Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/21pdf/20-1800_7lho.pdf
Page Number: 26

Cite as:  596 U. S. ____ (2022) 

7 

ALITO, J., concurring in judgment 

II 
A 
I would resolve this case using a different method for de-
termining  whether  the  government  is  speaking.    In  my
view, the minimum conditions that must be met for expres-
sion to count as “government speech” can be identified by 
considering the definition of “government speech” and the 
rationale  for  the  government-speech  doctrine.    Under  the 
resulting view, government speech occurs if—but only if—
a government purposefully expresses a message of its own
through persons authorized to speak on its behalf, and in
doing  so,  does  not  rely  on  a  means  that  abridges  private 
speech.

Defined in literal terms, “government speech” is “speech”
spoken by the government.  “Speech,” as that term is used
in our First Amendment jurisprudence, refers to expressive 
activity that is “intended to be communicative” and, “in con-
text, would reasonably be understood . . . to be communica-
tive.”  Clark v. Community for Creative Non-Violence, 468 
U. S.  288,  294  (1984);  see  also  Hurley  v.  Irish-American 
Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Group of Boston, Inc., 515 U. S 
557, 569 (1995).  Our government-speech precedents have
worked  with  largely  the  same  definition.    See,  e.g.,  Sum-
mum, 555 U. S., at 472 (accepting monument for placement 
in  a  city  park  “constitute[d]  government  speech”  because
the monuments were “meant to convey and have the effect
of conveying a government message”); Walker, 576 U. S., at 
214  (similar).    And  although  this  definition  of  “speech”  is
not  fully  precise,  the  purposeful  communication  of  the
speaker’s own message generally qualifies as “speech.” 

For  “speech”  to  be  spoken  by  the  government,  the  rele-
vant  act  of  communication  must  be  government  action.
Governments  are  not  natural  persons  and  can  only  com-
municate through human agents who have been given the
power  to  speak  for  the  government.    When  individuals 
charged  with  speaking  on  behalf  of  the  government  act