Via @BarExamTracker, this news that the Arizona board of bar examiners is telling candidates to refrain from bringing any tampons or pads with them on the day of the exam.
The complete Arizona information for candidates is here.
This policy is problematic for so many reasons. Will products be available for all who need them? What if they run out? If the products are only in “women’s restrooms,” what about the needs of trans and gender non-binary folks who don’t use women’s restrooms? What precisely are the bar examiners worried about? Do the bar examiners understand how menstrual products work, who needs them and why? I know that state bar examiners have monopolies of sorts, but dictating (in effect, via availability) the tampons that a person must use if they need to change a tampon during the exam takes it way too far.
Cat Moon (Vanderbilt) is gathering information here about different state bar examiners’ policies prohibiting candidates from bringing menstrual products into the exam. Looks like Arizona is not the only state with an absolute ban on menstrual products.
Some states (sensibly) require candidates to place their belongings–tampons included–in a clear ziplock bag. That’s reasonable and no problem in my view. But an absolute ban on menstrual products is absurd.
H/T Ruthann Robson (CUNY), Marcy Karin (UDC) and Alexandra Roberts (New Hampshire)
You can follow folks here:
- Cat Moon @inspiredcat
- Ruthann Robson @RobsonConLaw
- Marcy Karin @ProfessorMLK
- Alexandra Roberts @lexlanham
