Southern California Institute of Law v. Biggers

MEMORANDUM

The Southern California Institute of Law (SCIL) appeals the district court’s dismissal of its constitutional claims against members of California’s Committee of Bar Examiners (CBE). As the facts are known to the parties, we repeat them only as necessary to explain our decision.

I

SCIL’s due process challenge to the 40% bar-passage requirement fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted. First, SCIL has no property entitlement to receive further accreditation after its current accreditation expires in 2016, as such a decision rests ultimately within CBE’s discretion. See Shanks v. Dressel, 540 F.3d 1082, 1091 (9th Cir.2008). Because the challenged Guidelines cannot disturb SCIL’s accreditation until 2017 at the earliest, SCIL has no viable claim that such Guidelines will deprive it of its protected interest in accreditation. SCIL has not alleged other property or liberty interests sufficient to support its due process challenge. See, e.g., WMX Techs., Inc. v. Miller, 197 F.3d 367 , 373-76 (9th Cir.1999) (en banc) (rejecting due process challenge based on alleged reputational damage to a California business).

Second, CBE’s adoption of the 40% requirement…