Sander v. State Bar of Cal.

Opinion

CANTIL-SAKAUYE, C. J.

Plaintiffs Richard Sander, Joe Hicks, and the First Amendment Coalition requested that the State Bar of California (State Bar) provide them access to information contained in its bar admissions database, including applicants’ bar exam scores, law schools attended, grade point averages, Law School Admissions Test scores, and race or ethnicity. Plaintiff Sander sought this information in order to conduct research on racial and ethnic disparities in bar passage rates and law school grades.

The question presented is whether any law requires disclosure of the State Bar’s…