Baird v. State Bar of Arizona

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In this case, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that:

A State's power to inquire about a person's beliefs or associations is limited by the First Amendment, which prohibits a State from excluding a person from a profession solely because of membership in a political organization or because of his beliefs.

This case can be found at 401 U.S. 1, 91 S.Ct. 702, 27 L.Ed.2d 639 (1971).

In this case, a law school graduate who had passed the Arizona written bar examination had applied to be admitted to the Arizona bar, but had refused to answer a question as to whether she had ever been a member of the Communist party. On that basis, the State Bar of Arizona refused to admit her.