Blog #6: Unit 21 on Requirement of Aid

Today’s class moves from the question of whether aid to religion is permitted to whether it may be in some circumstances required. The discussion will take us back to the relationship between the religion clauses and other First Amendment provisions, especially the speech clause. Recall that we have previously discussed these connections in cases like Cantwell v. Connecticut and West Virginia v. Barnette.

The aspect of free speech doctrine that underlies today’s class is the requirement that government generally may not engage in viewpoint discrimination (and sometimes may not engage in content discrimination). We will talk about public forum doctrine and the related concept of government speech. You should keep in mind four classifications:

• traditional public forum (the kind of forum most open to speech, and the most protective of speech)

• limited public forum (a forum in which the government can engage in some content discrimination but typically not viewpoint discrimination)

• nonpublic forum (a forum that is heavily regulated by government but still maintains some restrictions on viewpoint discrimination)

• government speech (not a forum at all but the government’s own message)

You can find today’s podcast below (which will also explain the picture at the top of this post). I’ll end the podcast reviewing the homework question that asked you to distinguish Locke from Zelman, Witters, Rosenberger, and Lukumi. As you think about these distinctions, think also how these cases relate to Trinity Lutheran, which you’ll read for Thursday’s class. And after the podcast, please listen to this short segment that aired yesterday on NPR. It raises some of the ideas from today’s class in the context of a current issue (and features a cameo by me). Anyone interested in weighing in on the current issue should feel free to post a comment on the blog.