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Stevens, J., dissenting
Amendment. Legal Services Corporation v. Velazquez, 531 U. S. 533, 543 (2001).5 The question, then, is whether requiring the filtering software on all Internet-accessible computers distorts that medium. As I have discussed above, the over- and underblocking of the software does just that.
The plurality argues that the controversial decision in Rust v. Sullivan, 500 U. S. 173 (1991), requires rejection of appellees' unconstitutional conditions claim. See ante, at 211-212. But, as subsequent cases have explained, Rust only involved, and only applies to, instances of governmental speech—that is, situations in which the government seeks to communicate a specific message.6 The discounts under the E-rate program and funding under the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) program involved in this case do not subsidize any message favored by the Government. As Congress made clear, these programs were designed "[t]o help public libraries provide their patrons with Internet access," which in turn "provide[s] patrons with a vast amount of valuable information." Ante, at 199, 200. These programs thus are designed to provide access, particularly for individuals in low-income communities, see 47 U. S. C. § 254(h)(1), to a vast amount and wide variety of private
5 Contrary to the plurality's narrow reading, Velazquez is not limited to instances in which the recipient of Government funds might be "pit[ted]" against the Government. See ante, at 213. To the contrary, we assessed the issue in Velazquez by turning to, and harmonizing it with, our prior unconstitutional condition cases in the First Amendment context. See 531 U. S., at 543-544.
6 See id., at 541 (distinguishing Rust on the ground that "the counseling activities of the doctors . . . amounted to governmental speech"); Board of Regents of Univ. of Wis. System v. Southworth, 529 U. S. 217, 229 (2000) (unlike Rust, "the issue of the government's right . . . to use its own funds to advance a particular message" was not presented); Rosenberger v. Rector and Visitors of Univ. of Va., 515 U. S. 819, 834 (1995) (Rust is inapplicable where the government "does not itself speak or subsidize transmittal of a message it favors but instead expends funds to encourage a diversity of views from private speakers").
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