Capital Associated Industries, Inc. v. Josh Stein, Attorney General of North Carolina, et al.

In United Mine Workers of America, District 12 v. Illinois State Bar Association, 389 U.S. 217 (1967), the Court held that the First Amendment provides a labor union—a non-profit association of employees— “the right to hire attorneys on a salary basis to assist its members in the assertion of their legal rights.” Id. at 221-222. Yet in North Carolina, it is a criminal offense for a non-profit association of employers, such as Petitioner Capital Associated Industries, Inc. (the “Association”), to hire attorneys on a salary basis to assist its members with legal questions. More recently, the Court held in National Institute of Family and Life Advocates v. Becerra, 138 S. Ct. 2361 (2018), that lower courts should apply strict scrutiny to professional licensing regimes that censor speech based solely on its content. Yet the lower court characterized North Carolina’s content-based censorship of the Association’s speech as a conduct regulation with only an incidental impact on speech, and applied lesser scrutiny. The questions presented are:

1. Do the North Carolina statutes prohibiting the Association’s attorneys from providing legal assistance to its members violate the freedom of association guaranteed by the First and Fourteenth Amendments?

2. Are the North Carolina statutes prohibiting the Association’s attorneys from providing legal assistance to its members a content-based restriction on speech that must be reviewed under strict scrutiny?