CALIFORNIA IN BRIEF : SAN FRANCISCO : Effort to Bar Slurs by Lawyers Fails

A six-year effort to get the State Bar to outlaw racially and sexually demeaning comments by lawyers has been sunk by the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling overturning a cross-burning law. Citing the court’s decision in June that a “hate crimes” law against racially offensive symbols violated free speech, a committee of the Bar’s Board of Governors refused to endorse a rule on discriminatory statements by lawyers. Some backers of the proposal contended that it was not covered by the high court ruling. But members of the Bar’s Education and Competence Committee concluded otherwise. Under the court’s new standard, “the principle of free speech is so strong that . . . you can’t regulate . . . denigrating speech and discriminatory speech,” Edward Kallgren, chairman of the committee, said.