Boy Scouts of America v. Dale, 530 U.S. 640, 44 (2000)

Page:   Index   Previous  37  38  39  40  41  42  43  44  45  46  47  48  49  50  51  Next

Cite as: 530 U. S. 640 (2000)

Stevens, J., dissenting

could it "operate effectively" in foreign countries. Rotary Club, 481 U. S., at 541.

Rather, in Jaycees, we asked whether Minnesota's Human Rights Law requiring the admission of women "impose[d] any serious burdens" on the group's "collective effort on behalf of [its] shared goals." 468 U. S., at 622, 626-627 (emphases added). Notwithstanding the group's obvious publicly stated exclusionary policy, we did not view the inclusion of women as a "serious burden" on the Jaycees' ability to engage in the protected speech of its choice. Similarly, in Rotary Club, we asked whether California's law would "affect in any significant way the existing members' ability" to engage in their protected speech, or whether the law would require the clubs "to abandon their basic goals." 481 U. S., at 548 (emphases added); see also Hurley v. Irish-American Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Group of Boston, Inc., 515 U. S. 557, 581 (1995) ("[A] private club could exclude an applicant whose manifest views were at odds with a position taken by the club's existing members"); New York State Club Assn., 487 U. S., at 13 (to prevail on a right to associate claim, the group must "be able to show that it is organized for specific expressive purposes and that it will not be able to advocate its desired viewpoints nearly as effectively if it cannot confine its membership to those who share the same sex, for example, or the same religion"); NAACP v. Alabama ex rel. Patterson, 357 U. S. 449, 462-463 (1958) (asking whether law "entail[ed] the likelihood of a substantial restraint upon the exercise by petitioner's members of their right to freedom of association" and whether law is "likely to affect adversely the ability of petitioner and its members to pursue their collective effort to foster beliefs"). The relevant question is whether the mere inclusion of the person at issue would "im-pose any serious burden," "affect in any significant way," or be "a substantial restraint upon" the organization's "shared goals," "basic goals," or "collective effort to foster beliefs." Accordingly, it is necessary to examine what, exactly, are

683

Page:   Index   Previous  37  38  39  40  41  42  43  44  45  46  47  48  49  50  51  Next

Last modified: October 4, 2007