The Arizona Supreme Court adopted an amended version of a rule on Tuesday to separate the State Bar of Arizona’s regulatory and non-regulatory functions.
The think tank sought to end the practice of the mandatory state bar using attorneys’ dues for political purposes. However, the state’s highest court also included an amendment that gutted the rule. The changes to R-24-0030 Rules 32(b) and (c), Rules of the state Supreme Court, will go into effect on January 1, 2025.
Mauricio “Mo” Hernandez, an Arizona attorney who has closely tracked developments with state bar reforms, told The Arizona Sun Times, “Goldwater and others who commented opposed the proposed amendment because it essentially left the structure and functions of the State Bar as is. The Bar unsurprisingly endorsed the undisclosed proponent’s amendment, which merely codified in the court’s administrative rule 32 that the Bar would comply with Keller v. California — something the Bar has contended (despite evidence to the contrary) that it has been doing all along. Bottom line, there’s no material change and the beat goes on.”
The Supreme Court held in Keller v. California that attorneys required to be members of a state bar association have a First Amendment right to refrain from subsidizing the organization’s political or ideological activities.
Read the rest of the article at The Arizona Sun Times
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