Florida Ends ‘Fairness and Diversity’ Ethics Courses for Judges

Ethics training focusing on “fairness and diversity” will no longer qualify for judicial continuing legal education coursework credit, the Florida Supreme Court ruled Thursday.

The court in a separate decision also approved a change to state bar rules to eliminate new enrollees in the state’s antitrust specialty designation—a practice that went stagnant and hasn’t had an applicant in more than a decade.

The fairness and diversity ruling was unusual for two reasons. First, the court changed this requirement on its own motion, not after being pushed by an outside group. Second, the ruling garnered a dissent—something rarely seen in state ...