Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/09pdf/08-1371.pdf
Page Number: 7.0

Cite as:  561 U. S. ____ (2010) 

1 

Opinion of the Court 

NOTICE:  This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the
preliminary  print  of  the  United  States  Reports.  Readers  are  requested  to
notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Court of the United States, Wash­
ington,  D. C.  20543,  of  any  typographical  or  other  formal  errors,  in  order
that corrections may be made before the preliminary print goes to press. 

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES 

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No. 08–1371 
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CHRISTIAN LEGAL SOCIETY CHAPTER OF THE UNI- 

VERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, HASTINGS COLLEGE OF 

THE LAW, AKA HASTINGS CHRISTIAN FELLOW- 

SHIP, PETITIONER v. LEO P. MARTINEZ ET AL. 

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF 

APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

[June 28, 2010] 

JUSTICE GINSBURG delivered the opinion of the Court. 
In a series of decisions, this Court has emphasized that 

the First Amendment generally precludes public universi­
ties  from  denying  student  organizations  access  to  school­
sponsored  forums  because  of  the  groups’  viewpoints.    See 
Rosenberger  v.  Rector  and  Visitors  of  Univ.  of  Va.,  515 
U. S. 819 (1995); Widmar v. Vincent, 454 U. S. 263 (1981); 
Healy v. James, 408 U. S. 169 (1972).  This case concerns a 
novel  question  regarding  student  activities  at  public  uni­
versities:  May  a  public  law  school  condition  its  official
recognition  of  a  student  group—and  the  attendant  use  of 
school  funds  and  facilities—on  the  organization’s  agree­
ment to open eligibility for membership and leadership to 
all students? 

In the view of petitioner Christian Legal Society (CLS), 
an  accept-all-comers  policy  impairs  its  First  Amendment
rights  to  free  speech,  expressive  association,  and  free 
exercise of religion by prompting it, on pain of relinquish­
ing the advantages of recognition, to accept members who