Quote:
Originally Posted by Drolefille
You're saying GLO membership isn't attached, I'm saying I suspect that the freedom of association would be. I cannot see a school being allowed to suspend a student for being a Tea Party member, for example.
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No, it wouldn't be. As I said earlier, freedom of association is a component of freedom of speech. (For that reason, all other issues aside, the Tea Party example isn't really analogous, because there you're talking about true political speech/association, which goes to the heart of the First Amendment.)
Bottom line, acceptance of federal funds does not turn a private institution into a government actor, so constitutional rights in the context of private institutions are inapplicable. Even if receipt of federal funding might require a private institution to honor some kind of freedom of association rights among students, that doesn't mean that students have any private cause of action against the private institution for violation of that right. It more likely means that the federal government can withhold future funds for violating a condition of receipt of funds.
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