Court Opinion

ID: 9429496
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-02 23:26:54.104959+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:23:19.905327
License: Public Domain

Justice Stevens,
with whom Justice Brennan joins in all but Part III, and with whom Justice Powell joins in all but Part II, dissenting.
The First Amendment provides: “Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press ....” Laws enacted by state legislatures are subject to this prohibition. Gitlow v. New York, 268 U. S. 652 (1925). The question in this case is whether Minnesota’s statute granting unions preferential access to the policymaking deliberations of public agencies, while prohibiting comparable access for others, is such a law.
We need not consider whether executives or legislators have any constitutional obligation to listen to unsolicited advice to decide this case. It is inherent in the republican form of government that high officials may choose — in their own wisdom and at their own peril — to listen to some of their constituents and not to others. But the First Amendment does guarantee an open marketplace for ideas — where divergent points of view can freely compete for the attention of those in power and of those to whom the powerful must account. The Minnesota statute places a significant restraint on that free competition, by regulating the communication that may take place between the government and those governed. As the District Court found, the statute gives only one speaker a *301realistic opportunity to present its views to state officials. All other communication is effectively prohibited, not by reference to the time, place, or manner of communication, or even by reference to the officials’ willingness to listen, but rather by reference to the identity of the speaker. The statute is therefore invalid because the First Amendment does not permit any state legislature to grant a single favored speaker an effective monopoly on the opportunity to petition the government.
I
The Minnesota Public Employment Labor Relations Act (PELRA), Minn. Stat. §§ 179.61-179.76 (1982), applies to the State itself, to its political subdivisions, and to its administrative agencies. While this case involves the state community college system, the statutory scheme applies to any public employer that engages in collective bargaining and has policymaking responsibilities in areas beyond its contractual relationships with its employees. It is its unique regulation of the public agencies’ process of formulating policy concerning other subjects that makes the statute vulnerable to constitutional attack.
In this appeal, there is no dispute that Minnesota may limit the process of negotiation on the terms and conditions of public employment to the union that represents the employees in a given collective-bargaining unit. This is accomplished by § 179.66, subd. 7, of the statute, which forbids an employer to “meet and negotiate” with anyone except the union’s representatives. “Meet and negotiate” is defined as the process of collective bargaining on “terms and conditions of employment,” § 179.63, subd. 16, which
“means the hours of employment, the compensation therefor including fringe benefits except retirement contributions or benefits, and the employer’s personnel policies affecting the working conditions of the employees. In the case of professional employees the term does not mean educational policies of a school district. The terms in both cases are subject to the provisions of section *302179.66 regarding the rights of public employers and the scope of negotiations.” §179.63, subd. 18.
The portion of the statute under challenge here has nothing to do with the process of negotiating labor contracts. The challenged provisions prohibit the exchange of any “view” concerning the policies of the public employer between the employer and any employee except the majority union’s representatives. The same portion of the PELRA that limits labor negotiations to the union’s representative, also forbids public agencies to “meet and confer” with any employee or group of employees except a representative of the employees’ union:
“The employer shall not meet and negotiate or meet and confer with any employee or group of employees who are at the time designated as a member or part of an appropriate employee unit except through the exclusive representative . . . provided that this subdivision shall not be deemed to prevent the communication to the employer, other than through the exclusive representative, of advice or recommendations by professional employees, when such communication is a part of the employee’s work assignment.” § 179.66, subd. 7 (emphasis supplied).
The provision exempting individual communications from the otherwise all-encompassing abridgment of speech is limited to communication that “is a part of the employee’s work assignment.” Thus, a French professor could confer with his employer about Voltaire or Daudet but could not suggest that the football team needs a new coach, that the endowment fund should divest itself of South African investments, that the admissions committee should modify its affirmative-action program, or that the faculty should organize a drive for the March of Dimes.1
*303The breadth of the communication prohibited by this statute is remarkable. The “meet and confer” process in which only the majority union can participate is defined broadly to encompass “the exchange of views and concerns between employers and their respective employees.” § 179.63, subd. 15. The statute itself imposes no limit on the subjects that might be covered by the “meet and confer” system; in its application to other agencies, that system could encompass the entire range of public policy questions. Thus, in terms the statute says that a public employee may not exchange any views on virtually any public policy question with his or her employer. Appellants suggest no narrowing construction of these statutory terms, nor would it be appropriate for this Court to attempt in the first instance to construe the statute to mean something other than what it plainly says. The District Court found that the statute has been applied to mean what it says. In the community college program, the District Court found that the “subjects covered by the meet and confer system include new course proposals and other curriculum matters, budgetary planning, development of facilities, student rights and student affairs generally, evaluation of administrators, selection of college presidents, academic accreditation of the community colleges, and other matters.” App. to Juris. Statement A-49.
Not only are employees who are not selected to represent the majority union’s views disabled from expressing their own opinions to their employers, but the union is guaranteed ample opportunities to do what no one else can. The statute places public employers under an obligation to meet and confer with the majority union’s representative at least once every four months. §§ 179.66, subd. 3, 179.73. Moreover, *304the statute acknowledges that the “meet and confer” process is critical to the process of formulating public policy.2
As might be expected, the statutory prohibition has had an adverse impact on conversation and communication between teachers and administrators in the State’s community college system. Although the “meet and confer” sessions with the majority union are open to all faculty members, no one can speak without the union’s permission.3 In practice, observers have not been permitted to speak.4 The statute thus gives the majority union in the system an effective veto over the right of dissident faculty members to communicate their views to the administration.5 College administrators under*305stand the PELRA to prohibit them from listening to the views except those of the majority union, and they have acted in accord with that understanding.6 As a result, much less communication between faculty members and college administrators occurs under the statute because both administrators and teachers fear that if they exchange views, especially when the exchange involves nonunion faculty members, they will be violating the PELRA.7 Those conversations *306that do still occur often are useless as a practical matter, since the administrator often responds only by saying that the subject must be discussed in a different forum.8 Thus *307the PELRA has substituted a union-controlled process for the formerly free exchange of views that took place between faculty and the administration.9 In practice, the union has a monopoly on the effective opportunity to present views to the administration on the wide range of subjects covered by the “meet and confer” process.10
*308The District Court found that under the statute “the weight and significance of individual speech interests have been consciously derogated in favor of systematic, official expression.” 571 F. Supp. 1, 8 (1982). “[The] PELRA has made the formal meet and confer process the primary mechanism for any significant faculty-administration communication on such policy questions.” App. to Juris. Statement A-49 (emphasis supplied). It concluded that the “meet and confer” process “is the only significant forum for the faculty to resolve virtually every issue outside the scope of mandatory bargaining. This structure effectively blocks any meaningful expression by faculty members who are excluded from the formal process.” 571 F. Supp., at 9 (emphasis supplied). These findings may not be set aside unless clearly erroneous, see Inwood Laboratories, Inc. v. Ives Laboratories, Inc., 456 U. S. 844 (1982); Pullman-Standard v. Swint, 456 U. S. 273 (1982), and in any event are not challenged by appellants or the Court.
I — I H-Í
Both the plain language of the statute and the District Court’s findings concerning its actual operation demonstrate that it is a law abridging the freedom of speech. This is true both because it grants unions especially favored positions in communicating with public policymaking bodies and because it curtails the ability of all other members of the public to communicate effectively with those public bodies. There can be no question but that the First Amendment secures the right of individuals to communicate with their government. And the First Amendment was intended to se*309cure something more than an exercise in futility — it guarantees a meaningful opportunity to express one’s views. For example, this Court has recognized that the right to forward views might become a practical nullity if government prohibited persons from banding together to make their voices heard. Thus, the First Amendment protects freedom of association because it makes the right to express one’s views meaningful. See NAACP v. Claiborne Hardware Co., 458 U. S. 886, 907-908 (1982); Citizens Against Rent Control v. Berkeley, 454 U. S. 290, 295-299 (1981); Bates v. Little Rock, 361 U. S. 516, 522-523 (1960); NAACP v. Alabama, 357 U. S. 449, 460-461 (1958).11 Because of the importance of this right to play a meaningful part in the “uninhibited, robust, and wide-open” debate envisioned by the First Amendment, New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U. S. 254, 270 (1964), the Court has not permitted government to deny associational rights critical to this opportunity unless the abridgment is no broader than necessary to serve a vital state purpose.12
*310The First Amendment also protects the public employee’s right not to associate. Just as “the Legislature could not require allegiance to a particular political faith as a condition of public employment,” Illinois State Employees Union, Council 34 v. Lewis, 473 F. 2d 561, 570 (CA7 1972), so is it equally clear that the legislature could not require an employee to subscribe to the political tenets of a particular labor union.13 In Abood v. Detroit Board of Education, 431 U. S. 209 (1977), we held that nonunion members cannot be compelled to contribute to the partisan political activities of the union which represents them, because that would have the forbidden effect of compelling them to support advocacy with which they do not agree and thereby to infringe their associational rights. See id., at 233-237.14
The findings of the District Court in this case indicate that access to the “meet and confer” process is essential if appel-lees are to be able to express their views effectively on issues involving their colleges. The statute prohibits them from expressing “any view” on issues affecting their colleges to the administration, and as a practical matter it “blocks effectively *311meaningful expression” by appellees on the public policy issues facing the state agencies which employ them.15 Moreover, the broad sweep of the plain language of the statute has in fact deterred the exercise of First Amendment rights, since public employees and employers cannot be sure if they may exchange views without violating the statute.16 It is precisely because such broadly worded statutes inhibit free expression that they have been invalidated even when they are being applied in a constitutional manner.17
HH I — I
The Court suggests that associational rights are adequately protected because appellees remain free to associate in order to express their views outside of the “meet and confer” process. Ante, at 289-290. This claim parallels the one advanced in Healy v. James, 408 U. S. 169 (1972). There a state university denied a student group access to university *312facilities. The Court rejected the argument that this exclusion did not impair First Amendment rights since the student group remained free to associate in order to advocate its views off-campus:
“We may concede, as did Mr. Justice Harlan in his opinion for a unanimous Court in NAACP v. Alabama ex rel. Patterson, 357 U. S., at 461, that the administration ‘has taken no direct action ... to restrict the rights of [petitioners] to associate freely . . . .’ But the Constitution’s protection is not limited to direct interference with fundamental rights. The requirement in Patterson that the NAACP disclose its membership lists was found to be an impermissible, though indirect, infringement of the members’ associational rights. Likewise, in this ease, the group’s possible ability to exist outside the campus community does not ameliorate significantly the disabilities imposed by the President’s action. We are not free to disregard the practical realities.” Id., at 183.
Just as the denial of access to campus facilities in Healy had a critical impact on First Amendment rights, the denial of access to campus administrators in this case has an equally critical impact on the opportunity to be heard. As the District Court found, in reality the “meet and confer” process is the only meaningful chance appellees have to influence public policy. “If some faculty members are excluded from participation and deliberation in the meet and confer process, they are effectively denied any meaningful expression on the issues resolved through that process.” 571 F. Supp., at 8. This statute has effectively muted appellees’ voices.18 The *313Court’s conclusion to the contrary rests only on its willingness “to disregard the practical realities.” 408 U. S., at 183.19
The Court’s analysis is rooted simply in the notion that “Mppellees have no constitutional right to force the government to listen to their views.” Ante, at 283. No claim is made that college administrators do not want to hear what appellees have to say; to the contrary the administrators claim that they are willing to listen to the views of appellees. The problem is that the administrators are statutorily prohibited from listening. Indeed, the Court distinguishes Healy by arguing that that case involved a group seeking to communicate with “potentially willing listeners.” Ante, at 289, n. 10. That is no distinction at all; the college administrators here are potentially willing listeners as well. It is only the *314statute that prevents appellees from communicating with those in charge of public policy.
Moreover, the District Court found that prior to the passage of the challenged statute, appellees were able to participate in the “meet and confer” process.20 Their former ability to communicate with the administration has been impaired not by the administration’s unwillingness to listen, but by the challenged statute. Any realistic appraisal of the effects of such a restriction must lead to the conclusion that this statute has restricted the traditional freedom of speech appellees had once enjoyed. “[T]he capacity of a group or individual ‘to participate in the intellectual give and take of campus debate . . . [would be] limited by denial of access to the customary media for communicating with the administration, faculty members, and . . . students.’” Widmar v. Vincent, 454 U. S. 263, 267-268, n. 5 (1981) (quoting Healy, 408 U. S., at 181-182).
In short, by prohibiting the administration from listening to appellees, the PELRA ensures that appellees’ speech can have no meaningful impact upon the administration. Appel-lees do not rely on the government’s “obligation” to hear them; they rely only on their right to have a meaningful opportunity to speak. If a public employer does not wish to listen to appellees, that is its privilege, but the First Amendment at least requires that that decision be made in an open marketplace of ideas, rather than under a statutory scheme that does not permit appellees’ speech to be considered, no matter how much merit it may contain.21
*315IV
No one suggests that the Minnesota statute has been narrowly tailored to serve a compelling state interest.22 The only interest appellants claim the statute serves is in protecting the status of the public employees’ exclusive representative.23 It is now settled law that a public employer may *316negotiate only with the elected representative of its employees, because it would be impracticable to negotiate simultaneously with rival labor unions. See Abood v. Detroit Board of Education, 431 U. S., at 224-226.24 But in Abood we explicitly held that exclusivity could not be extended to areas beyond the statutorily mandated subjects of collective bargaining, since such an extension would impair the associational rights of those who do not wish to join the union. See id., at 232-237. Here, the areas subject to the “meet and confer” process are by definition not subjects of collective bargaining. While a public employer cannot contract with more than one union at a time, as the Court points out, it can confer with as many groups as it desires. Ante, at 284. The need to conduct collective bargaining with only one employee representative does not justify prohibiting college administrators from conferring with other employees on topics not the subject of collective bargaining. That is the teaching of Abood.25
*317There is a simple, but fundamental, reason why the state interest in exclusivity cannot sustain this statute. That interest creates a preference for the views of majority unions which itself infringes the principles of the First Amendment. In Police Department of Chicago v. Mosley, 408 U. S. 92 (1972), the Court considered the constitutionality of a Chicago ordinance that granted labor unions access to a narrowly defined forum and denied such access to all other speakers. The forum in that case was the area “within 150 feet of any primary or secondary school building while the school is in session” and for one-half hour before and after school sessions, id., at 92-93; the method of communication was peaceful picketing. Unions, but no one else, were allowed access to that narrow forum. The Court unanimously held the ordinance unconstitutional. After pointing out that the ordinance allowed peaceful picketing on the subject of a school’s labor-management dispute, but prohibited all other peaceful picketing, the Court continued:
“Necessarily, then, under the Equal Protection Clause, not to mention the First Amendment itself, government may not grant the use of a forum to people whose views it finds acceptable, but deny use to those wishing to express less favored or more controversial views. And it may not select which issues are worth discussing or debating in public facilities. There is an ‘equality of status in the field of ideas,’ and government must afford all points of view an equal opportunity to be heard. Once a forum is opened up to assembly or speaking by some groups, government may not prohibit others from assembling or speaking on the basis of what they intend to say.” Id., at 96 (footnote omitted).26
We have consistently adhered to the principle that government must “afford all points of view an equal opportunity to *318be heard.”27 The majority claims that this principle does not apply to closed proceedings not open to any form of public access. Ante, at 280-283. In fact, however, the “meet and confer” sessions are open to the public and are held in public places. Moreover, the State permits participation by the union’s representatives but no others. When a State permits some speakers but not others access to a forum for communication, it must justify its exclusions as viewpoint-neutral. See Widmar v. Vincent, 454 U. S., at 267-268; Madison Joint School District No. 8 v. Wisconsin Employment Relations Comm’n, 429 U. S. 167, 175, and n. 8 (1976); Southeastern Promotions, Ltd. v. Conrad, 420 U. S. 546, 555-559 (1975). Surely that principle cannot be avoided by the simple expedient of using the speaker’s point of view as the criterion for defining the scope of access to a publicly sponsored forum. Indeed, the case on which the majority principally relies, Perry Education Assn. v. Perry Local Educators’ Assn., 460 U. S. 37 (1983), states that government may not restrict access to channels of communication as an attempt “to discourage one viewpoint and advance another.” Id., at 49.
Here, by giving the union exclusive rights with respect to the primary avenue for communication with college administration, the Minnesota statutory scheme plainly advances the union’s viewpoint at the expense of all others. The District Court found that the PELRA “consciously” derogated the weight of individual speech interests in favor of the majority union’s interests. The controlling authority is therefore Madison Joint School District No. 8 v. Wisconsin Employment Relations Comm’n, supra. We wrote:
“Regardless of the extent to which true contract negotiations between a public body and its employees may be *319regulated — an issue we need not consider at this time— the participation in public discussion of public business cannot be confined to one category of interested individuals. To permit one side of a debatable public question to have a monopoly in expressing its views to the government is the antithesis of constitutional guarantees. Whatever its duties as an employer, when the board sits in public meetings to conduct public business and hear the views of citizens, it may not be required to discriminate between speakers on the basis of their employment, or the content of their speech. See Police Dept. of Chicago v. Mosley, 408 U. S. 92, 96 (1972).” Id., at 175-176 (footnotes omitted).28
This statute gives the union the same “monopoly in expressing its views to the government” that we condemned in the Madison Joint School District case. The Minnesota “meet and confer” sessions create, in reality, an exclusive method for communication with government, and permit only *320one point of view to be expressed. The resultant insulation of public policy from exposure to the full range of views is that to which the constitutional ban on viewpoint discrimination is addressed. The views of all have the right to be considered on their merits, rather than to be excluded by statutory prohibition. It is one thing to say, as the majority does, that the government may decline to listen to those whose views it finds unhelpful; it is quite another to say that those views need not be given even a fair chance to compete for the attention of government.
It is instructive to contrast this case with Perry Education Assn. v. Perry Local Educators’ Assn., 460 U. S. 37 (1983). In that case the Court upheld a school board’s contractual agreement allowing the union representing its teachers to make use of the school mail system in connection with the discharge of the union’s exclusive representative duties, without providing equal access to rival unions. That preferential treatment of the union was justified by reference to the collective-bargaining process. It was thought necessary to facilitate communication between the union and the teachers because of the majority union’s exclusive responsibility for negotiation and administration of the collective-bargaining agreement.
“We observe that providing exclusive access to recognized bargaining representatives is a permissible labor practice in the public sector. We have previously noted that the ‘designation of a union as exclusive representative carries with it great responsibilities. The tasks of negotiating and administering a collective-bargaining agreement and representing the interests of employees in settling disputes and processing grievances are continuing and difficult ones.’ Moreover, exclusion of a rival union may reasonably be considered a means of insuring labor peace within the schools. The policy ‘serves to prevent the District’s schools from becoming a battlefield for inter-union squabbles.’” Id., at 51-52 (footnotes and citations omitted).
*321After recognizing that the right of access to the mail system was accorded to the union “acting as the representative of the teachers,” the Court expressly noted that the case did not involve “a grant of access for unlimited purposes.” Id., at 53, n. 13. It also noted that there was no showing that the challenged system substantially disadvantaged the ability of other speakers to communicate their messages. Id., at 53-54.
The case the Court decides today involves preferential treatment of the union as a participant in discussions and debates that lead to the formulation of policy not embraced within its collective-bargaining responsibilities. The “meet and confer” process is statutorily defined to be exclusive of the collective-bargaining process which — as Abood squarely holds — is the only context in which the union can claim a right to exclusive representation of all employees. The collective-bargaining justifications relied upon in Perry are entirely absent when, as here, the union has no right — let alone an exclusive right — to act on behalf of other persons.29 In short, “exclusivity cannot constitutionally be used to muzzle a public employee who, like any other citizen, might wish to express his view about governmental decisions concern*322ing labor relations . . . Abood, 431 U. S., at 230. The practical effect of the statutory prohibition on meeting and conferring with anyone but the exclusive representative is to create exactly the sort of “muzzle” condemned by Abood.
The First Amendment favors unabridged communication among members of a free society — including communication between employer and employee. The process of collective bargaining requires that a limited exception to that general principle be recognized, but until today we have not tolerated any broadening of that exception beyond the collective-bargaining process. The effect of the Minnesota statute is to make the union the only authorized spokesman for all employees on political matters as well as contractual matters. In my opinion, such state-sponsored orthodoxy is plainly impermissible. The Court, however, relies on a newly found state interest in promoting conformity — the “interest in ensuring that its public employers hear one, and only one, voice presenting the majority view of its professional employees on employment-related policy questions, whatever other advice they may receive on those questions.” Ante, at 291. The notion that there is a state interest in fostering a private monopoly on any form of communication is at war with the principle that “the desire to favor one form of speech over all others” is not merely trivial; it “is illegitimate.” Carey v. Brown, 447 U. S. 455, 468 (1980).
As I noted at the outset, we are concerned with the constitutionality of a law enacted by the legislature. That law requires all executives administering the community college system — as well as all other public employers — to adhere to the specific “meet and confer” process when formulating public policy. The invalidity of such a law need not impair the discretion exercised by individual public administrators with regard to the identity of the persons from whom, or the time, place, and manner in which, they will accept advice concerning their official conduct. But for the State to preclude the exercise of that discretion — to say that the ideas of all save *323the majority union may not compete on their merits — is to impose the kind of restraint on the free exchange of ideas that the First Amendment does not tolerate.
Because I am convinced that the statutorily mandated exclusive “meet and confer” process is constitutionally intolerable, I respectfully dissent.

 The other statutory provision protecting the individual’s right to communicate with an employer is also carefully limited to conversations that (a) concern terms and conditions of employment and (b) do not interfere *303with the rights of the exclusive bargaining representative. Thus it is limited to the “meet and negotiate” context not at issue here. It reads as follows:
“Nothing contained in sections 179.61 to 179.76 shall be construed to limit, impair or affect the right of any public employee or his representative to the expression or communication of a view, grievance, complaint or *304opinion on any matter related to the conditions or compensation of public employment or their betterment, so long as the same is not designed to and does not interfere with the full faithful and proper performance of the duties of employment or circumvent the rights of the exclusive representative if there be one . . . § 179.65, subd. 1.

 “The legislature recognizes that professional employees possess knowledge, expertise, and dedication which is helpful and necessary to the operation and quality of public services and which may assist public employers in developing their policies. It is, therefore, the policy of this state to encourage close cooperation between public employers and professional employees by providing for discussions and the mutual exchange of ideas _” § 179.73, subd. 1.

 “Q. Assume the following facts, then, based on your experience as President and also serving on the committees, assume that a person who is not on the Exchange View Committee was present in the room and tried to present his views. Would he be permitted to present his views?
“A. We have within the college a procedure for exchange of views, as we call it, and we have the provision for special witnesses. Prior to each meeting the Chairperson of the faculty and the Chairperson of the Administration can agree on such witnesses. The meetings are totally open so any faculty member may attend the meetings and not speak. But, only special witnesses may speak. So, it takes the agreement between the Chairpersons — faculty and chairperson of the Administration on special witnesses.
“Q. So, either side could block a special witness appearing?
“A. That is correct.” App. A-92.

 See id., at A-48. See also id., at A-185 to A-186.

 “Q. And on the other hand the committee also has the power or at least one side of that committee has the power to make sure nobody from the *305faculty other than the people that are on that committee and those appear as a special witness, is that right?
“A. That’s correct.” Id., at A-104.
To similar effect, see id., at A-95.

 “Q. What’s the policy of the Administration with respect to engaging in meet and confer or exchange of view processes with persons other than the Faculty Association?
“A. Well, we are not supposed to do it.” Id., at A-79.
“Q. And the Board also recognizes that it must not meet and confer formally with individual teachers who might demand such an opportunity?
“A. Yes.
“Q. And that is because, is it not, that for the Board to do so would violate the Faculty Association’s exclusive privilege to meet and negotiate, is that correct?
“A. My understanding is that to do otherwise would violate the law in the collective bargaining.
“Q. Both as to negotiation and as to conferring?
“A. Meet and confer in a formal sense of the word, yes.
“Q. So the State Board, in fact, does not meet and negotiate with any faculty group other than the MCCFA?
“A. That’s correct.
“Q. And in fact, on the college campuses the Administration does not— or at least is not supposed to meet and confer or engage in an exchange of views with any group other than the Faculty Association?
“A. In a formal sense, yes.” Id., at A-58.
See also id., at A-76 to A-77, A-87, A-162 to A-163.

 “Q. And then after. . . January of ’71, was an individual free to discuss anything he wanted?
“A. Yes.
“Q. Has that been also true since the adoption of the contract [pursuant to the PELRA] in April of ’73?
“A. Well, I think that, technically, the person has been free to do that and the administrator’s been free to do that, but I think that practically— *306many such situations have disappeared because of the fear on the part of the administrator that they would be meeting and conferring or negotiating with someone other than the exclusive representative, and the problem of defining what’s meeting and conferring and what’s negotiation, I think has been the basic problem.” Id., at A-44 to A-45.
“Q. Since 1973 have you ever felt or have you ever been advised by President Helling not to speak with him?
“A. I have been assiduous in my attempt to avoid placing him in a position where he would have to make that type of judgment.
“Q. Is that based on anything that has been told to you by any college administrator?
“A. No. It’s based on what's told to me by the Master Contract.” Id., at A-148.
“A. I am not free to speak to my administration relative to curriculum matters. I am not free to speak to my administration relative to personnel matters. I am, in point of fact, not free to speak with my administrators on anything which is covered by the Master Contract....
“Q. Do you understand that the administration intends to enforce the terms of that Contract?
“A. I do not wish to place the administration in the awkward position of having to make that judgment. I believe that I am — no matter how noxious I might find the Master Contract — bound by it because of the law. So I don’t run around talking to the administration about things which are forbidden by the Master Contract. I don’t want to put them in that position.” Id., at A-151 to A-152.

 “Q. When you said exchange of views, when people, when faculty members come in and talk to you, and obviously you’re not going to show them out and say get out, but you brought this up yourself, you may say there is a more appropriate form [sic]. In other words, discuss it, you will listen to them certainly and your response may be there is a more appropriate form [sic] for this, is that right?
“A. That is correct.
“Q. From their point of view at least the discussion may not be meaningful because you cannot afford them the remedy they are looking for, is that correct? In other words, they’ll have to go to the form [sic] that the problem form [sic]?
“A. I think I can answer, yes, to that if I understand.” Id., at A-104.
*307“Q. And have you ever advised any Plaintiff in this case or any faculty member that they cannot discuss with you any matter that they wish to discuss?
“A. No. The answer would be no. However, once we get into a discussion I may say it’s more appropriately discussed in another forum. But, I wouldn’t even know how to keep people from discussing something that they would want to discuss.
“Q. Have you ever advised any of your administrators that they cannot meet with faculty members to discuss matters which the faculty member might wish to discuss?
“A. No. However, there we do have clearly a structure and an understanding of where particular items and issues are discussed. . . . But, clearly I have never given any advice to an Administrator not to discuss an issue of importance to a faculty member. But, I do know that they might refer them to an appropriate place and it will be discussed within that place before a decision is made.” Id., at A-101.
See also id., at A-62 to A-63, A-152 to A-153.

 “Q. And now the free exchange or the free discussion has become an exchange of views in the formal setting, isn’t that correct?
“A. I don’t think it’s correct to consider one completely replacement [sic] for the other. It’s like different processes. You referred earlier to individual people, that doesn’t, you can’t compare that with the exchange of view process that takes place now.” Id., at A-59.

 “Q. Well, these Exchange of View Committees that are established by the contract are the exclusive channels for dealings between the Administration and the faculty on matters that are within the jurisdiction of those committees, is that correct?
“A. I believe so, yes.
“Q. Every subject appropriate for exchange of views between the faculty and Administration will be within the jurisdiction of one of these committees, isn’t that correct?
“A. We do not — there are six possible committees. We only have three on our campus and they are the three that I mentioned, General Matters of Curriculum and Fiscal/Personnel. Therefore, we do not talk about mat*308ters that fall under the other three committees like Personnel — I forget what the other committees could be, I guess Student Services.
“Q. Okay.
“A. The General Matter, to clarify though, is really a casual, and I guess I should answer yes to your question because in the General Matters Committee anything could be brought up.” Id., at A-72 to A-73.

 We have also held that collective activity is protected in order to obtain “meaningful” access to the courts, United Transportation Union v. Michigan Bar, 401 U. S. 576, 585-586 (1971); see In re Primus, 436 U. S. 412, 426 (1978); Mine Workers v. Illinois Bar Assn., 389 U. S. 217 (1967); Railroad Trainmen v. Virginia ex rel. Virginia Bar, 377 U. S. 1 (1964), and in order to make meaningful the right to vote and to participate in the political process. See Anderson v. Celebrezze, 460 U. S. 780, 786-788 (1983); Brown v. Socialist Workers ’74 Campaign Committee, 459 U. S. 87, 91-92 (1982); Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U. S. 1, 65-66 (1976) (per curiam); Cousins v. Wigoda, 419 U. S. 477, 487-488 (1975); Kusper v. Pontikes, 414 U. S. 51, 56-58 (1973); Williams v. Rhodes, 393 U. S. 23, 38-41 (1968) (opinion of Douglas, J.); id., at 41 (Harlan, J., concurring in result).

 See Brown v. Socialist Workers ’74 Campaign Committee, 459 U. S., at 92-93; In re Primus, 436 U. S., at 432; Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U. S., at 64-65; Cousins v. Wigoda, 419 U. S., at 489; American Party of Texas v. White, 415 U. S. 767, 780 (1974); Kusper v. Pontikes, 414 U. S., at 56-58; NAACP v. Button, 371 U. S. 415, 439 (1963); Shelton v. Tucker, 364 U. S. 479, 488 (1960); Bates v. Little Rock, 361 U. S. 516, 524 (1960).

 The District Court found that this statutory scheme requires appellees to join the union if they are to have any meaningful voice because “the [majority union’s] exclusive authority to select the committee representative— regardless of how it is actually exercised — inherently creates a chilling effect on the associational and speech interests of faculty members. The scope of the meet and confer committees reaches many issues that are integral to the professional function of a college professor. If one risks exclusion from these committees by not joining in or speaking out against the [union], it seems self-evident that one’s freedom not to join or to so speak out is seriously impaired. This risk of exclusion is inherent in the [union’s] sole authority to select the committee members. The actual practice only bears out that the risk of exclusion is a real one.” 571 F. Supp. 1, 10 (1982).

 See generally Wooley v. Maynard, 430 U. S. 705, 714-715 (1977); Stanley v. Georgia, 394 U. S. 557, 565 (1969); West Virginia Bd. of Ed. v. Barnette, 319 U. S. 624, 642 (1943). See also Elrod v. Burns, 427 U. S. 347, 355-360 (1976) (plurality opinion).

 The Court assumes that the statute does not impair the ability of ap-pellees to express their views “outside” the “formad” “meet and confer” context. Ante, at 277-278, n. 4. However, there is nothing in the statute that limits its scope to some sort of “formal” context — it prohibits the expression of “any view.”

 There is evidence that the sweeping language of the PELRA, which has not been given a narrowing construction either by the state courts, the District Court, or appellants, has in fact had a chilling effect on the exchange of ideas. See n. 7, supra.

 Under our cases the risk of deterring the free exchange of ideas is reason to invalidate the sweeping language contained in the challenged provisions of the PELRA. See New York v. Ferber, 458 U. S. 747, 768-769 (1982); Central Hudson Gas & Elec. Corp. v. Public Service Comm’n of N. Y., 447 U. S. 557, 565, n. 8 (1980); Ulster County Court v. Allen, 442 U. S. 140, 155 (1979); Bates v. State Bar of Arizona, 433 U. S. 350, 380 (1977); Young v. American Mini Theatres, Inc., 427 U. S. 50, 59-60 (1976); Gooding v. Wilson, 405 U. S. 518, 521 (1972); Keyishian v. Board of Regents of University of New York, 385 U. S. 589, 609 (1967); Dombrowski v. Pfister, 380 U. S. 479, 494 (1965); NAACP v. Button, 371 U. S., at 432-433.

 The Court relies on the District Court’s finding in its first opinion in this litigation that college faculty are still able to “informally” express their views to administrators. Ante, at 277-278, n. 4. However, the same District Court, in its second opinion which concluded that the PELRA was unconstitutional, found that this opportunity was theoretical at best; in practice the only realistic opportunity to express views was the opportu*313nity given to the union and the union alone. As noted in the text, the court found that faculty members “are effectively denied any meaningful expression,” 571 F. Supp., at 8, and that “[t]his structure effectively blocks any meaningful expression by faculty members who are excluded from the formal process.” Id., at 9. The Court tries to dismiss this “as a mixed statement of law and fact,” ante, at 290, n. 12, but I do not see how a finding that appellees have no realistic opportunity to express their views is anything but a finding of fact. The legal conclusion is drawn by the Court — it takes the position that it makes no difference whether appellees have any realistic chance to express their views. That willingness to ignore practical realities not only overlooks the teaching of Healy, but it makes the protection of the First Amendment illusory at best.

 One of the “practical realities” the Court overlooks is the fact that the enlargement of the scope of the union’s exclusive authority is itself evidence that this statute is an abridgment of appellees’ freedom of speech. In seeking the enactment of this legislation the union surely perceived its practical value. It is no accident that in this Court the oral argument in favor of the validity of the statute was presented by an attorney for the union rather than by a public official. The statute is a significant, highly practical means of amplifying the voice of majority unions at the expense of others. If the union did not think that this statute would enhance its ability to influence public policy, at the expense of the abilities of its competitors to do the same, it would hardly have the stake in the statute’s validity that it evidently thinks it has.

 “Traditionally, the subjects of meet and confer have been resolved through governance systems in which all faculty members have an opportunity to participate. In the present case, governance at community colleges prior to passage of PELRA consisted of faculty senates and committees, selected through elections in which every faculty member was eligible to both vote and seek election.” 571 F. Supp., at 8.

 The Court finds this proposition “shocking,” and concludes that it would destroy the ability of public officials from the President of the United States on down to select whomever it is that he or she wishes to *315consult. Ante, at 281, n. 6. The Court is simply mistaken. Nothing I have said implies that public policymakers must listen to any given point of view, much less that they must give all persons individualized notice and opportunity for hearing, which is all that Bi-Metallic Investment Co. v. State Board of Equalization, 239 U. S. 441 (1915), relied upon by the majority, ante, at 283-285, involved. That case did not present, or consider, any First Amendment issue. An analogy much closer to the PELRA than Bi-Metallic would be a statute passed by a Democratic legislative majority prohibiting all legislators from consulting with their Republican constituents. Even this Court might balk at such a statute, but it would not offend the rationale of the majority’s opinion. If the President, or a college administrator, does not think it worthwhile to consult with appellees, he of course is free to make that decision. The Minnesota statute, in contrast, does not permit that decision to be made. Minnesota has delegated public policymaking to various employers, but at the same time required that those policies be made in a closed environment where citizens are not even given any realistic opportunity to petition those policymakers for redress of grievances, and policymakers are not free to decide whether they wish to consider the views of disfavored speakers.

 While the Court denies that the statute has a sufficient effect on free speech to require that it be narrowly tailored to a compelling state interest, it does suggest that the statute can survive a less demanding form of scrutiny in that it is rationally related to the State’s “interest in ensuring that its public employers hear one, and only one, voice presenting the majority view of its professional employees . . . .” Ante, at 291. However, appellants themselves do not even articulate such an interest. Moreover, as I will explain below, infra, at this page and 316, the majority union is constitutionally prohibited from representing the “majority view” with respect to the subjects of the “meet and confer” process, and therefore the factual predicate for the majority’s conclusion is erroneous. I will also address, infra, at 317-323, the constitutional “legitimacy” of this novel “interest” in ensuring that only one point of view can be expressed on matters of public policy.

 Appellants do not even attempt to argue that administrators must be statutorily prohibited from hearing the views of dissident faculty members if they are to run the community college system efficiently. The District *316Court made no finding to that effect, nor is there anything in the record to support such a finding:
“Q. Now, did this free exchange of views prior to 1973 in anyway interfere with the operation of the college?
“A. From the point of view of administration, I don’t think it did.” App. A-60.

 See also Railway Employees v. Hanson, 351 U. S. 225 (1956).

 Smith v. Arkansas State Highway Employees, 441 U. S. 463 (1979) (per curiam), on which the majority relies so heavily, ante, at 285-288, involved the procedure for processing union grievances, and simply held that a public employer may choose not to permit the union to be the spokesman for employees on those matters. That case sheds no light on the legitimacy of requiring the majority union to be the exclusive spokesman on political issues. The total absence of judicial support for the Court’s holding explains why it relies instead on somewhat extravagant references to the practice of legislatures throughout the Nation, a concern about “a revolution in existing government practices,” and a fear that government “would likely grind to a halt” if this statute were not upheld. Ante, at 284-285. Yet the Court fails to identify even one statute, state or federal, which has defined access to a policymaking forum on the basis of the point of view of *317the speaker. The closest analogues that I have found are the cases I discuss above.

 See also Grayned v. City of Rockford, 408 U. S. 104, 107 (1972).

 See Widmar v. Vincent, 454 U. S. 263 (1981); Consolidated Edison Co. v. Public Service Comm’n of N. Y., 447 U. S. 530, 537-538 (1980); Carey v. Brown, 447 U. S. 455 (1980); Erznoznik v. City of Jacksonville, 422 U. S. 205, 209-212 (1975).

 The Court distinguishes Madison by arguing that there the forum — a school board meeting — was open to the public. Ante, at 281. That reasoning is tautological — the forum was not open to public employees, who were required to present their grievances through the collective-bargaining process. Thus the “forum” in that case was not an “open” one as far as the plaintiffs were concerned, for the school board had “restricted the class of persons to whom it will listen in its making of policy,” ante, at 282 — the school board did not want to hear from its employees, whom the board thought should be heard only through their union. In Madison it was the Constitution that “opened” the forum to teachers; specifically it was the First Amendment that prohibited the exclusion of persons from access to the organs of government based on the school board’s desire to give one side a monopoly in expressing its views. Moreover, as the cases cited above indicate, even with respect to “forums” not generally opened to the public, government may not limit access to those forums based on a desire to favor one viewpoint at the expense of another. Finally, to the extent that the Court relies on a “tradition” of openness as a basis for distinguishing Madison, ante, at 280, as noted above, the District Court found that traditionally appellees had been able to participate in the “meet and confer” process prior to the passage of the PELRA. See also supra, at 314.

 The distinction between the exclusive right to represent employees in connection with bargainable issues and a union’s desire to speak for the employees on policy questions was plainly identified in Abood. After explaining why even nonmembers could be compelled to share the costs of union representation in the traditional negotiating area, the Court explained why that right did not extend into the policy area:
“Equally clear is the proposition that a government may not require an individual to relinquish rights guaranteed him by the First Amendment as a condition of public employment. The appellants argue that they fall within the protection of these eases because they have been prohibited, not from actively associating, but rather from refusing to associate. They specifically argue that they may constitutionally prevent the Union’s spending a part of their required service fees to contribute to political candidates and to express political views unrelated to its duties as exclusive bargaining representative. We have concluded that this argument is a meritorious one.” 431 U. S., at 234 (citations omitted).