Opinion ID: 607106
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The First Amendment Speech and Association Claim

Text: 50 The plaintiffs claim that the IOLTA Rule compels lawyers, and therefore clients, to participate in the IOLTA program and thereby support lobbying and litigation for ideological and political causes. They contend that the IOLTA Rule violates their First Amendment rights of freedom of speech and association. The district court dismissed the plaintiffs' First Amendment claims on the grounds that (1) the IOLTA Rule did not compel the plaintiffs' participation in the IOLTA program, and (2) the IOLTA Rule did not involve constitutionally protected speech. We agree that the plaintiffs' First Amendment claim was properly dismissed. 51 The First Amendment protects the right not to speak or associate, as well as the right to speak and associate freely. 11 Roberts v. United States Jaycees, 468 U.S. 609, 623, 104 S.Ct. 3244, 3252, 82 L.Ed.2d 462 (1984); Wooley v. Maynard, 430 U.S. 705, 714, 97 S.Ct. 1428, 1435, 51 L.Ed.2d 752 (1977); West Va. State Bd. of Educ. v. Barnette, 319 U.S. 624, 633, 63 S.Ct. 1178, 1183, 87 L.Ed. 1628 (1943). The Supreme Court has established that [t]he right to speak and the right to refrain from speaking are complementary components of the broader concept of 'individual freedom of mind.'  Wooley, 430 U.S. at 714, 97 S.Ct. at 1435 (quoting Barnette, 319 U.S. at 637, 63 S.Ct. at 1185). 52 The most obvious infringement on First Amendment rights in the context of compelled speech occurs when individuals are forced to make a direct affirmation of belief. See, e.g., Barnette, 319 U.S. at 633, 63 S.Ct. at 1183 (the compulsory flag salute and pledge requires affirmation of a belief and an attitude of mind); Wooley, 430 U.S. at 715, 97 S.Ct. at 1435 (New Hampshire's statute in effect requires that appellees use their private property as a 'mobile billboard' for the State's ideological message); Pacific Gas & Elec. Co. v. Public Util. Comm'n, 475 U.S. 1, 17-18, 106 S.Ct. 903, 912, 89 L.Ed.2d 1 (1986) (the [California Public Utilities] Commission's order requires [Pacific Gas Company] to use its property--the billing envelopes--to distribute the message of another.). The IOLTA Rule does not compel the plaintiffs to display, affirm or distribute ideologies or expression allegedly advocated by the IOLTA program or its recipient organizations. Direct compelled speech, therefore, is not an issue in this case. 53 Compelled support of an organization engaging in expressive activities may also burden First Amendment rights. In a series of cases, the Supreme Court has examined the First Amendment implications raised by compelled financial support of unions and bar associations which engage in political or ideological activities. See, e.g., Keller v. State Bar of Cal., 496 U.S. 1, 110 S.Ct. 2228, 110 L.Ed.2d 1 (1990); Lehnert v. Ferris Faculty Ass'n, --- U.S. ----, 111 S.Ct. 1950, 114 L.Ed.2d 572 (1991); Chicago Teachers Union, Local No. 1, AFT, AFL- CIO v. Hudson, 475 U.S. 292, 106 S.Ct. 1066, 89 L.Ed.2d 232 (1986); Ellis v. Railway Clerks, 466 U.S. 435, 104 S.Ct. 1883, 80 L.Ed.2d 428 (1984); Abood v. Detroit Board of Educ., 431 U.S. 209, 97 S.Ct. 1782, 52 L.Ed.2d 261 (1977); Railway Clerks v. Allen, 373 U.S. 113, 83 S.Ct. 1158, 10 L.Ed.2d 235 (1963); Machinists v. Street, 367 U.S. 740, 81 S.Ct. 1784, 6 L.Ed.2d 1141 (1961); Lathrop v. Donohue, 367 U.S. 820, 81 S.Ct. 1826, 6 L.Ed.2d 1191 (1961); Railway Employees Dept. v. Hanson, 351 U.S. 225, 76 S.Ct. 714, 100 L.Ed. 1112 (1956). The Court found that compelled financial support of these organizations implicates First Amendment rights when the funds were used to subsidize ideological or political activities. 54 In our analysis of the plaintiffs' First Amendment claims, we must first determine whether the IOLTA Rule burdens protected speech by forcing expression through compelled support of organizations espousing ideologies or engaging in political activities. If so, we will then strictly scrutinize the IOLTA program to determine whether the IOLTA Rule serves compelling state interests through means which are narrowly tailored and germane to the state interests. See Austin v. Mich. Chamber of Commerce, 494 U.S. 652, 656, 110 S.Ct. 1391, 1396, 108 L.Ed.2d 652 (1990); Pacific Gas & Elec. Co., 475 U.S. at 19, 106 S.Ct. at 913; Abood, 431 U.S. at 235, 97 S.Ct. at 1799. 55
56 The district court concluded that the IOLTA Rule was not compulsory because lawyers could avoid establishing IOLTA accounts by choosing not to hold client funds or by establishing individual client accounts. Washington Legal Found., 795 F.Supp. at 55. On appeal, the plaintiffs argue that the district court erred in not finding the IOLTA Rule compulsory as to them. Interpretation of a state disciplinary rule of professional conduct is a question of law which we review under the de novo standard. In re Dresser Indus., Inc., 972 F.2d 540, 543 (5th Cir.1992); see also Salve Regina College v. Russell, 499 U.S. 225, ----, 111 S.Ct. 1217, 1225, 113 L.Ed.2d 190 (1991) (holding that district courts are not entitled to deference on review of determinations of state law). Reviewing a dismissal, we apply the law to the facts alleged in the complaint and taken as true. AVX Corp., 962 F.2d at 115. 57 The IOLTA Rule obligates lawyers to deposit client funds which they hold for short terms or in minimal amounts into IOLTA accounts. The plaintiffs allege facts which, when taken as true, establish that avoiding the IOLTA Rule has significantly limited Attorney Tuttle's practice of law and negatively affected his livelihood. 12 Attorney Howes alleges that he has had to comply with IOLTA to maintain his practice of law despite his belief that the IOLTA Rule compels him to support politics and ideologies with which he disagrees. 58 Claimants cannot be required by government action to relinquish First Amendment rights as a condition of retaining employment. Keller, 496 U.S. at 10, 110 S.Ct. at 2234. As alleged by the plaintiffs, the burden on Tuttle and Howes of avoiding the IOLTA Rule is more than an inconvenience, although it is less extreme than forcing loss of employment. See Austin, 494 U.S. at 663, 110 S.Ct. at 1399 (recognizing that less extreme disincentives than the loss of employment can force association affecting First Amendment rights). Reviewing the dismissal of their claims, we take the plaintiffs' factual allegations as true and we draw the inference in their favor that they cannot engage in the full practice of law without holding client funds which would trigger compliance with the IOLTA Rule. 13 Therefore, based on the stated assumptions and inference, the IOLTA Rule is compulsory as to the two plaintiffs who are lawyers for purposes of deciding this case. 59 A different question is presented as to the compulsory effect of the IOLTA Rule on plaintiffs who are clients. Although the IOLTA Rule does not directly regulate clients, its effect is compulsory because lawyers generally deposit appropriate funds from clients into IOLTA accounts without the knowledge or consent of their clients. Therefore, the IOLTA Rule effectively coerces clients' compliance through the practices of their lawyers. Even if clients were informed of the IOLTA Rule and offered a choice, we will assume, again for the limited purposes of reviewing dismissal of this case, that there are circumstances in which the use of IOLTA accounts is necessary for legal representation and therefore, that clients would at times be compelled to allow their funds to be deposited in IOLTA accounts. 60
61 The client-plaintiffs allege that the collection and use of interest, under color of state law, generated from the IOLTA trust accounts ..., especially for litigation that involves political or ideological causes, and for legislative or other forms of lobbying, deprive [plaintiffs] of [their] right to freedom of speech and association. The lawyer-plaintiffs allege that forcing them to comply with the IOLTA Rule requires them to choose between serious curtailment of their practice of law or associating with organizations whose actions offend [their] political and ideological beliefs depriving them of their right to freedom of speech and association. 62 The plaintiffs rely on the compulsory union fees and bar association dues cases for support. They argue that they are required to finance IOLTA program recipient organizations in the same way that dissenting union members and bar association members have been compelled to support political and ideological causes through the collection of fees and dues which the Supreme Court has found to be unconstitutional. In Abood, 431 U.S. 209, 97 S.Ct. 1782, Detroit school teachers challenged an agency-shop clause in their collective-bargaining agreement with the school board claiming that it violated their First Amendment rights. 14 The agency-shop clause required employees who chose not to join the representative union to pay dues to support the union's collective bargaining efforts to avoid allowing non-members to benefit from collective bargaining, as free-riders, without paying. The Supreme Court found that [t]o compel employees financially to support their collective-bargaining representative [had] an impact on their First Amendment interests. Id. at 222, 97 S.Ct. at 1793. The Court held that unions could not use the dues of dissenters for political or ideological causes that were not germane to the collective-bargaining purpose of the agency-shop requirement. Id. at 235-36, 97 S.Ct. at 1799-1800. 63 In the context of bar association dues, the Court similarly found that compelled dues of members of a unified bar association could not be used to finance activities which were not germane to administrative purposes of the bar association. Keller, 496 U.S. at 14, 110 S.Ct. at 2236; see also Schneider v. Colegio de Abogados de Puerto Rico, 917 F.2d 620 (1st Cir.1990). 64 The union fees and bar association dues cases do not support the plaintiffs' cause nor do other cases which have considered the First Amendment implications of compelled contribution to organizations. 15 These cases show that compelled speech, through compelled financial support, arises from the dissenters' involuntary association with ideology or political activities. To affect First Amendment rights, there must be a connection between dissenters and the organization so that dissenters reasonably understand that they are supporting the message propagated by recipient organizations. Typically, compelled contribution of money to support political or ideological causes is the root of the evil which offends the First Amendment:  'to compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves, is sinful and tyrannical.'  Abood, 431 U.S. at 234-35 n. 31, 97 S.Ct. at 1799 n. 31 (quoting I. Brant, James Madison: The Nationalist 354 (1948)). 65 In this case, the plaintiffs' allegations that [t]he collection of and use of interest, under color of state law, generated by funds in IOLTA trust accounts violate their rights to freedom of speech and association do not state a claim of compelled financial support. The interest generated by funds deposited in IOLTA accounts is not the clients' money. The process by which the IOLTA program collects and uses the accrued interest does not affect the plaintiffs' funds held in IOLTA accounts nor does it require any other expenditures or efforts by the plaintiffs. 16 Put simply, the plaintiffs have not been compelled by the IOLTA Rule to contribute their money to the IOLTA program. Rather, the IOLTA program recipient organizations benefit from an anomaly created by the practicalities of accounting, banking practices, and the ethical obligation of lawyers. The interest earned on IOLTA accounts belongs to no one, but has been assigned, by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, to be used by the IOLTA program. Therefore, the collection and use of the interest by the IOLTA program does not constitute financial support by the plaintiffs, as they claim. If the plaintiffs believe that the IOLTA program is not operated in accord with its stated purpose or if they remain dissatisfied with the assigned recipients of IOLTA funds, they may address their complaints to the IOLTA Committee or the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. 66 The plaintiffs have not alleged and there are no other facts or circumstances which establish that they have been compelled to associate with or support the IOLTA program in any other manner. They have not been compelled by the IOLTA Rule to join, affirm, support or subsidize ideological expression of IOLTA recipient organizations in any way. 17 Because the plaintiffs have not adequately alleged that the IOLTA Rule compels a connection between them and the IOLTA recipient organizations, we find that the IOLTA Rule does not burden the plaintiffs' First Amendment rights. Having found no impact on the plaintiffs' First Amendment rights caused by the IOLTA Rule, we need not consider whether the IOLTA program serves a compelling state interest. The district court's order dismissing the plaintiffs' claims is