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The Thurgood Marshall School of Law (TMSL) is an ABA-accredited law school at Texas Southern University in Houston, Texas. It awards Juris Doctor and Master of Law degrees. Thurgood Marshall School of Law is a member-school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund and Association of American Law Schools.
The history of TMSL can be traced back to a 1946 lawsuit implicating protections for racial minorities under the U.S. Constitution, Sweatt v. Painter, brought by Heman M. Sweatt, and tried by Thurgood Marshall.[4] The Texas Constitution mandated separate but equal facilities for whites and blacks. Sweatt was refused admission to the University of Texas School of Law because he was black. In order to pre-empt the possibility of Sweatt obtaining a successful court order, the legislature passed Texas State Senate Bill 140, which established a university to offer courses of higher learning in law, pharmacy, dentistry, journalism, education, arts and sciences, literature, medicine, and other professional courses. It opened in 1946 as the "Texas State University for Negroes," and later changed its name in Texas Southern University in 1951.
In 2016, TMSL began to offer a Master of Laws in Immigration and Naturalization Law. The program is the first Masters of Law program in the nation to focus on immigration law.[5]
In 2017, The American Bar Association (ABA) formally censured the school as "being out of compliance with its nondiscrimination standard as well as the standard that requires disclosure of information to the ABA. More specifically, an ABA site visit team found evidence of gender discrimination and sexual harassment at the law school" and was "required to establish a plan to eliminate gender discrimination and sex harassment." Months prior, the ABA had also "found Texas Southern (TMSL) out of compliance with the standards meant to ensure schools only admit students who appear capable of graduating and passing the bar."[6] In 2020, the ABA concluded TMSL is in compliance with all accreditation standards.[7]
For 2024, the law school is ranked No. 180-196, by U.S. News & World Report.[8]
As of October, 2021, 50% of the student body was African-American, 5% Asian-American, 9% White, 30% Hispanic, and 6% Other.
Of the 1,745 students who applied to TMSL to start in fall 2021, 666 were accepted (for a 38% admission rate), and 11% of those offered admission enrolled. These enrolled students had an average LSAT score of 151, and an average college GPA of 3.10.[9]
For July 2023 first time takers, TMSL students had a bar examination passage rate of 63.45%.[3]
According to Thurgood Marshall's official 2022 ABA-required disclosures, 53% of the Class of 2022 obtained full-time, long-term, JD-required employment nine months after graduation.[10]
The total estimated cost of attendance (indicating the cost of tuition, fees) at Thurgood Marshall for the 2018-2019 academic year is $43,095 for residents and $50,318 for nonresidents.[9]
The TMSL Library housed within the law school building has over 350,000 volumes and volume equivalents.[11]
- Earl Carl Institute for Legal and Social Justice, Inc.: An institute dedicated to identifying potential implementable solutions to legal and social issues disproportionately impacting minority communities
- Center for Legal Pedagogy: It serves as a study and creation center of instructional design for legal education
- Institute for International and Immigration Law: An institute dedicated to providing specialized academic and practical legal training for students planning a career in international or immigration law[12]
- Thurgood Marshall Law Review - The law review was established in 1970 and is a legal research and writing forum for legal scholars and practitioners from around the world.
- The Thurgood Marshall School of Law Gender, Race, and Justice Law Journal - A student-run organization whose primary purpose is to publish a journal of legal scholarship.
Notable graduates of TSML include the following:
- Roberto R. Alonzo (J.D., 1984), Member of the Texas House of Representatives
- Stephanie Flowers, Attorney and member of the Arkansas State Senate and former state representative from Pine Bluff, Arkansas[13]
- Sylvia Garcia, Former Member of the Texas Senate, 6th District (Houston) and U.S. Representative for Texas Congressional District 29
- Al Green, (J.D., 1974), U.S. Representative for 9th Congressional District of Texas
- Kenneth M. Hoyt, Senior United States District Judge
- Hank Johnson, (J.D. 1979), U.S. Representative for 4th Congressional District of Georgia
- Harry E. Johnson, President and CEO of Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Project Memorial Foundation
- Leslie D. King, Mississippi Supreme Court Justice
- Chokwe Antar Lumumba (J.D. 2008), Mayor of Jackson, Mississippi, the state capital & largest city in the state
- Colion Noir, lawyer and gun rights activist.
- Morris Overstreet, First African-American elected to statewide office in Texas
- Belvin Perry (J.D., 1977), Chief judge in the Florida's Ninth Judicial Circuit,[14] presiding judge for the high-profile Casey Anthony murder trial.
- Senfronia Thompson, Member of the Texas House of Representatives
- Craig Washington (J.D., 1969), Former U.S. Congressman, 18th District (Texas).[15]
- Brian C. Wimes, Federal judge[16]
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