The California Law Review, a law journal affiliated with the University of California, Berkeley, reportedly continues to factor diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) into its hiring decisions, rather than solely experience, according to a report from the Washington Free Beacon. The report, published Monday, cited several applications to the journal's admissions committee as evidence.
The Law Review selects eight editors annually to evaluate candidates based on objective criteria. However, the language in applications submitted between 2023 and 2026 appears to indicate a different evaluation process, the Free Beacon reported.
One former member of the Holistic Review Committee, Clemencia Garcia-Kasimirowski, wrote in her 2024 application that "the law school process... disadvantages diverse candidates." She claimed that "people of color overwhelmingly score lower on standardized testing than their white peers" and that large lectures "disadvantage people of color." Garcia-Kasimirowski also stated that "grades" for undergraduate and law school ignore students who must work to support themselves.
Garcia-Kasimirowski expressed her commitment to the Holistic Review Committee, stating it demonstrates the Law Review's dedication to an "equitable lens" for an "inequitable process." She added that a more diverse group of students on the journal "makes us better, both substantively and through community." The committee grades such statements after an initial editing test, with these statements accounting for 30 percent of an applicant's score. Candidates were prompted to describe how their "background, life or work experiences, culture, or perspectives would contribute to the diversity" of the publication.
Another former editor, Maya Parthasarathy, who joined the selection committee in 2025, reportedly stated that she had dropped grade considerations for new hires at Politico after realizing its newsroom "lacked the diversity necessary to reduce bias and improve our content." Parthasarathy also claimed that candidates who narrowly passed an editing test were still accepted based on "strengths they showed in other parts of their applications, and experiences they would bring to the table." She asserted that during her tenure at Politico, the team grew from one person of color to 50 percent hires from underrepresented backgrounds.
The Free Beacon further reported that two other editors sought positions on the submission committee with the explicit aim of increasing Native American applicants. One editor reportedly vowed to ensure that "students like the girl from my tribe can look to law review journals and feel represented."
These statements are allegedly "often the deciding factor in the admissions process" and are being used "to bypass bans on affirmative action," the report asserted. The Supreme Court effectively banned race-conscious affirmative action in college admissions in 2023.
The California Law Review operates separately from UC Berkeley School of Law, though two professors sit on its board of directors, according to the Free Beacon.