⚖ Oral Arguments, with Context

The Tenth Circuit returns to Mark Schell's First Amendment challenge to Oklahoma's mandatory bar. Oklahoma lawyers must join and pay dues to the Oklahoma Bar Association to practice. Schell says the Bar Journal forced him to associate with five articles on prison lawsuits, election laws, race, tribal history, and personal resilience—subjects he says fall outside the bar's proper role. In an earlier appeal, this court revived his compelled-association claim and ordered closer examination of any nongermane activity, meaning speech not reasonably related to regulating lawyers or improving legal services. After discovery, the district court found one article nongermane but granted summary judgment to the bar officials, reasoning that the isolated, disclaimed publication did not violate Schell's associational rights. This appeal asks whether Schell preserved the controlling legal standard, whether the five articles are germane, and whether limited speech can still make mandatory membership unconstitutional.

Schell v. Oklahoma Supreme Court Justices (No. 25-6189) — U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, argued September 17, 2026.