No. 25-926

Alexander Keely v. Pennsylvania Board of Law Examiners

Lower Court: Pennsylvania
Docketed: 2026-02-05
Status: Pending
Type: Paid
Tags: due-process equal-protection fourteenth-amendment law-school-accreditation professional-licensing racial-discrimination
Key Terms:
AdministrativeLaw Antitrust DueProcess JusticiabilityDoctri
Latest Conference: N/A
Question Presented (AI Summary)

Whether Pennsylvania's ABA law school accreditation monopoly violates the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause and Due Process protections

Question Presented (from Petition)

Shortly after the Civil Rights Act of 1964, when most American Bar Association (ABA) law schools had not yet admitted Black students or minorities, Pennsylvania created rules that prohibited all historically qualified applicants from obtaining standard admission to the bar unless they had graduated from an ABA-accredited law school. As in Dent and Douglas, professional licensing limitations throughout relevant ratification periods were always specific to an individual ’s “knowledge and skill ” and did not ever authorize bare rational basis deference. In Heller, McDonald, and Bruen, this Court restored fundamental core protections of Second Amendment rights by holding that restrictions inconsistent with America ’s historical tradition of regulation are unconstitutional. Since ABA ’s inception and persistent racial discrimination began in 1878, states have been divided on whether the fundamental right to earn a living could be legitimately restricted by an accreditation monopoly. The questions presented are: 1. Whether Pennsylvania ’s ABA monopoly within professional licensing qualifications exceeds the limits of Bruen ’s text, history, and traditions test in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment. 2. Whether Pennsylvania ’s ABA monopoly survives strict scrutiny or invidiously discriminates against Blacks in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. 3. Whether procedural due process rights of the Fourteenth Amendment are violated by Pennsylvania ’s failure to assess an individual ’s similar educational qualifications for licensing.

Docket Entries

2026-01-20
Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due March 9, 2026)

Attorneys

Alexander David Keely
Alexander David Keely — Petitioner
Alexander David Keely — Petitioner