Downriver Today

Attorney Lucille Taylor initiated litigation against the State Bar of Michigan over what she asserts is forced political speech.

The Mackinac Center Legal Foundation filed the suit on Taylor’s behalf last month. It alleges that the State Bar “[violated] the First Amendment right to be free from compelled speech and to freely associate.”

“Lucille Taylor has been a practicing attorney in the state of Michigan since 1972. Each year, she is forced by the state to pay an annual bar association fee and be a member of the State Bar of Michigan,” the MCLF wrote on its website.

According to Taylor, close to 40,000 lawyers are forced by law to pay $315 to the State Bar and the defendant partially uses the funds to take stances on controversial political issues, including but not limited to: campaign contribution regulation, the death penalty and certain proposed criminal laws.

The MCLF asserted that at least 20 states, including New York and California, do not have mandatory membership associations for attorneys.

“Lawyers in those states still pay fees to practice, but unlike in Michigan, they can voluntarily choose whether or not to become a member of an association,” the foundation said. “Approximately 60% of practicing lawyers in the United States reside in those 20 states. This clearly demonstrates that mandatory membership is unnecessary.”

It further cited former Federal Elections Commission Chairman Bradley Smith, who wrote that only lawyers are forced to join occupational associations in order to work. According to Smith, who is also a MCLF scholar, architects, doctors and dentists do not have to join their respective professional organizations.

Taylor said that while she does not necessarily disagree with all of the stances taken by the State Bar, she believes that attorneys should have the choice as to whether they should fund them.