A constitutional challenge to Oregon’s mandatory bar membership and dues has arrived at the U.S. Supreme Court, giving the justices a fresh chance to explore asserted tension between the First Amendment and the regulation of lawyers.

The constitutional issues at play in the latest case have percolated in a smattering of cases around the country. Challenges to mandatory state bars in Texas and Louisiana are awaiting rulings in the Fifth Circuit, and the Tenth Circuit has a mandatory bar fee case from Oklahoma. The cases generally contend that state bars and their associations can’t use fees for purposes to which a lawyer might object on speech grounds.