Supreme Court to Hear Case on Regulation of AIDS Groups’ Speech
January 14, 2013 | Read Time: 1 minute
The Supreme Court has agreed to review a federal requirement that government-funded HIV/AIDS charities explicitly endorse U.S. policies opposing prostitution and sex trafficking, according to The Wall Street Journal and Reuters.
The court said Friday it would take the case of U.S. Agency for International Development v. Alliance for Open Society International, which arose from a 2003 foreign-aid law signed by President George W. Bush. The plaintiff contends the provision violates charities’ free speech rights and requires them “stigmatize and alienate” sex workers, a group targeted by overseas AIDS-prevention organizations.
Lower courts have split on the law, with the most recent decision, in 2011 by the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, backing the charities. The Supreme Court is expected to hear the case in April.
