U.S. Code » Title 36 » Subtitle Subtitle II— Patriotic and National Organizations › Part Part B— Organizations › Chapter CHAPTER 705— THE FOUNDATION OF THE FEDERAL BAR ASSOCIATION

36 U.S.C. § 70503

Membership

Read at: OLRCuscode.house.gov CornellLII GovInfogovinfo.gov JustiaTitle 36 CasesGoogle Scholar
(a)Eligibility.—Except as provided in this chapter, eligibility for membership in the corporation and the rights and privileges of members are as provided in the bylaws.(b)Grounds for Disqualification.—An individual may not be a member, director, or officer of the corporation if the individual—(1) is a member of, or advocates the principles of, an organization believing in, or working for, the overthrow of the United States Government by force or violence; or(2) refuses to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States.(Pub. L. 105–225, Aug. 12, 1998, 112 Stat. 1352; Pub. L. 119–57, § 3, Dec. 12, 2025, 139 Stat. 711.)

Historical and Revision Notes

Revised

Section

Source (U.S. Code)

Source (Statutes at Large)

70503(a)

36:576(a).

Aug. 24, 1954, ch. 911, §§ 6, 16, 68 Stat. 798, 800.

70503(b)

36:576(b).

 

70503(c)

36:586.

 

In subsection (a), the words “the persons listed in section 571 of this title” and “hereafter” are omitted as obsolete.

In subsection (b), the words “has one vote” are substituted for “may cast one vote” for consistency in the revised title.

Editorial NotesAmendments

2025—Pub. L. 119–57 added subsec. (a), redesignated subsec. (c) as (b), and struck out former subsecs. (a) and (b) which read as follows:

“(a) Members.—The members of the corporation are—

“(1) the members of the National Council of the Federal Bar Association, a nonprofit corporation incorporated in the District of Columbia, during their term of membership on that Council; and

“(2) other individuals the corporation provides for in the bylaws or otherwise.

“(b) Voting.—Each member has one vote on each matter submitted to a vote of the members.”

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 3 cases (2 in the last 5 years), 2020–2026 · leading case: Class v. United States (Fed. Cl. 2020).
Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment
Class v. United States (Fed. Cl. 2020). · cites it 2× “Class calls for government counsel to be disqualified from the Federal Bar Association for violations of 36 U.S.C. § 70503 (c) for “refus[ing] to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States,” specifically regarding the Tenth Amendment and the Fourteenth Amendment.”
Class (M.D.N.C. 2026). “These provisions include 36 U.S.C. § 70503 , which governs the Federal Bar Association and lawyers’ duty to uphold the Constitution; 5 U.”
Class (M.D.N.C. 2026). “These provisions include 36 U.S.C. § 70503 , which governs the Federal Bar Association and lawyers’ duty to uphold the Constitution; 5 U.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.