Opinion ID: 407849
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Limitations on Challenges

Text: 52 Court review of state procedures for admission and testing is guided by the rational basis standard. Chaney v. State Bar, supra, at 964; Tyler v. Vickery, 517 F.2d 1089, 1099 (5th Cir. 1975), cert. denied, 426 U.S. 940, 96 S.Ct. 2660, 49 L.Ed.2d 393 (1976). 3 While the discretion granted to states and bar examiners is broad, the opportunity to practice law is protected by the due process and equal protection clauses of the fourteenth amendment. Willner v. Committee on Character & Fitness, 373 U.S. 96, 102, 83 S.Ct. 1175, 1179, 10 L.Ed.2d 224 (1963). Brown v. Board of Bar Examiners, supra, established a definite procedure for challenging admission practices. Noting that admission procedures are purely a matter of local concern, Brown stated, The only constraints on the states' exclusive jurisdiction are constitutional in nature.... 623 F.2d at 609. 53 Brown outlined the alternatives available to an unsuccessful applicant: 54 Since federal courts are granted jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1343 to vindicate constitutional rights, an issue arises as to the extent of a federal court's authority to participate in what is primarily a state concern. A dichotomy has developed between two kinds of constitutional attack which might be pursued by an unsuccessful bar applicant: The first is a constitutional challenge to the state's general rules and regulations governing admission; the second is a claim, based on constitutional or other grounds, that the state has unlawfully denied a particular applicant admission. Doe v. Pringle, 550 F.2d 596, 597 (10th Cir. 1976), cert. denied, 431 U.S. 916, 97 S.Ct. 2197, 53 L.Ed.2d 227 (1977). 55 In the first type of attack, federal district courts may assert jurisdiction under § 1343 to ensure that generally applicable rules of procedures do not impinge on constitutionally protected rights. Federal courts have frequently entertained challenges to rules controlling admission to the bar, and have almost without exception sustained the validity of such rules. (Citations omitted). 56 On the other hand, a state court's decision on an individual application may not be disturbed in an original suit in federal district court. (O)rders of a state court relating to the admission, discipline, and disbarment of members of its bar may be reviewed only by the Supreme Court of the United States on certiorari to the state court .... Mackay v. Nesbett, 412 F.2d 846 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 396 U.S. 960, 90 S.Ct. 435, 24 L.Ed.2d 425 (1969). In exercising its judgment on an individual petition, a state supreme court performs a judicial act, In re Summers, 325 U.S. 561, 65 S.Ct. 1307, 89 L.Ed. 1795 (1945), reviewable in the Supreme Court. See Schware v. Board of Bar Examiners, supra, 353 U.S. at 238, 77 S.Ct. at 755; Konigsberg v. State Bar of California, 353 U.S. 252, 258, 77 S.Ct. 722, 725, 1 L.Ed.2d 810 (1957). A federal district court, in contrast, does not sit as an appellate court and therefore lacks jurisdiction to review state court actions denying admission to the bar, even though the denial allegedly involves deprivation of constitutional rights. 57 Brown, supra, at 609-10 (citations omitted). The plaintiff in Brown attempted the only viable challenge to state bar admission procedures-a constitutional challenge. Brown denied jurisdiction because the plaintiff presented a claim of individual constitutional deprivation and the prayer for relief sought individual redress including monetary damages. Hence, the court found that the claim was not cognizable in district court. Brown, supra, at 611.