Leveraging Institutions: Imposing Unconstitutional Constraints on Individual Speech through State and Private Organizations

President Trump has leveraged federal funds to induce private entities, like universities, to suppress individuals’ free speech. Bernadette Meyler proposes extending the “independent constitutional bar” test—traditionally applied to states—to private funding recipients when individual rights are affected. Otherwise, the federal government may evade accountability when it acts through intermediaries to circumvent constitutional limits.