In a Louisiana lawyer’s First Amendment challenge to mandatory bar dues, judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit pressed the state bar association on whether an LGBTQ flag on its website, a tweet about student debt relief and other controversial activities went beyond the group’s core role of regulating attorneys.

The oral arguments were guided by a 2021 ruling, McDonald v. Longley, in which the Fifth Circuit held that state bar associations cannot require members to subsidize activities not related to its mission of lawyer regulation. In that case, the circuit said the Texas State Bar violated lawyers’ constitutional rights by using dues for legislative lobbying activities “wholly disconnected” from the bar’s main role.

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