The Upper Midwest Law Center (UMLC) and Liberty Justice Center (LJC) celebrate a victory in Lackie v. Students United, which challenges Minnesota’s requirement that students at the seven Minnesota State Universities pay mandatory student fees to a private political organization called Students United. This ruling confirms that Students United, although it is a private organization, can be held accountable for violating students’ First Amendment rights by working with the government to force students to fund political speech.
Tayah Lackie recently graduated from St. Cloud State University without any student debt. Unbeknownst to her, while Lackie was working hard to pay her tuition, she was also giving money to Students United. Due to policies set by the Minnesota State University system and St. Cloud State, a portion of Lackie’s student fees went directly to the organization. With representation from UMLC and LJC, Lackie filed a lawsuit challenging the actions of Students United, St. Cloud State University, and the Board of Trustees of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities.
Although the court dismissed Lackie’s claims against St. Cloud State and the Board, it held that Lackie’s claims against Students United could proceed. Specifically, while the First Amendment usually only applies to government actors, the court held that Students United qualifies as a state actor in this case because it has a special right to student fees in state law and works jointly with the government to collect those fees.
“This decision confirms what the Supreme Court held in Janus v. AFSCME: the First Amendment protects individuals when the government gives third-party private actors the power to force people to fund their political speech,” said Jeffrey Schwab, Senior Counsel and Director of Litigation at the Liberty Justice Center.
“Forcing students to fund political speech they disagree with as a condition of attending a public university is a violation of the First Amendment, plain and simple,” said Alexandra Howell of UMLC. “With this decision, we can now move forward in this case and hold Students United accountable for collecting money from students to fund its political advocacy.”
“This is a great first step towards bringing this issue to light,” said Tayah Lackie. “I’m so thankful that I have a wonderful team working alongside me to fight for our First Amendment rights as students.”
This case will now proceed to discovery. UMLC and LJC remain committed to defending the First Amendment and fighting against coerced speech in all contexts.
