Judge: U.S. can deny anti-AIDS funds
Nonprofit group refused to uphold government policy
By LARA JAKES JORDAN
Associated Press
February 28, 2007
Note: to read the Appeals Court ruling, click here.
WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that the Bush administration can deny funding to nonprofit AIDS groups that don't disavow prostitution and sex trafficking.
Overturning a lower court's decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia said that the AIDS groups' free speech rights would not be violated if the money was linked to a pledge to uphold government policy.
At issue is the case of DKT International Inc., which provides HIV/AIDS prevention programs and family planning in 11 countries. The group has refused to sign a pledge to oppose the policies because it helps distribute condoms to prostitutes and other sex workers in Vietnam.
In 2005, DKT sued the U.S. Agency for International Development, contending its free-speech rights were violated by a 2003 law requiring groups to explicitly oppose prostitution and sex trafficking in order to qualify for part of a $15 billion AIDS program.
A U.S. District Court agreed last year, saying the funding conditions insist that groups "parrot" the U.S. government's position on prostitution.
But U.S. Circuit Judge A. Raymond Randolph said the assistance to nongovernmental organizations like DKT was authorized "on such terms and conditions as the president may determine" by Congress. "This does not violate the First Amendment," Randolph wrote in a 10-page decision.
Calls for comment to DKT's offices in Washington were not immediately returned Tuesday.
Article link: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nation/4587741.html
Senator Tom Coburn
Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, and International Security
340 Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510
Phone: 202-224-2254 Fax: 202-228-3796
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