Florida’s attorney general is fighting on behalf of a Catholic law university in Miami Gardens that was cited by an American Bar Association-affiliated council for failing to comply with nondiscrimination and equal-opportunity rules.
In a November 6 letter to the ABA’s Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admission to the Bar, which accredits legal universities, Attorney General James Uthmeier came to the defense of St. Thomas University College School of Law, accusing the council of promoting “woke” policy values that violate the university’s right to free expression.
“… STU Law appears to be performing well academically and on other core metrics that the ABA should rightfully care about,” Uthmeier said in the letter to the council’s chairman, Daniel R. Thies. “The noncompliance finding did reveal one thing, however: the ABA’s animus toward religiously affiliated schools. This must stop.”
The letter accused the ABA of being in the leftist vanguard by espousing “pro-abortion” measures, pushing for “open borders” and advancing diversity, equity and inclusion policies.
“… The ABA has used its accreditation power to horsewhip legal education to the left, demanding that schools choose between abandoning their religious values and illegally discriminating or risk losing student funding and bar admission access,” Uthmeier said.
In a statement emailed to the Florida Record, Jenn Rosato Perea, the council’s director, stressed that the accreditation council is independent of other work performed by the ABA and that ABA statements and policies “are not reflective of the council’s work.”
In addition, Perea said the council cannot comment on accreditation issues related to specific law schools but stressed the accreditation standards are designed to ensure that law students receive a quality education.
“The standards explicitly accommodate law schools with religious missions in the areas of freedom of speech, admissions and employment, and a number of schools with religious missions have met those standards and bear our accreditation,” the statement says.
STU Law remains a fully accredited legal university, according to the ABA, despite the finding in August that it was out of compliance with equal-opportunity rules. Law school officials have also been asked to submit a report to the council and to potentially appeal before council members at their February 2026 meeting to resolve the council’s concerns.
St. Thomas University describes itself as an institution that encourages students to make social contributions that respect the values of compassion and faith. The school’s student body reflects a rich “cultural and international diversity,” and students have opportunities to work on behalf of global-justice issues, according to the university website.
The Florida Supreme Court has been reconsidering the ABA’s role in the Florida Bar’s admission process and created a work group to investigate other options for accrediting Florida law schools.
Uthmeier suggested the council’s treatment of STU Law may amount to a violation of Florida civil rights laws and that the council has forced other law schools to engage in “race- and sex-based discrimination” through the imposition of “diversity” mandates.
“The ABA may dislike Christian values, but it cannot withhold accreditation to coerce schools to adopt its repugnant policies,” Uthmeier said in a post of X, formerly Twitter.
