7th Circuit Court of Appeals Upholds Wisconsin’s Mandatory Bar - Articles

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7th Circuit Court of Appeals Upholds Wisconsin’s Mandatory Bar

Posted by: Stacey Shrader Joslin on May 6, 2022

The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last week that Wisconsin’s mandatory bar does not violate the First Amendment rights of lawyers in the state, the ABA Journal reports. The appeals court turned down a challenge, which argued that the 2018 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Janus v. AFSCME implicitly overruled the 1990 decision in Keller v. State Bar of California. In Keller, the court held that compulsory state bars can use dues to regulate the profession and improve legal services, but not for political or ideological activities. In Janus, the court held that mandatory union dues for collective bargaining violate public employees’ free speech rights. Despite the apparent tension between the two decisions, the appeals court said Keller remains binding precedent. “The foundations of Keller have been shaken,” the court wrote. “But it’s not our role to decide whether it remains good law. Only the Supreme Court can answer that question.” So far, the high court has declined to review the issue.