ACLU sues Washington Metro for rejecting ‘offensive’ ads

The American Civil Liberties Union is suing the Washington Area Transit Authority on behalf of a right-wing activist, an abortion provider and an animal rights group contesting that their ban on offensive ads was viewpoint-based and unconstitutional. (Courthouse News Service, August 10, 2010, by Laura Bittner)

The Metro also rejected an ad by the ACLU itself, the text of the First Amendment in three languages including Arabic. The Metro claimed it had changed its ad policy to create a non public forum allowing it to reject all ads including “political, religious and advocacy ads.” (The New York Times, August 9, 2017, by Jacey Fortin and Emily Cochrane)

In its statement about the lawsuit, the ACLU wrote, “By rejecting these [offensive] ads and accepting ads from gambling casinos, military contractors, and Internet sex apps, the [Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority] showed just how subjective its ban is.” (The Washington Post, August 9, 2017, by Martine Powers)