{"id":123036,"date":"2025-06-15T16:42:52","date_gmt":"2025-06-16T00:42:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/06\/15\/florida-supreme-court-demands-state-bar-stop-working-with-aba-because-lol-screw-this-rule-of-law-stuff\/"},"modified":"2025-06-15T16:42:52","modified_gmt":"2025-06-16T00:42:52","slug":"florida-supreme-court-demands-state-bar-stop-working-with-aba-because-lol-screw-this-rule-of-law-stuff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/06\/15\/florida-supreme-court-demands-state-bar-stop-working-with-aba-because-lol-screw-this-rule-of-law-stuff\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida Supreme Court Demands State Bar Stop Working With ABA Because\u2026 LOL, Screw This \u2018Rule Of Law\u2019 Stuff"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Yesterday, the Florida Bar opened a letter from their friends over at the state supreme court and were likely surprised to learn that \u2014 absent any formal order, hearing, or opportunity to comment \u2014 they were being ordered to sever ties with the American Bar Association. I mean, if the people don\u2019t deserve due process, why should the bar association?<\/p>\n

What brought on this drastic turn of events?<\/p>\n

Well, the ABA has chastised the Trump administration for its attacks upon the rule of law and former Florida AG Pam Bondi has exiled the ABA to the netherworld on judicial nominations<\/a> so the Florida justices \u2014 loyal Republican politicians that they are \u2014 understood the assignment and flexed their power to chip away at the ABA by forcing the Florida Bar to quit.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m sorry\u2026 I thought this was America<\/a>!<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

Florida Supreme Court orders Florida Bar to end affiliation with American Bar Association (ABA). Commanded via letter from Chief Justice, no formal order, no opportunity for public or Bar members to comment.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Ryan Barack (@law4employees.bsky.social)<\/a> 2025-06-13T17:37:09.796Z<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Justice Labarga didn\u2019t get the opportunity to pen a dissent but one suspects it would read, \u201care you kidding me with this?\u201d Labarga is one of the two remaining jurists not appointed by Ron DeSantis. Fun fact: Charlie Crist became a Democrat because the GOP got too crazy for him and the crazy Republican that Crist last beat, David Jolly, is\u2026 now a Democrat<\/a> because the GOP got too crazy for him.<\/p>\n

[Off-key Lion King voice] THE CIRCLE OF LIIIIIIIIFFFFE!<\/p>\n

\n

Many of the ABA\u2019s policies take positions on contested political and policy disputes over which reasonable people can and do disagree.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

People<\/em> can and do disagree, but this sentence is doing a lot of violence to the word \u201creasonable.\u201d Chief Justice Mu\u00f1iz refrains from offering any, you know, specifics<\/em> because doing so might underscore how much of a naked hack he is. If he had to write, \u201cwe don\u2019t approve of the ABA making controversial statements like \u2018attorneys should stand for the rule of law<\/a>\u2018\u201d he would rightly be laughed out of the profession. Better to leave it vague!<\/p>\n

\n

To stay focused on its mission, and out of respect for its members, the Bar strives to avoid entangling itself, even indirectly, in contentious policy debates. The Bar\u2019s practice of making appointments to the ABA\u2019s House of Delegates is inconsistent with that goal.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

You know, if someone actually cared about the state bar hewing to an apolitical line, they\u2019d want<\/em> their state bar to have representation in the House of Delegates and vote against<\/em> bold statements like \u201cmaybe rule of law is good.\u201d But that would be \u201cdemocracy\u201d which isn\u2019t a high priority in GOP circles these days.<\/p>\n

\n

Therefore, on behalf of the Court (not including Justice Labarga), I ask that The Florida Bar (1) immediately cease making appointments to the ABA House of Delegates; (2) rescind or withdraw any existing appointments to the House of Delegates (of course, affected individuals are free to seek appointment by entities other than The Florida Bar); and (3) make changes to The Florida Bar\u2019s policies and practices (including to Standing Board Policies 1.40 and 1.41) as necessary to implement this directive.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Now\u2026 the court makes an \u201cask\u201d before calling it a \u201cdirective.\u201d Methinks they might need a dictionary to understand what \u201cask\u201d means. But it seems as though the Florida Bar is going to be walking out on the American Bar.<\/p>\n

I feel like Florida\u2019s tried to secede from America before. Hopefully this turns out about the same as last time.<\/p>\n

\n

\"Headshot\"Joe Patrice<\/a>\u00a0is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. Feel free to\u00a0email<\/a> any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on\u00a0Twitter<\/a>\u00a0or Bluesky<\/a> if you\u2019re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The post Florida Supreme Court Demands State Bar Stop Working With ABA Because\u2026 LOL, Screw This \u2018Rule Of Law\u2019 Stuff<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Yesterday, the Florida Bar opened a letter from their friends over at the state supreme court and were likely surprised to learn that \u2014 absent any formal order, hearing, or opportunity to comment \u2014 they were being ordered to sever ties with the American Bar Association. I mean, if the people don\u2019t deserve due process, why should the bar association?<\/p>\n

What brought on this drastic turn of events?<\/p>\n

Well, the ABA has chastised the Trump administration for its attacks upon the rule of law and former Florida AG Pam Bondi has exiled the ABA to the netherworld on judicial nominations<\/a> so the Florida justices \u2014 loyal Republican politicians that they are \u2014 understood the assignment and flexed their power to chip away at the ABA by forcing the Florida Bar to quit.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m sorry\u2026 I thought this was America<\/a>!<\/p>\n

Justice Labarga didn\u2019t get the opportunity to pen a dissent but one suspects it would read, \u201care you kidding me with this?\u201d Labarga is one of the two remaining jurists not appointed by Ron DeSantis. Fun fact: Charlie Crist became a Democrat because the GOP got too crazy for him and the crazy Republican that Crist last beat, David Jolly, is\u2026 now a Democrat<\/a> because the GOP got too crazy for him.<\/p>\n

[Off-key Lion King voice] THE CIRCLE OF LIIIIIIIIFFFFE!<\/p>\n

\n

Many of the ABA\u2019s policies take positions on contested political and policy disputes over which reasonable people can and do disagree.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

People<\/em> can and do disagree, but this sentence is doing a lot of violence to the word \u201creasonable.\u201d Chief Justice Mu\u00f1iz refrains from offering any, you know, specifics<\/em> because doing so might underscore how much of a naked hack he is. If he had to write, \u201cwe don\u2019t approve of the ABA making controversial statements like \u2018attorneys should stand for the rule of law<\/a>\u2018\u201d he would rightly be laughed out of the profession. Better to leave it vague!<\/p>\n

\n

To stay focused on its mission, and out of respect for its members, the Bar strives to avoid entangling itself, even indirectly, in contentious policy debates. The Bar\u2019s practice of making appointments to the ABA\u2019s House of Delegates is inconsistent with that goal.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

You know, if someone actually cared about the state bar hewing to an apolitical line, they\u2019d want<\/em> their state bar to have representation in the House of Delegates and vote against<\/em> bold statements like \u201cmaybe rule of law is good.\u201d But that would be \u201cdemocracy\u201d which isn\u2019t a high priority in GOP circles these days.<\/p>\n

\n

Therefore, on behalf of the Court (not including Justice Labarga), I ask that The Florida Bar (1) immediately cease making appointments to the ABA House of Delegates; (2) rescind or withdraw any existing appointments to the House of Delegates (of course, affected individuals are free to seek appointment by entities other than The Florida Bar); and (3) make changes to The Florida Bar\u2019s policies and practices (including to Standing Board Policies 1.40 and 1.41) as necessary to implement this directive.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Now\u2026 the court makes an \u201cask\u201d before calling it a \u201cdirective.\u201d Methinks they might need a dictionary to understand what \u201cask\u201d means. But it seems as though the Florida Bar is going to be walking out on the American Bar.<\/p>\n

I feel like Florida\u2019s tried to secede from America before. Hopefully this turns out about the same as last time.<\/p>\n

\n

\"Headshot\"Joe Patrice<\/a>\u00a0is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. Feel free to\u00a0email<\/a> any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on\u00a0Twitter<\/a>\u00a0or Bluesky<\/a> if you\u2019re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yesterday, the Florida Bar opened a letter from their friends over at the state supreme court and were likely surprised to learn that \u2014 absent any formal order, hearing, or opportunity to comment \u2014 they were being ordered to sever ties with the American Bar Association. I mean, if the people don\u2019t deserve due process, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":122986,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-123036","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xira.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Headshot-300x200-UzDPOi.jpeg?fit=300%2C200&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123036","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=123036"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123036\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/122986"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123036"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=123036"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=123036"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}