Baccus v. Karger
| Decision Date | 17 August 1988 |
| Docket Number | No. 87 Civ. 2740 (GLG).,87 Civ. 2740 (GLG). |
| Citation | 692 F. Supp. 290 |
| Parties | Stephen A. BACCUS, Plaintiff, v. Arthur KARGER, Thomas M. Burke and John E. Holt-Harris Jr., Richard J. Bartlett and Laura A. Taylor, individually and in their official capacity as members of the New York State Board of Law Examiners; Sol Wachtler, Richard D. Simons, Judith S. Kaye, Fritz W. Alexander II, Vito J. Titone, Stewart F. Hancock, Jr., and Joseph W. Bellacosa, individually and in their official capacity as Judges of the New York State Court of Appeals, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York |
Goodstein & West, New Rochelle, N.Y. (Robert David Goodstein, Eileen West, of counsel), for plaintiff.
Robert Abrams, Atty. Gen. of the State of N.Y., New York City (Howard L. Zwickel, Asst. Atty. Gen. in Charge, Litigation Bureau, Frederic L. Lieberman, Asst. Atty. Gen., of counsel), for defendants.
This case presents the interesting question of whether an otherwise qualified individual who has applied to take the New York State bar examination may constitutionally be denied that end solely on the basis of his or her youth.
The New York Court of Appeals, in addition to its other judicial functions as the highest court of the State, has been delegated the responsibility and authority for promulgating rules and standards governing eligibility for admission to the State bar. N.Y.Jud.Law § 53 (McKinney 1983). The Rules for Admission of Attorneys and Counselors at Law, N.Y.Comp.Codes R. & Regs. tit. 22, §§ 520.1-520.12 (1986) (the "Rules") have been promulgated pursuant to that authority. The Rules require, inter alia, that individuals applying to take the State bar examination must demonstrate to the Board of Law Examiners (the "Board") that the applicant (1) "is over 21 years of age," id. at § 520.2(a)(1), and (2) "commenced the study of law after applicant's 18th birthday," id. at § 520.3(a)(1).1
Plaintiff, a child prodigy, has been denied the opportunity to take the State bar examination on the basis of the above rules. He now challenges those provisions as violative of the Equal Protection Clause of the fourteenth amendment to the United States Constitution.2 The defendants, sued in their individual and official capacities, are members of the Court of Appeals and the Board. The action is brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (1982), and our jurisdiction is premised under 28 U.S.C. § 1343 (1982). In addition to declaratory and injunctive relief, plaintiff seeks costs and attorney's fees pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1988 (1982). Defendants, likewise, seek to recoup the costs they have incurred in defending this lawsuit.
The pertinent facts are not in dispute, and the issues appear ripe for summary judgment. The parties have so moved. For the reasons that follow, we grant plaintiff's motion as to the requirement that one's legal education may not commence prior to his or her 18th birthday, and we strike down that provision as unconstitutional. As to the second requirement — that one must be at least 21 years of age to sit for the bar examination — we find that such a requirement serves, de facto, as a threshold for admission to the bar and, as such, passes muster under the minimal standard of constitutional review pertinent to this action. Consequently, we grant defendants' motion for summary judgment on that count.
Plaintiff was born on February 25, 1969 in Dade County, Florida. In 1983, at the age of 14, plaintiff graduated from the University of Miami with a Bachelor of Science degree in computer sciences and mathematics. He was accepted that year for admission into the University of Miami School of Law, enrolling for classes in September. Plaintiff thus commenced his formal study of law at the age of 14 years and 6 months. He received his Juris Doctor in January of 1986, and has since been admitted to the Florida bar.
On January 12, 1987, plaintiff, now a resident of New York, submitted to the Board an application for the February 1987 New York bar examination. His application correctly noted that plaintiff was then 17 years of age, and that he had begun his study of law at the age of 14. Because plaintiff had not yet reached 21 years of age and had entered law school before reaching the age of 18, the Board rejected plaintiff's application. It appears that plaintiff was otherwise qualified to sit for the February 1987 exam.3
The Rules provide that the Court of Appeals, in its discretion, "may vary the application of or waive any provision of these rules where strict compliance will cause undue hardship on the applicant." N.Y. Comp.Codes R. & Regs. tit. 22, § 520.12 (1986). The Chief Judge has delegated to Judge Simons of that Court the authority to make the necessary determinations on individual waiver petitions. Plaintiff filed a waiver petition with the Court, alleging undue hardship in that: (a) his accelerated studies and law degree from the University of Miami are rendered forever meaningless by the requirement that an applicant begin his or her study of law no sooner than that person's 18th birthday; (b) an applicant, including plaintiff, "is best able to pass the bar examination immediately after completing law school"; and (c) plaintiff would be forced "to abandon his home in New York in order to practice his chosen profession." That petition formally was rejected by the Court of Appeals on February 12, 1987. Judge Simons, in an affidavit accompanying defendants' motion papers, said he concluded that plaintiff, despite his considerable academic accomplishments, had not demonstrated the requisite "maturity and experience" to justify a waiver. Simons Aff. ¶ 16, at 8. This action followed.4
Few areas of constitutional jurisprudence have proven more intractable to the judiciary — in terms of establishing both a coherent and consistent analytical framework — than analysis under the Equal Protection Clause. Whether there are one, two, or three standards of review, and in what order analysis should proceed, remain issues generating individual constituencies on the Supreme Court.6
The parties to this action concede that equal protection review of the bar-eligibility criteria at issue is governed by the "rational relation" standard. Schware v. Board of Bar Examiners, 353 U.S. 232, 239, 77 S.Ct. 752, 756, 1 L.Ed.2d 796 (1957) (dictum); Shapiro v. Cooke, 552 F.Supp. 581, 586 (N.D.N.Y.1982) (Miner, J.), aff'd, 702 F.2d 46 (2d Cir.1983) (per curiam). The fact that the criteria in question are age-based does not alter that conclusion. See Massachusetts Bd. of Retirement v. Murgia, 427 U.S. 307, 313-14, 96 S.Ct. 2562, 2566-67, 49 L.Ed.2d 520 (1976) ().7
The Supreme Court repeatedly has emphasized that the contours of analysis under the rational relation standard provide local regulators with wide latitude and flexibility. Accordingly, we "presume" the constitutionality of the restrictions at issue, and we will strike down those criteria only if we find them to be "wholly arbitrary." City of New Orleans v. Dukes, 427 U.S. 297, 303-04, 96 S.Ct. 2513, 2516-17, 49 L.Ed.2d 511 (1976) (per curiam). Accord City of Cleburne v. Cleburne Living Center, Inc., 473 U.S. 432, 440, 105 S.Ct. 3249, 3254, 87 L.Ed.2d 313 (1985). Such deference is particularly appropriate here since regulation of the practice of law traditionally has rested within the purview of the States since the founding of the Republic. Leis v. Flynt, 439 U.S. 438, 442, 99 S.Ct. 698, 700, 58 L.Ed.2d 717 (per curiam), reh'g denied, 441 U.S. 956, 99 S.Ct. 2185, 60 L.Ed.2d 1060 (1979).8
That said, we hasten to emphasize that rational review is not a paper tiger. It is true that regulatory action rarely is overturned under this standard, and this court certainly does not advocate a more activist intrusion of the "judicial second-guess" in legislative or regulatory matters that do not involve suspect classes or fundamental rights. Nonetheless, "the practice of law is not a matter of the State's grace," Schware, 353 U.S. at 239 n. 5, and we must at least satisfy ourselves that these age restrictions, taken separately or together, are "rationally related to furthering a legitimate state interest." Murgia, 427 U.S. at 312, 96 S.Ct. at 2566.
As the New York Court of Appeals emphasized long ago, "The reason why preparatory study, educational qualifications, experience, examination and license by the courts are required, is not to protect the bar ... but to protect the public." People v. Alfani, 227 N.Y. 334, 339, 125 N.E. 671 (1919). It is this overarching and legitimate interest in protecting the public against which regulatory action bearing on the instant issues must be measured.
The Rules require, inter alia, that all bar applicants possess "the good moral character and general fitness requisite for an attorney." N.Y.Comp.Codes R. & Regs. tit. 22, § 520.10 (1986). Naturally, these terms are not susceptible of precise definition, but one court has suggested that "general fitness" broadly refers to one's "general experience in life." In re Brennan, 230 A.D. 218, 243 N.Y.S. 705, 715 (App.Div.1930). Put differently, an inquiry into one's general fitness, it seems to us, necessarily includes an attempted assessment of one's maturity. Consistent with Alfani, there can be no doubt that such an inquiry is rationally related to the State's legitimate interest in protecting the public from the vicissitudes of an incompetent bar. Indeed, plaintiff concedes this point. See especially In re Griffiths, 413 U.S. 717, 722-23, 93 S.Ct. 2851, 2855-56, 37 L.Ed.2d 910 (1973) (); Law Students Civil Rights Research Council, Inc. v. Wadmond, 299 F.Supp. 117, 124-25 (S.D.N.Y. 1969), aff'd, 401 U.S. 154, 159, 91 S.Ct. 720, 724, 27...
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