Schell v. Chief Justice & Justices of the Oklahoma Supreme Court, —F.4th—, 2021 WL 2657106 (10th Cir. June 29, 2021)

An Oklahoma attorney brought suit against the Oklahoma Supreme Court justices and Oklahoma Bar Association officials, claiming mandatory bar dues violated his First Amendment rights to  free speech and association. In particular, the attorney objected to the Bar’s use of mandatory dues to publish “political and ideological speech” and to support or oppose particular legislation. The Tenth Circuit affirmed dismissal of his claims under established U.S. Supreme Court precedent upholding the imposition of mandatory bar dues despite the First Amendment’s prohibition on compelled speech. Nevertheless, the Tenth Circuit also acknowledged that the Court’s recent decision in Janus v. American Federation of State, County, & Municipal Employees Council 31, 138 S. Ct. 2448 (2018), has made that precedent “vulnerable to reversal.”