The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals issues its ruling in Amidon et al v. SUNY Student Association et al. The Court held that in the context of a mandatory fee, some types of referenda are unconstitutional in allocation decisions. It also held that referenda or similar mechanism that measure only projected involvement in a student organization likely is constitutional in a funding decision and that it is constitutional for different student organizations to receive different levels of funding.

The 2nd Circuit upheld the decision of Judge Hurd (2005) that the SUNY-Albany Student Association’s use of an advisory referendum in allocation decisions is unconstitutional. The Court comes to this conclusion by finding that there is not constitutionally significant distinction between eligibility and allocation decisions, that the referendum in question ascertains only the student body’s opinion of the group’s viewpoint and that the other criteria in place to determine allocation levels are insufficient to protect against the problems of including the results of the referendum. The ruling is careful to note that it is nonetheless constitutional to have organizations receive disparate funding levels and constitutional to account for levels of student participation (predicted and actual) in allocation decisions.