The Louisiana State Bar Association’s mandatory dues policy for lawyers in the state violates the First Amendment right to free speech, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled Monday in siding with an attorney who challenged the policy.

In its 3-0 decision, the 5th Circuit said the LSBA exceeded its main role of regulating lawyers or improving legal services when it shared an article about student loan debt policy and posted an LGBTQ flag on its website, among other activities not germane to the practice of law. Lawyers in the state, such as Randy Boudreaux, cannot be forced to pay fees to an organization that makes non-law-related statements with which they disagree, the court held.

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