Legal Aid Society v. Legal Services Corp.

The issue presented in this appeal is whether government restrictions on the activities of organizations who accept funds distributed by the Legal Services Corporation (LSC) are facially unconstitutional. Appellants, a group of organizations and an individual involved in the provision of legal services to indigent persons, contend that the restrictions impose unconstitutional conditions on the exercise of their First Amendment rights and violate equal protection and due process rights protected by the United States Constitution. We affirm the judgment of the district court that the restrictions do not violate the First Amendment. *1021 We vacate and remand the judgment of the district court that the restrictions do not violate the constitutional rights of indigent persons because appellants fail to establish their standing to raise the rights of their clients.

I. BACKGROUND

In 1974, Congress enacted the Legal Services Corporation Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 2996 et seq. The Act established the LSC as a private nonprofit corporation “for the purpose of providing financial support for legal assistance in noncriminal proceedings ... to persons financially unable to afford legal assistance.”…