Governor Schwarzenegger Issues Statement Following State Bar’s Refusal to Seat Sara Granda

SACRAMENTO, Calif. /California Newswire/ — Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger issued the following statement on the State Bar’s refusal to seat Sara Granda, a 29-year-old law school graduate who is paralyzed from the neck down, at Tuesday’s bar exam due to a bureaucratic error that left her ineligible to take the test because her registration fee was paid by check instead of credit card.

“It is outrageous that someone who has overcome so much in life is penalized by a bureaucratic error that prevents her from taking the bar exam next week. Government should work for the people, not against them and I’m calling on the state bar to allow Sara Granda to take next week’s test. Sara is a fighter and I am with her all the way.”

According to a report in the Sacramento Bee, the state bar’s Web site never processed Granda’s application for the test because the state Department of Rehabilitation, which has paid for her bar exam preparatory courses, paid her $600 fee with a check rather than Granda using a credit card online.

Granda said she checked with a State Bar representative several times after the check was sent and received assurances that she was properly registered. Granda plans to petition the California Supreme Court to allow her to take next week’s exam.