Opinion ID: 7402
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Viewpoint Neutral

Text: The existence of reasonable grounds for preventing access to a nonpublic forum will not justify a State's restriction of speech where the restriction is actually an effort to suppress expression merely because public officials oppose the speaker's view. Perry Educ. Ass'n, 460 U.S. at 45, 103 S.Ct. at 955. However, the government is not required to act with content neutrality in 10 limiting access to a nonpublic forum and may make distinctions in access on the basis of ... speaker identity. Id., 460 U.S. at 49, 103 S.Ct. at 957. The State's rejection of the Klan's application to the Program constitutes a viewpoint-neutral restriction on speech. There is no indication in the record that the State's attempt to prevent the Klan from adopting a section of highway outside of Vidor is actually motivated by a desire to suppress the Klan's viewpoint. See id., 460 U.S. at 49 n. 9, 103 S.Ct. at 957 n. 9. The fact that the State wishes to exclude only one group with a certain viewpoint does not alone make the exclusion viewpoint based. See Madsen v. Women's Health Ctr., Inc., --- U.S. ----, --- -, 114 S.Ct. 2516, 2524, 129 L.Ed.2d 593 (1994) (all persons enjoined were demonstrators against abortion); Perry Educ. Ass'n, 460 U.S. at 49, 103 S.Ct. at 957 (one of two teacher's unions excluded from internal mail system). The State's desire to prevent the participation of the Klan in the Program is not due to the opinions of the Klan, but rather results from the foreseeable impact of Program participation by the Klan, given the past conduct of the Klan, upon the peace and privacy of the project residents and use of the state's highways. Cf. Perry Educ. Ass'n, 460 U.S. at 49, 103 S.Ct. at 957 (no viewpoint discrimination where the government excludes a group based on its status rather than its views); Madsen, --- U.S. at ----, 114 S.Ct. at 2524 (no viewpoint discrimination where limitations on the speech of persons with similar viewpoints is based on past conduct of those persons). 11