Viewpoint Discrimination
Government regulation of speech based on the specific opinion or viewpoint expressed, rather than the subject matter.
Viewpoint discrimination occurs when the government restricts speech because of the specific position or perspective it expresses, as distinguished from content-based restrictions that apply to an entire subject matter regardless of the viewpoint expressed.
Viewpoint discrimination is the most constitutionally disfavored form of speech regulation. While content-based restrictions can sometimes survive strict scrutiny, viewpoint discrimination is presumptively unconstitutional and nearly always fatal to a speech regulation.
Example: A law permitting demonstrations in a park for any purpose except anti-government protest is viewpoint-discriminatory — it restricts a specific perspective on a subject. A law prohibiting all demonstrations in a park regardless of topic is content-neutral and receives intermediate scrutiny.
The prohibition on viewpoint discrimination applies even within categories of speech that might otherwise be subject to regulation. R.A.V. v. City of St. Paul (1992) held that the government cannot prohibit only the most virulent subset of fighting words — those targeting racial minorities — without violating the viewpoint discrimination principle.