Baird v. State Bar of Arizona

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Baird v. State Bar of Arizona
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued December 8-9, 1969
Reargued October 14, 1970
Decided February 23, 1971
Full case name: Baird v. State Bar of Arizona
Citations: 401 U.S. 1; 91 S.Ct. 702, 27 L.Ed.2d 639
Holding
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.
Court membership
Chief Justice: Warren E. Burger
Associate Justices: Hugo Black, William O. Douglas, John Marshall Harlan II, William J. Brennan, Jr, Potter Stewart, Byron White, Thurgood Marshall, Harry Blackmun
Case opinions
Majority by: Black
Joined by: Douglas, Brennan, Marshall
Concurrence by: Stewart
Dissent by: Harlan
Dissent by: White
Dissent by: Blacknum
Joined by: Burger, Harlan, White

Baird v. State Bar of Arizona, 401 U.S. 1, 91 S.Ct. 702, 27 L.Ed.2d 639 (1971) was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States ruled:

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.

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.

[edit] See also

[edit] Further reading

  • McChrystal, Michael K. (1989). "Legitimizing Realities: State-Based Bar Admission, National Standards, and Multistate Practice". Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics 3: 533. ISSN 1041-5548. 

[edit] External links

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