California Supreme Court to immediately drop the score required to pass the bar exam, saying the test has a "racially discriminatory impact" on would-be lawyers.

In a June 18 letter to justices, the Democratic lawmakers cite the historically low 26.8% pass rate on the February exam. While half of whites taking the exam for the first time passed, the success rates for Asian applicants (28%), Latinos (25%) and African Americans (18%) were markedly lower.

"Most alarmingly, only five percent of Black first-time bar exam takers who graduated California ABA-accredited law schools passed," according to the letter signed by Assembly Judiciary Chairman Mark Stone, D-Scotts Valley, Public Safety Chairman Reginald Jones-Sawyer, Latino Caucus Chairwoman Lorena Gonzalez and Legislative Black Caucus Chairwoman Shirley Weber.

California requires a score of at least 1,440 out of a possible 2,000 to pass, the second-highest mark in the nation behind Delaware's 1,450. The lawmakers asked the court to set the passing score at no more than 1,388.

The lawmakers cited bar statistics showing that if the passing score, or "cut" score, had been reduced to 1,390 on tests administered between February 2009 and February 2019, 5% more white test-takers, 8% more Latinos, 7% more Asians and 13% more blacks would have passed the exam.

"These data make clear that the California bar exam, like similar standardized tests, has a racially discriminatory impact on all people of color, but particularly on Black test takers," the letter said.

A spokesman for the Supreme Court did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The state Supreme Court has been besieged for years now with calls to lower the cut score as California's success rate lags behind other states and a majority of test-takers regularly fail the test. The court, however, refused in 2017 to lower the score immediately, noting studies of the exam were underway by the state bar.

In May, the bar announced that it was working with the California Supreme Court to form a "blue ribbon commission" that would review all the bar's studies and make recommendations to the justices about what should be included on future bar exams and how they should be scored. The commission's membership has not yet been announced.

Lawmakers said they were pleased with the commission's mandate.

" However, the time to take bold action to eliminate racial bias in California is now," they wrote. "Given that the California Bar Exam is designed to test the minimal competence for the first year of law practice and not to create an artificial barrier to entrance into the legal profession, or reflect an optimal level of competence, it is only reasonable to select the lowest passing score that ensures minimal competence and does not discriminate against people of color."

The lawmakers say that score should be 1,388, at least until the commission finishes its work. The number comes from a 2017 bar-commissioned study, which concluded that a cut score set between 1,388 and 1,504 would be statistically valid.

The letter also asks the court to help 2020 law school graduates by allowing them to practice law "with appropriate oversight" while deciding when and how the fall 2020 bar exam will be administered. The lawmakers did not endorse diploma privilege or any specific method that would allow graduates who have not yet taken the bar exam to practice.

The Supreme Court asked the bar in April to postpone the July 2020 bar exam until September and to consider whether to administer it online due to COVID-19 social-distancing rules. The court on June 11 raised the prospect of pushing back the test to October to coincide with an online offering of the Multistate Bar Exam.