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6 

SHURTLEFF v. BOSTON 

Opinion of the Court 

when  does  government-public  engagement  transmit  the
government’s own message?  And when does it instead cre-
ate a forum for the expression of private speakers’ views? 

In  answering  these  questions,  we  conduct  a  holistic  in-
quiry  designed  to  determine  whether  the  government  in-
tends to speak for itself or to regulate private expression.
Our review is not mechanical; it is driven by a case’s context 
rather than the rote application of rigid factors.  Our past
cases have looked to several types of evidence to guide the
analysis, including: the history of the expression at issue; 
the public’s likely perception as to who (the government or 
a private person) is speaking; and the extent to which the
government  has  actively  shaped  or  controlled  the  expres-
sion.  See Walker, 576 U. S., at 209–214. 

Considering these indicia in Summum, we held that the 
messages of permanent monuments in a public park consti-
tuted government speech, even when the monuments were 
privately funded and donated.  See 555 U. S., at 470–473. 
In Walker, we explained that license plate designs proposed 
by private groups also amounted to government speech be-
cause, among other reasons, the State that issued the plates 
“maintain[ed]  direct  control  over  the  messages  conveyed”
by “actively” reviewing designs and rejecting over a dozen
proposals.  576 U. S., at 213.  In Matal v. Tam, 582 U. S. 
___  (2017),  on  the  other  hand,  we  concluded  that  trade-
marking words or symbols generated by private registrants
did not amount to government speech.  Id., at ___–___ (slip 
op.,  at  14–18).  Though  the  Patent  and  Trademark  Office
had to approve each proposed mark, it did not exercise suf-
ficient control over the nature and content of those marks 
to convey a governmental message in so doing.  Ibid.  These 
precedents point our way today. 

B 
  Applying the government-speech analysis to this record,