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St. Thomas University College of Law is no longer facing a threat from losing its accreditation over its religious views.
The Catholic law school based in Miami Gardens, Fla. said the American Bar Association removed two noncompliance notices, one of which concerned the university’s religious views.
“Today, St. Thomas University College of Law is achieving the strongest results in our history and providing an excellent legal education, grounded in Catholic values, that prepares our students for professional success and service to their communities,” College of Law Dean Tarlika Nuñez Navarro stated in a news release.
The accreditation followed public criticism from Attorney General James Uthmeier, who accused the ABA of discriminating against the law school for its religious beliefs.
“After two separate site visits by the Council of the Selection of Legal Education, the ABA determined STU Law was not in compliance with Standard 205(c)—suggesting that the school’s (religious) values raised questions about whether student organizations with different views would be treated appropriately,” Uthmeier wrote in a statement posted to X.
He criticized the ABA for its “repugnant policies” and suggested other accreditors would soon be coming to Florida to provide an alternative.
The attorney general did not respond to a request for comment in the past several weeks.
The law school accreditor gave comments to The College Fix prior to the decision to approve St. Thomas University.
“While the Council cannot comment on accreditation issues related to individual schools, our national accreditation standards work to ensure that law students in every state receive a quality legal education,” Jenn Perea told The Fix via email. She is the director of legal education and admission to the bar.
“The standards explicitly accommodate law schools with religious missions in the areas of freedom of speech, admissions and employment,” Perea said.
She also said “a number of schools with religious missions have met those standards and bear our accreditation.”
However, a legal expert told The Fix prior to the accreditation decision that the ABA suffers from a bias problem.
“The ABA has routinely used the threat of pulling a Law School’s accreditation to try to get schools to adopt their radical policies,” Zach Smith told The Fix via a phone interview.
“And so it’s good to see St. Thomas and other schools starting to stand their ground,” the Heritage Foundation senior legal fellow said.
He said the ABA also has a history of promoting abortion.
“I think it’s important too to put in perspective some of the ABA’s other very radical policies,” Smith said. “Keep in mind this is the same entity that is routinely weighed in favor of pro-abortion policies.”
Smith was referring to the fact that, among other instances, the ABA consistently releases statements in favor of abortion.
In a statement after the Supreme Court reversed the landmark Roe v. Wade decision, the group stated:“The American Bar Association remains committed to doing all it can to support reproductive choice.”
The Trump administration has also limited the role of the American Bar Association in rating federal judicial nominees, citing concerns about bias. The change, announced in May, removed a special privilege the ABA had, allowing them to access certain records of nominees.
Reuters reported that Trump’s nominees would be ignoring questionnaires sent by the group.
St. Thomas University law school did not respond to an email and phone request for comment in the past several weeks.
Prior to being accredited, the law school defended its record and criticized the noncompliance decision. The ABA also raised questions about the school’s financial health in its noncompliance notice.
“We strongly believe that we are in compliance with all ABA requirements and are disappointed in the recent decision questioning our nondiscrimination and equal opportunity policies,” the law school told the ABA Journal.
Editor’s note: The article has been updated with more info on who was contacted and via what methods.
MORE: Dept. of Ed. says higher ed accreditors have become ‘political weapon’
