Opinion ID: 718699
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Tilton v. Richardson

Text: 22 Finally, we address the City's contention that Tilton v. Richardson, 403 U.S. 672, 91 S.Ct. 2091, 29 L.Ed.2d 790 (1971), which primarily concerned an Establishment Clause challenge to statutory language similar to that in the Older Americans Act, should be read to uphold the City's policy against a free speech challenge. We reject this reading of Tilton. In that case, the Court considered a federal grant and loan program for the construction of academic facilities at institutions of higher learning. The terms of the act excluded facilities used for sectarian instruction or religious worship. The Court held, however, that a provision in the act that effectively allowed facilities to be converted entirely to religious purposes after twenty years violated the Establishment Clause. Id. at 682-684, 91 S.Ct. at 2097-99. At no point did the Court address any free-speech challenge to the act, and nothing in the opinion implied that its decision upholding the remainder of the act against an Establishment Clause challenge could be extended to protect similar statutory language against a free-speech challenge. Furthermore, the Court revisited the Tilton case in Widmar and warned against such an expansive reading: [N]othing in Tilton suggested a limitation on the State's capacity to maintain forums equally open to religious and other discussions. Cases before and after Tilton have acknowledged the right of religious speakers to use public forums on equal terms with others. 454 U.S. at 272 n. 12, 102 S.Ct. at 276 n. 12.