There are many things which will keep you from gaining admittance to a profession. Criminal history. Partial disclosure of past discretions. Drug use. Now we can add another. Too much debt.
Jonathon Glater over at the New York Times has the story of Robert Bowman, a law school grad who passed the bar exam in New York only to be refused admission because he was $400,000 in debt after years of education. He was not trying to escape his debt through bankruptcy or other means. He says he plans to repay these loans. But, shockingly, the New York bar has denied him the only avenue through which to repay these loans- the practice of law. Now, $400k is alot of money. But is it really an order of magnitude larger than other students who borrow to afford professional schools? New York’s courts have overlooked much more serious conduct (like solicitation of minors for sex, efforts to deceive judges and possession of cocaine). Those instances have led merely to temporary suspensions from practice. But not so for Bowman. The kicker is that he borrowed "only" $270,000, but through penalties and "servicing fees" the total has grown to $435,000 in two years. His case is compelling and complex, so please, read the article. But it seems to me that probation and not dismissal is the way to go here. What do you guys think?