Short Circuit 181 | Mandatory Associations

It’s not often that we get three different appellate opinions on the same issue in one week. But recently the Fifth Circuit (twice) and the Tenth handed down their thoughts on mandatory bar associations and the First Amendment. Those are groups that lawyers in some states must join—and pay for—in order to work as licensed attorneys. The Supreme Court has said a lot of things over the years on whether these kinds of requirements are constitutional, overruling itself but also not overruling itself at the same time. What do you do with that confusing precedent if you’re a lower court federal judge? IJ attorney Rob Johnson joins us to walk through who now does—or does not?—have to join their state bar association, and how all of this may (quickly?) make its way back to the Supreme Court.

Transcript: https://ij.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Short-Circuit-181.pdf

Schell v. The Chief Justice, https://www.ca10.uscourts.gov/opinions/20/20-6044.pdf

McDonald v. Longley, https://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/20/20-50448-CV0.pdf

Boudreaux v. Louisiana State Bar Assoc., https://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/20/20-30086-CV0.pdf

Janus v. AFSCME, https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/17pdf/16-1466_2b3j.pdf

Keller v. State Bar of California, https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/496/1/

Rob Johnson, https://ij.org/staff/rjohnson/

Anthony Sanders, https://ij.org/staff/asanders/

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