The rationale for belonging to La Raza

A comment in the Wall Street Journal is a perfect illustration of why an ambitious attorney and judge would be part of La Raza Lawyer's Association.

The judge may not be a member of "bad" groups, because of ethics and professional, judicial employment reasons. Being a member of a legally distinct group is a technicality that the judge may trot out to explain away membership and still remain in bounds ethically.

HOWEVER, since 100% of the population infers that LR Lawyers is de facto LR membership, the desired effect is achieved. He is "one of us" for those who care about such matters.

It is extremely duplicitous, and in my book, it ought to be shunned in the highest judicial circles--at least the Senate could use that as a non-confirmation criteria.

Being a member of an ethnic affiliation group is not problematic per se. What becomes problematic is when the group "advocates", and even more so if the demographic is a sizable fraction of the population. The likelihood of a built-in conflict of interest increases dramatically with the size of the demographic.

Translation: if you're a member of KKK Lawyers Association but the group says it's not part of the "bad" KKK you send the message to racists that you care about their issues. If the KKK is some fringe group whose membership can meet in a phone both that's not a big issue. It becomes a big issue if a large part of the population is racist. Now your bigotry is amplified and justified by a lot of people. That how people get lynched and the murderers are never convicted.