Was the forum created by the public school in Good News a designated public forum or a nonpublic forum? Does it matter in how the case was decided?
Notice that Justice Thomas, in his majority opinion, provides the test before the Court: When the state establishes a limited public forum, the State is not required to and does not allow persons to engage in every type of speech. The State may be justified 'in reserving [its forum] for certain groups or for the discussion of certain topics.' The State however must not discriminate against speech on the basis of viewpoint and the restriction must be reasonable in light of the purpose of the forum."
So, was the exclusion of religious groups that promote the moral and character development of children a viewpoint based exclusion?
The Court says yes (p. 1822) because the school district excluded the Good News Club because it approached moral and character development "from a religious viewpoint."
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