Writing for a 7–2 majority, Justice Kennedy called back to a line of cases noting that there are times when “denying a benefit” can have the same effect as direct coercion: “[I]f the government could deny a benefit to a person because of his constitutionally protected speech or associations, his exercise of those freedoms would in effect be penalized and inhibited. This would allow the government to ‘produce a result which [it] could not command directly.’”

In plain English, this means that the government cannot use its awesome power of contracting, employment, permitting, and taxation to reward political and ideological friends and punish political and ideological enemies. Indeed, the Court specifically dismissed the government’s so-called patronage interest as an excuse for viewpoint discrimination in government contracting.

Given the vast economic power and authority of federal, state, and local governments, the Court’s ruling is indispensable to a free society. Granting the government carte blanche to extend or withhold benefits on the basis of politics or ideology would create a two-tier or multi tier society, but with the caste system based on politics rather than, say, race. This strikes at the heart of an American social compact that protects the free-speech and free-association rights of every American, equally.