Joseph R. Giannini v. Committee of Bar Examiners of the State Bar of California

Joseph Giannini appeals the dismissal of his amended complaint by the United States District Court for the Central District of California. Giannini filed suit when, after he failed the July, 1986 and February, 1987 California bar examina tions, the Committee of Bar Examiners for the State of California denied his petition for admission to practice law in that state. In his amended complaint, Giannini charged that the bar examination unconstitutionally discriminated against out-of-state attorneys. Among the constitutional provisions that the test implicated, according to Giannini, were the Privileges and Immunities Clause of Article IV; the Due Process and Equal Protection clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment; and the Commerce Clause. The district court dismissed Giannini’s complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction pursuant to Fed.B.Civ.P. 12(b)(1). We review this dismissal de novo. Peter Starr Production Co. v. Twin Continental Films, Inc., 783 F.2d 1440, 1442 (9th Cir.1986); Clayton v. Republic Airlines, Inc., 716 F.2d 729, 730 (9th Cir.1983).

Under California law, only the state supreme court, not the Committee of Bar Examiners, has the authority to grant or deny…