{
  "id": "RL30433",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "RL30433",
  "active": false,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 101779,
      "date": "2000-02-15",
      "retrieved": "2016-05-24T20:39:01.507941",
      "title": "Mandatory Student Fees and the First Amendment: Background and Analysis of Issues in Southworth v. Grebe",
      "summary": "The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States provides that \"Congress shall\nmake\nno law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridge\nthe freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to\npetition the government for a redress of grievances.\" The Supreme Court of the United States has\nestablished that the First Amendment's free speech guarantee contains, as necessary corollaries, the\nright not to speak, and the right not to be compelled to support the speech of others.\n Based on these principles, students of the University of Wisconsin filed suit against the school's\nBoard of Regents, asserting that the use of objecting students' mandatory student activity fees to\nsupport political and ideological groups violated their First Amendment rights of free speech, free\nexercise, and free association. This assertion by the plaintiffs raised a conflict between the general\nprinciple that academic institutions may provide a neutral, non-discriminatory forum for the\nexpression of diverse ideas and the maxim that individuals cannot be required to support political\nor ideological viewpoints to which they are opposed.\n  In considering this conflict, the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit looked to\n Rosenberger v. Rector and Visitors of University of Virginia , where the Supreme Court\nruled that\ndisbursement of student fees must be made on a viewpoint neutral basis. While the Court did not\naddress the issue of whether such fees were violative of the First Amendment in\n Rosenberger , it did\nstate that the analysis of the question would be controlled by standards established in two of its\nearlier decisions,  Keller v. State Bar of California  and  Abood v. Detroit Board of\nEducation.  In those\ncases, dealing with bar and teacher's union dues respectively, the Court ruled that members of such\norganizations could be required to fund activities which are germane to the purpose for which the\norganization was established, but could not be compelled to fund activities of a political or\nideological nature.\n  Applying this germaneness standard to the academic context, the court of appeals determined\nthat the allocation of student fees to political and ideological groups was unconstitutional.\nSpecifically, the court explained that a university's interest in providing for diverse expression was\nnot sufficiently germane to the educational process to justify such forced funding. A key factor in\nthe court's decision was its conclusion that the disbursements placed too great a burden on the First\nAmendment rights of objecting students, effectively forcing them to subsidize speech that was\nanathemic to their personal beliefs.\n  While the Seventh Circuit employed established precedent in its analysis, its conclusion\nconflicts with the decisions of other courts. Because of this difference among the circuit courts, the\nSupreme Court granted certiorari on the question of whether such fee disbursements offend First\nAmendment principles. A decision in  Board of Regents v. Southworth \u00a0is expected\nthis term.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORTS",
      "active": false,
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      "topics": []
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  "topics": [
    "American Law",
    "Constitutional Questions"
  ]
}