County of Ventura v. State Bar

I. Introduction

The County of Ventura and its district attorney, Michael Bradbury, appeal from an order dismissing an action by which they seek to compel the State Bar of California to permit Bradbury to challenge, on behalf of employees for whom they paid compulsory bar dues, the State Bar’s calculation of the voluntary portion of dues used for political or ideological purposes. The superior court ruled there is no actual or potential injury to appellants and thus they lack standing. Appellants contend that any payment by them of the voluntary portion of dues is a waste of public funds, and thus there is standing because if the State Bar is later determined to have undercalculated the voluntary portion, they will have paid some of it and may be held liable for waste.

We hold that a public agency’s payment of the voluntary portion of its employees’ State Bar dues would be a waste of public funds because it would constitute a wholly inappropriate encroachment by government into the realm of financial contribution toward political or ideological causes. Thus, appellants have potential liability for waste and have standing in this action. We therefore reverse the order of…