Friday, September 13, 2013

California legislature passes bill permitting non-citizens to become California lawyers

Last year I posted a few links to articles on the debate on whether undocumented immigrant should be allowed to practice law (in California).  The California Supreme Court recently heard oral arguments, and I posted a link to the video of the oral argument and more articles here.

Now the JDJournal is reporting that the California Supreme Court rejected the candidate's argument holding that the federal laws that prohibited professional licenses to illegal immigrants also allowed state legislatures to carve out exemptions.  (I have not yet seen the opinion on this.)

But the  story does not end there.  In a somewhat surprising move, the California Legislature has approved a bill to allow law licenses to illegal immigrants.  Go to JDJ for more information.  (Thanks to the Legal Ethics Forum for the link.)