# Beryl\_Mooncalf Resurfaces, Tries To Pass California Bar **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 8, 2005, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beryl_mooncalf-resurfaces-tries-to-pass-california-bar/307496 "2005-06-08T19:45:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beryl_mooncalf-resurfaces-tries-to-pass-california-bar/307496/1 "2005-06-08T19:45:29Z")
At least, it sounds like [him](http://www.lawschool.com/imputedresponse.htm). The above link is to a law student’s impassioned diatribe against the California Bar after failing the bar exam and being told that his score on one section had been imputed from his other scores rather than scored directly, because of the theft of several answer booklets. Based on the letter, I’d say it’s safe to assume he wasn’t right on the cusp of passing… ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beryl_mooncalf-resurfaces-tries-to-pass-california-bar/307496/2 "2005-06-08T19:47:12Z")
Wow. He should not be allowed to practice law simply on the basis of his lousy writing ability. The guy has the intellectual capacity of a butterbean. Robin ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beryl_mooncalf-resurfaces-tries-to-pass-california-bar/307496/3 "2005-06-08T19:47:26Z")
It sounds a lot like him. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beryl_mooncalf-resurfaces-tries-to-pass-california-bar/307496/4 "2005-06-08T20:00:35Z")
Whoever it is has the chops for an amazing career in pro se litigation ahead of him. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beryl_mooncalf-resurfaces-tries-to-pass-california-bar/307496/5 "2005-06-08T20:00:44Z")
> [@Pseudo-Beryl](#): > > _ **NO SANE HUMAN BEING COULD MAKE THIS UP!** _ Can’t argue with that. ---
**Author:** ![Maendosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ebca7d/32.png) [@Maendosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maendosa)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beryl_mooncalf-resurfaces-tries-to-pass-california-bar/307496/6 "2005-06-08T20:05:02Z")
Hahaaha, _ **WHAT A BEAUTIFUL EXAMPLE OF SHEER, OVER THE TOP LOONY!** _ ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beryl_mooncalf-resurfaces-tries-to-pass-california-bar/307496/7 "2005-06-08T20:05:42Z")
Waitaminute…no, he doesn’t seem like he could have passed, but is this what they really do for the bar? If a piece goes missing because of you, they penalize YOU for it? Guess at your grade? I guess I never heard of this before. How do they guess it? ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beryl_mooncalf-resurfaces-tries-to-pass-california-bar/307496/8 "2005-06-08T20:06:07Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > At least, it sounds like [him](http://www.lawschool.com/imputedresponse.htm). Huh. You may be right. Hard to imagine there are two out there like that, isn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beryl_mooncalf-resurfaces-tries-to-pass-california-bar/307496/9 "2005-06-08T20:07:51Z")
What a **BRUTAL USE OF CAPS** which **GAVE ME A HEADACHE** and **SHOULD BE ACTIONABLE** on that score alone. “As you know security at the exam site is so strict that a watch with a digital face is grounds for automatic failure. We are searched, prodded, fingerprinted, have handwriting samples taken and treated as criminals…” This is an injustice. The time for treating them as criminals is _after_ passing the bar. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beryl_mooncalf-resurfaces-tries-to-pass-california-bar/307496/10 "2005-06-08T20:10:11Z")
Well, at least he was polite enough to thank them for their time and attention. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beryl_mooncalf-resurfaces-tries-to-pass-california-bar/307496/11 "2005-06-08T20:14:08Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > " being told that his score on one section had been imputed from his other scores rather than scored directly, because of the theft of several answer booklets." To me, that sounds like a polite way of saying, “We lost one of your questions but you punted the rest of the exam so badly that it just didn’t matter.” ---
**Author:** ![Syntropy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@Syntropy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Syntropy)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beryl_mooncalf-resurfaces-tries-to-pass-california-bar/307496/12 "2005-06-08T20:18:55Z")
> [@](#): > > State Bar will now come after me with a vengeance. Everyone knows that the Bar will “BLACKBALL ANYONE WHO CONFRONTS THEM!” They rule Attorneys through FEAR AND INTIMIDATION! (80% OF THEIR REVENUE COMES THROUGH DISCIPLINARY ACTIONS AGAINST ATTORNEYS!) The California State Bar runs a racketeering operation? Who knew? I tried to read as much of it as I could, but the ALL CAPS UNDERLINED EXCLAMATION POINT!!! was beginning to hurt. Well that, and I was laughing and people were beginning to look at me and wonder why I was having so much fun at work. This man is 53 years old? I’m amazed he hasn’t given himself a heart attack already. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beryl_mooncalf-resurfaces-tries-to-pass-california-bar/307496/13 "2005-06-08T20:20:59Z")
> [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > Whoever it is has the chops for an amazing career in pro se litigation ahead of him. Or jailhouse appeals. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beryl_mooncalf-resurfaces-tries-to-pass-california-bar/307496/14 "2005-06-08T20:21:13Z")
He sounds like he’s crazy, and ignorant of the law. Even I, as a lay person, know that stuff like intellectual property and the First Amendment don’t come into it. So I doubt if this guy cold have passed the exam. However, unless his other results were so bad that the missing answers could not have made up for them, he should have been given a chance to retake the missing parts of the test. (But perhaps he was indeed so bad on the other parts that they didn’t think this was worth doing, and saying that “his/her score would be imputed” is just a polite way of putting that). ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beryl_mooncalf-resurfaces-tries-to-pass-california-bar/307496/15 "2005-06-08T20:24:03Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > “As you know security at the exam site is so strict that a watch with a digital face is grounds for automatic failure. We are searched, prodded, fingerprinted, have handwriting samples taken and treated as criminals…” > > This is an injustice. The time for treating them as criminals is _after_ passing the bar. 😃 hell. I remember going through nearly all that centuries ago just taking the LSAT. I’d have thought by now they’d ask for DNA samples, first born and bone marrow. ---
**Author:** ![anu-la1979](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/47e85d/32.png) [@anu-la1979](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anu-la1979)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beryl_mooncalf-resurfaces-tries-to-pass-california-bar/307496/16 "2005-06-08T20:26:49Z")
Aanamika-the CA Bar is made up of essays, the multi-state and a closed library (they give you all the materials, you don’t know the law) “performance exam.” I suspect what happened was that they imputed his scores from the essays based on the calibre of his writing. I tried to get through his diatribe but I couldn’t. I’m going to sit for the CA Bar in a month and a half and I really doubt I would be all that happy about it myself-apparently (according to my Bar/Bri class on writing) what a lot of people do is overwrite one essay (typically torts) and then end up not having as much time on the others so the fact that you wrote one crappily doesn’t necessarily mean that all of your others sucked but you’re heavily discouraged from overwriting and its supposed to be part of your pre-Bar prep that you don’t. On the other hand, if his scores totalled below a 1390 he’s an automatic fail anyway. The only way it could have made any difference is if he was between 1390 and 1466 in which case it would have gone through 2nd or 3rd phase grading so unless those points would have pushed him into middle-ground additional review it seems pointless to make such a fuss (and fool of yourself). ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ea5d25/32.png) [@Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Scrappy_Hero_Pup)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beryl_mooncalf-resurfaces-tries-to-pass-california-bar/307496/17 "2005-06-08T20:32:38Z")
[“I AM FIRMLY CONVINCED THAT USING UPPERCASE LETTERS MAKES MY WRITING MORE EFFECTIVE.” - Mr. Ibrahim Ahmed](http://j-walk.com/other/conf/) Looks like somebody got some use out of the conference after all. ---
**Author:** ![Billdo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/billdo/32/315_2.png) [@Billdo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billdo)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beryl_mooncalf-resurfaces-tries-to-pass-california-bar/307496/18 "2005-06-08T20:57:36Z")
Lest _you_ think that **only BAR-FAILING LOONIES** write with the _ **vast majority** _ of their text **emphasized, re-emphasized** and _ **DOUBLY REEMPHASIZED** _, I have received legal papers from several different New York lawyers who feel that the way to make their point most strongly is to underline, boldface, italicize and/or capitalize large sections of their papers. ---
**Author:** ![Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4da419/32.png) [@Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gala_Matrix_Fire)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beryl_mooncalf-resurfaces-tries-to-pass-california-bar/307496/19 "2005-06-08T21:12:19Z")
Beryl Mooncalf is a man? Isn’t Beryl usually a woman’s name? ---
**Author:** ![Try\_As\_I\_Might](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea666f/32.png) [@Try\_As\_I\_Might](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try_As_I_Might)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beryl_mooncalf-resurfaces-tries-to-pass-california-bar/307496/20 "2005-06-08T21:26:20Z")
> [@Billdo](#): > > Lest _you_ think that **only BAR-FAILING LOONIES** write with the _ **vast majority** _ of their text **emphasized, re-emphasized** and _ **DOUBLY REEMPHASIZED** _, I have received legal papers from several different New York lawyers who feel that the way to make their point most strongly is to underline, boldface, italicize and/or capitalize large sections of their papers. I know a particular attorney who is known throughout the Denver metro area for doing the exact same thing. She also likes to use 18 point font at times, italicized, bolded, all caps, and double-underlined. …very professional. I can’t wait for her to show up and file her motions in federal court. They always look like frantic religious propaganda to me. I wonder what a federal judge will think. (and Denver has some veeery cranky federal judges) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beryl_mooncalf-resurfaces-tries-to-pass-california-bar/307496.md?page=2)