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Eugene

(61,900 posts)
Fri Jan 11, 2013, 04:33 PM Jan 2013

Supreme Court to review free speech of HIV/AIDS groups

Source: Reuters

Fri Jan 11, 2013 3:12pm EST

(Reuters) - The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to consider whether the government violates the free speech rights of groups that receive federal funding for overseas HIV/AIDS programs by requiring them to have explicit policies that oppose prostitution and sex trafficking.

A divided 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York had in July 2011 struck down the requirement contained in the U.S. Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Act of 2003, saying it violated the First Amendment.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Doina Chiacu)

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/11/us-usa-court-aids-freespeech-idUSBRE90A12X20130111

5 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Supreme Court to review free speech of HIV/AIDS groups (Original Post) Eugene Jan 2013 OP
There's no right to Federal funding struggle4progress Jan 2013 #1
No but there are guarantees of equal treatment. TheMadMonk Jan 2013 #3
US: Court Overrules Anti-Prostitution Gag Rule for US Groups (HRW 2011) struggle4progress Jan 2013 #4
Thank you, enlightening information which I hadn't thought of groundloop Jan 2013 #5
freedom mr dave Jan 2013 #2
 

TheMadMonk

(6,187 posts)
3. No but there are guarantees of equal treatment.
Fri Jan 11, 2013, 08:15 PM
Jan 2013

Can't give to Southern Baptists with no strings attached and then make payment for others, contingent on supporting Southern Baptist values.

struggle4progress

(118,295 posts)
4. US: Court Overrules Anti-Prostitution Gag Rule for US Groups (HRW 2011)
Fri Jan 11, 2013, 08:56 PM
Jan 2013

Government Should Strike ‘Anti-Prostitution Pledge’ Entirely to Protect Sex Workers
July 8, 2011

... The United States Leadership Act Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria of 2003 requires funding recipients to adopt a specific, organization-wide policy "explicitly opposing prostitution and sex trafficking." Federal regulations implementing the act require funding recipients to agree that they are "opposed to the practices of prostitution and sex trafficking." But the regulations go beyond the Leadership Act requirements for adopting the government's view ...

n an amicus curiae brief to the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in AOSI v. USAID, 22 organizations, including Human Rights Watch, described the harmful local and global consequences of the Leadership Act on efforts to fight HIV and AIDS among sex workers and other marginalized groups. The organizations said that the act disrupts outreach efforts and joint programming with sex workers by forcing non-profit groups to present a stigmatizing, anti-prostitution message.

Domestic and international health organizations - including the US Centers for Disease Control, the World Health Organization, and UNAIDS - have acknowledged that partnerships between sex workers and public health organizations are critical in ensuring effective HIV prevention and treatment efforts. Indeed, the Leadership Act itself encourages other public and civil society partnerships. By impeding or destroying partnerships with sex workers and organizations working with them, the Leadership Act frustrates its goals of decreasing stigma, and ultimately HIV/AIDS prevalence, worldwide, Human Rights Watch said.

"Sex workers play a crucial role in fighting HIV/AIDS - a fact that leading US and international health agencies have recognized," Schleifer said. "Forcing organizations to sign a pledge opposing prostitution exacerbates stigma and discrimination, and makes it difficult or impossible to engage sex workers in effective anti-AIDS efforts" ...

http://www.hrw.org/news/2011/07/08/us-court-overrules-anti-prostitution-gag-rule-us-groups

groundloop

(11,519 posts)
5. Thank you, enlightening information which I hadn't thought of
Fri Jan 11, 2013, 11:08 PM
Jan 2013

Also, am I crazy in wondering what things like this have to do with the 1st amendment? I mean, it's pretty clear that the 1st amendment was written to protect the right of people to discuss politics, complain about the government, etc. etc. Now it seems like people are claiming 1st amendment protection for everything under the sun (such as equating speech to spending money).
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