Question

Adherents of a particular religion whose tenets focused mostly on business practices forbade women from studying their sacred texts. A group of college students who were adherents of that religion applied to use an empty room at their state college to study sacred texts. The school permitted numerous student groups to use its facilities for extracurricular activities during times when classes were not in session. However, the school administration denied the requests from the group in question, claiming that it would be in violation of a state statute forbidding any group using public facilities to discriminate on the basis of race or gender. The students brought an action in federal court challenging application of the statute to them by the school administration.If the court finds the actions of the school valid, what is the most likely reason?A Permitting the religious group to hold the meeting in a public school facility would violate the Establishment Clause, applicable to the state under the Fourteenth Amendment.B The statute is the least restrictive means of advancing the state's compelling interest in ending discrimination by groups using public facilities.C Allowing student groups to use classroom facilities when classes are not in session does not constitute state action for purposes of the Fourteenth Amendment.D The right of freedom of association does not apply to groups involved in business and commercial activities.

Answer 1

Answer: the correct answer is B The statute is the least restrictive means of advancing the state's compelling interest in ending discrimination by groups using public facilities.

Explanation:

While schools are generally not public forums, they may become a designated public forum by being held open to student groups for meetings. In that case, the First Amendment may be violated if a college restricts use of its classrooms based on the content of a student group's speech.  

To justify content-based regulation of otherwise protected speech, the government must show that the regulation is necessary to achieve a compelling state interest that cannot be satisfied by less restrictive means.  

Similarly, the right to associate for expressive purposes is not absolute. At the very least, the right may be infringed to serve a compelling government interest, unrelated to the suppression of ideas, that cannot be achieved through means significantly less restrictive of associational freedoms.