On October 1, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit's ruling in the case of Velazquez v. Legal Services Corporation, also known as Dobbins v. Legal Services Corporation or South Brooklyn Legal Services v. Legal Services Corporation.

On September 8, 2006, the Second Circuit overturned a lower court's decision preventing LSC from enforcing its "program integrity" regulation against an LSC grantee and a potential grantee. The lower court had found that LSC's application of the regulation in this specific situation posed an "undue burden" on the grantee's First Amendment rights. The Second Circuit found that the lower court's "undue burden" test was "in error," because it had either "misinterpreted or missed" the Second Circuit's earlier guidance to apply an "adequate alternative channel for expression" standard.

The Supreme Court's decision leaves the Second Circuit's ruling intact, and the case returns to the lower court--the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York--for a new ruling based on the proper standard.

The Velazquez case deals primarily with Section 1610.8 of the LSC regulations, which requires LSC grantees to maintain program integrity, including physical and financial separation, from anyone that performs work prohibited by the 1996 Congressionally-mandated restrictions on LSC-funded programs.

To read the Second Circuit's decision in its entirety, click here.