Thursday, February 21, 2002
Page 3
Law Professor Planning Suit Against State Bar Over Restrictions on Voting for Board of Governors
By a MetNews Staff Writer
A law professor confirmed yesterday that he plans sue the State Bar of California over a policy that prohibits about 10,000 out-of-state members to vote in the organization’s Board of Governors elections.
The State Bar’s policy violates the Constitution’s Equal Protection clause, the First Amendment and possibly the privileges and immunities clause, Boalt Hall School of Law Prof. Stephen Barnett told the MetNews.
Barnett, who has been an outspoken critic of the State Bar, said he is filing the suit on the behalf of Arizona attorney Louis Hoffman, a California bar member who alerted him to the problem during the last Board of Governors election.
Out-of-state members pay the same dues, comply with the same MCLE requirements and they bare all the other obligations as officers of the state, so they should be able to vote too, Barnett said.
The State Bar declined to comment on the allegations of the suit since it hasn’t been filed yet.
Copyright 2002, Metropolitan News Company