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A Spokane Transit Authority bus. Source: Spokane Public Radio.

The union representing Spokane Transit Authority employees will have an opportunity to continue its challenge to the STA’s bus advertising policy, now that a federal court has denied the transit authority’s motion to dismiss.

Like many transit agencies, the STA has an advertising policy.  Until November 2016, the STA delegated administration and enforcement of the policy to an advertising contractor called ooh Media LLC.  The policy allows “Commercial and Promotional Advertising” and “Public Service Announcements.”  Commercial and promotional advertising includes general commercial advertisements for products, services, events, and the like.  Public service announcements are required to meet three criteria: the sponsor must be a governmental or 501(c)(3) nonprofit entity, the announcement must relate to one of five topics (including public health, safety or personal well-being, family or child social services, broad-based contribution campaigns, or services for low-income people or persons with disabilities), and the announcement may not include a commercial message.  The policy also prohibits deceptive advertising, political speech, or ideological or religious messages.
Continue Reading Labor Union’s Challenge to Spokane Bus Advertising Rules Moves Forward

The Great Hall of the Jeppesen Terminal at Denver International Airport. Source: Denver Post.

Last week, a federal district judge in Colorado partially granted a motion for preliminary injunction filed by two individuals who sought to protest President Trump’s executive order banning immigration from seven predominantly Muslim countries.  The court found that the plaintiffs were likely to succeed on the merits of their claim, which was filed in connection with demonstrations held at Denver International Airport immediately following the order.

Denver regulates First Amendment activities at its airport via a municipal regulation that requires demonstrators to first obtain a permit, which must be applied for no more than 30 and no less than seven days before the proposed activity.  In addition, any signs carried by protestors may not exceed one square foot, and picketing by more than two persons on items unrelated to a labor dispute is generally prohibited throughout the airport.  The chief executive officer of the airport has the discretion under the regulation to determine where protest activity may occur.
Continue Reading Court Grants Preliminary Injunction in Trump Immigration Ban Protest Case

An aerial view of the Grand Haven cross. Source: Grand Haven Tribune.

Late last month, in an unpublished opinion, the Michigan Court of Appeals determined that a monument commemorating those who served and died in the Vietnam War, located on land owned by the City of Grand Haven, was government speech and not subject to First Amendment limitations.  The monument, placed on a sand dune along the Grand River, contains a lifting mechanism that allows the monument to display a cross or, when certain attachments are included on the monument, an anchor.  When members of the community requested that the monument be lifted to display the cross, the city would raise the lifting mechanism.

In 2015, the city passed a resolution allowing the monument to display only the anchor, not the cross.  Members of a local church challenged the resolution as violating the free speech and equal protection provisions of the Michigan Constitution.  The trial court granted summary judgment to the city on the grounds that the monument was government speech.
Continue Reading Michigan Court of Appeals: Cross/Anchor Monument is Government Speech

One of the images that FFRF wished to display in the Texas capitol. Source: New York Post.

Late last month, a federal court in Texas denied a motion for summary judgment filed by the State of Texas in a case challenging the state’s policy for allowing privately-sponsored displays in the state capitol building.

The Texas State Preservation Board allows private individuals and groups to display exhibits “for a public purpose” in the public areas of the Texas state capitol building, subject to the board’s approval.  A private group, Freedom From Religion Foundation, which advocates for separation of church and state, wished to display an exhibit in December 2015 depicting life-size figures celebrating the birth of the Bill of Rights, along with
Continue Reading Exhibits in Texas State Capitol Do Not Constitute Government Speech, Viewpoint Discrimination Claim Moves Forward