Supreme Court limits First Amendment rights of US companies’ foreign affiliates
(Worthy News) – The US Supreme Court ruled 5-3 Monday that requiring foreign groups to have explicit policies opposing prostitution and sex trafficking in order to receive federal funds applies to US companies’ foreign affiliates because they do not possess First Amendment rights.
The court stated that there are two fundamental principles that lead to this decision. First, foreign citizens outside of the US and its territories do not have rights under the US Constitution. Second, separately incorporated organizations are separate entities with “distinct legal rights and obligations.”
In the opinion of the court, Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote, “it is long settled as a matter of American constitutional law that foreign citizens outside U.S. territory do not possess rights under the U.S. Constitution,” and “it is long settled as a matter of American corporate law that separately incorporated organizations are separate legal units with distinct legal rights and obligations.” Together, these “two bedrock principles of American constitutional law and American corporate law … lead to a simple conclusion: As foreign organizations operating abroad, plaintiffs’ foreign affiliates possess no rights under the First Amendment.” [ Source: Jurist (Read More…) ]