It is a basic First Amendment principle that “Freedom of speech prohibits the government from telling people what they must say.” Rumsfeld v. Forum for Academic and Institutional Rights, Inc., 547 U.S. 47, 61, 126 S. Ct. 1297, 164 L. Ed. 2d 156 (2006) (citing West Virginia Bd. of Ed. v. Barnette, 319 U.S. 624, 642, 63 S. Ct. 1178, 87 L. Ed. 1628 (1943), and Wooley v. Maynard, 430 U.S. 705, 717, 97 S. Ct. 1428, 51 L. Ed. 2d 752 (1977)). “At the heart of the First Amendment lies the principle that each person should decide for himself or herself the ideas and beliefs deserving of expression, consideration, and adherence.” Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. v. FCC, 512 U.S. 622, 641, 114 S. Ct. 2445, 129 L. Ed. 2d 497 (1994); see Knox v. Service Employees, 567 U.S. ___, ___-___, 132 S. Ct. 2277, 2288, 183 L. Ed. 2d 281, 296 (2012) (“The government may not . . . compel the endorsement of ideas that it approves.”).
The question is whether the Government may nonetheless impose a restriction on speech as a condition on the receipt of federal funds.
If ...