Keller v. State Bar of California

Membership in the State Bar of California (defendant) is mandatory to practice law in the state, and the Bar used mandatory member dues to fund political and ideological activities often unrelated to regulating the legal profession. Keller and other members (plaintiffs) disagreed with much of that ideology and sued, claiming the compelled financing of political activity violated their First Amendment rights. The California Supreme Court ruled for the Bar, reasoning that as a regulated state agency it could spend dues on anything within its statutory authority, and the plaintiffs appealed.