In the 1970 case of Law Students Civil Rights Research Council, Inc., et al. v. Wadmond et al., the U.S Supreme Court upheld New York's system for admitting lawyers to the bar against a First Amendment challenge. The plaintiffs, law students and graduates who were preparing to take or had already taken the state's bar examination, argued that certain questions on character and fitness violated their rights to freedom of speech and association because they could be denied admission based on political beliefs or affiliations. However, in a 6-3 decision authored by Justice John Marshall Harlan II, the court found no evidence that New York was using its power over admissions to suppress unpopular views or dissuade applicants from associating with controversial groups.

In the dissenting opinion for Law Students Civil Rights Research Council, Inc., et al. v. Wadmond et al., Justice William O. Douglas argued that the New York State Bar's character and fitness inquiries into prospective lawyers' political beliefs and associations violated their First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and association. He contended that these investigations were not narrowly tailored to serve a compelling state interest, as required by strict scrutiny review for restrictions on fundamental constitutional rights, but instead constituted an overly broad intrusion into private matters irrelevant to legal practice or professional ethics. Furthermore, he criticized the majority's deference to legislative judgment in this case as inconsistent with its usual skepticism towards laws infringing upon civil liberties without clear justification.