The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to review a First Amendment dispute over whether the United States can force private health groups to denounce prostitution as a condition to get AIDS funding. The justices said on Jan. 11 they will hear the government’s appeal of a ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit that the anti-prostitution pledge violated the groups’ constitutional rights.
At issue is the United States Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Act of 2003. It requires groups seeking federal money to announce publicly that they oppose prostitution and sex-trafficking. The government often attaches conditions to the receipt of federal funds. A divided circuit panel concluded in Alliance for Open Society International v. U.S. Agency for International Development, 08-4917-cv, the law went well beyond what is permissible (NYLJ, July 7, 2011).
