Professional Documents
Culture Documents
2015-1109
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its funds “to ensure they are used in the manner Congress
intends.” Id. at 2328; see also Rust v. Sullivan, 500 U.S.
173, 198 (1991) (“The condition that federal funds will be
used only to further the purposes of a grant does not
violate constitutional rights.”). Other government-
imposed conditions may impermissibly impinge the First
Amendment rights of fund recipients. Pursuant to the
long-established unconstitutional conditions doctrine, the
government may not restrict a recipient’s speech simply
because the government provides him a benefit:
[E]ven though a person has no “right” to a valua-
ble governmental benefit and even though the
government may deny him the benefit for any
number of reasons, there are some reasons upon
which the government may not rely. It may not
deny a benefit to a person on a basis that infringes
his constitutionally protected interests—
especially, his interest in freedom of speech.
Perry v. Sindermann, 408 U.S. 593, 597 (1972); accord Bd.
of Cty. Comm’rs v. Umbehr, 518 U.S. 668, 674 (1996)
(“[T]he threat of the loss of [a valuable financial benefit]
in retaliation for speech may chill speech on matters of
public concern . . . .”). Conditions attached to government
programs may unconstitutionally restrict First Amend-
ment rights even if the program involves Congress’ au-
thority to direct spending under the Spending Clause.
See, e.g., Agency for Int’l Dev., 133 S. Ct. at 2330–31
(holding Congress could not restrict appropriations aimed
at combating the spread of HIV/AIDS to only organiza-
tions that affirmatively opposed prostitution and sex
trafficking); FCC v. League of Women Voters, 468 U.S.
364, 399–400 (1984) (rejecting the government’s argument
that Congress’ spending power justified conditioning
funding to public broadcasters on their refraining from
editorializing). The constitutional line, while “hardly
clear,” rests between “conditions that define the limits of
the government spending program—those that specify the
16 IN RE: BRUNETTI
2015-1109
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