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Network for Public Health Law
Constitutional Rights and the Public’s Health

Agency for International Development et al. v. Alliance for Open Society International, Inc., et al.

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Overview

Agency for International Development et al. v. Alliance for Open Society International, Inc., et al. (U.S. Supreme Court, June 29, 2020): The Supreme Court held that a federal funding condition requiring foreign affiliates of U.S. non-governmental organizations (“NGOs”) to have policies explicitly opposing prostitution and sex trafficking was constitutional.  In 2013, this funding requirement, which was created by the United States Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Act of 2003, was found to violate the First Amendment when applied to U.S. NGOs. However, the Court reasoned that foreign NGOs physically outside the U.S. are foreign citizens under corporate law regardless of an affiliation with an American organization and have no constitutional rights.  As a result, foreign affiliates lack First Amendment rights. The funding condition was viewed as constitutional as applied to NGOs. Read the decision here. 

View all cases in the Judicial Trends in Public Health – August 11, 2020.

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