242
Souter, J., concurring in judgment
And we have recognized the same principle outside of the sphere of government spending as well. In PruneYard Shopping Center v. Robins, 447 U. S. 74 (1980), we rejected a shopping mall owner's blanket claim that "a private property owner has a First Amendment right not to be forced by the State to use his property as a forum for the speech of others." Id., at 85 (footnote omitted). We then upheld the right of individuals to exercise state-protected rights of expression on a shopping mall owner's property, noting among other things that there was no danger that such a requirement would " 'dampe[n] the vigor and limi[t] the variety of public debate.' " Id., at 87, 88 (quoting Miami Herald Publishing Co. v. Tornillo, 418 U. S. 241, 257 (1974) (alteration in original)). The same consideration goes against the fee payer's speech objection to the scheme here.
Third, our prior compelled speech and compelled funding cases are distinguishable on the basis of the legitimacy of governmental interest. No one disputes the University's assertion that some educational value is derived from the activities supported by the fee, ante, at 232-233; supra, at 237, whereas there was no governmental interest in mandating union or bar association support beyond supporting the collective bargaining and professional regulatory functions of those organizations, see Abood, supra, at 223-224; Keller, supra, at 13-14. Nor was there any legitimate governmental interest in requiring the publication or affirmation of propositions with which the bearer or speaker did not agree.10 Wooley, 430 U. S., at 716-717; Barnette, 319 U. S., at 640-642.
Finally, the weakness of Southworth's claim is underscored by its setting within a university, whose students are inevitably required to support the expression of personally
10 The legitimacy of the governmental objective here distinguishes the case in my view from one brought by a university student who objected to supporting religious evangelism. See Rosenberger, supra, at 868-871 (Souter, J., dissenting).
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