Opinion ID: 2265911
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Providing Treatment for Sex Offenders Is a Government Interest Unrelated to the Suppression of Protected Expression

Text: ¶ 37 The Tax also satisfies the third prong of the O'Brien testthe requirement that the government interest be unrelated to the suppression of protected expression. Under Supreme Court case law, it is clear that a regulation satisfies this prong of O'Brien so long as its predominant purpose is not the suppression of protected expression. [61] The record before us supports the conclusion that the predominant government interest precipitating passage of the Tax was the need to provide treatment for sex offenders. This interest is unrelated to any attempt to suppress speech; indeed, as set out above, any impacts on protected speech are incidental burdens associated with the Tax's application to a general class of conduct.