At 10th Circuit, Oklahoma attorney bucks against state bar membership mandate
An Oklahoma attorney asked the 10th Circuit on Thursday to revive his First Amendment challenge to mandatory state bar membership, arguing articles in the bar's journal on prison reform, election integrity and racial identity forced him to associate with views he didn't hold. A district judge had granted the bar summary judgment, finding most of the content germane to law practice, save one exception.
Judge Kathryn Vratil pressed the attorney's lawyer on standing, noting no affidavit showed Schell actually objected to any nongermane content. The bar's attorney called both remedies sought, a voluntary bar or exemption from nongermane speech, extreme, and cited a real dispute in which a Jehovah's Witness challenged a 'Happy Birthday' sing-along at a legal education event as nongermane.
The panel also weighed a recent 10th Circuit ruling rejecting a similar challenge to Kansas's mandatory bar, which the bar's side urged the court to follow in affirming dismissal.
The full dispatch is available from the source below.