A law student who narrowly failed the Massachusetts bar exam is suing the state for $9.75 million, claiming he only flunked because he refused to answer a question about the breakup of a same-sex marriage.

“Defendants purposely compelled Plaintiff to accept Defendants' irreligion/religion of 'Secular Humanism,'” Stephen Dunne, 30, says in a pro se complaint that is not likely to pass even a threshold legal test.

Dunne scored a 268.866 on the bar exam, just below a passing grade of 270. The exam included a question which presented the hypothetical of Jane and Mary, two lesbian attorneys who share their home with two children and signed a prenup agreeing to divide any marital property equally if they divorced.

Applicants were told that after Jane found out Mary was having an affair with Lisa, Mary decided to end the marriage in order to live in her house with the children and Lisa. "What are the rights of Mary and Jane?" the exam asked.

According to Dunne, a former infantryman in the U.S. Army, he only failed the exam because his faith-based views on homosexuality compelled him not to answer the question.

"Plaintiff reasonably believes that the Defendants have denied his bar application based on his refusal to support and promote homosexual marriage and parenting," the suit says.

The question, of course, required Dunne to do no such thing, only testing his knowledge of domestic relations law in the only state in the nation where same-sex marriage is legal. Dunne seeks a court order declaring the question an "invidious violation of all applicants' constitutional rights," but a judge should declare the suit an invidious waste of the court's time.

By Matthew Heller
7/7/07