ACLU sues AATA (Ann Arbor) over refusal of anti-Israel bus advertisement

[The Straight Story]

ACLU sues AATA over refusal of anti-Israel bus advertisement


The American Civil Liberties Union has sued the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority and CEO Michael Ford over the agency’s refusal to accept an advertisement calling for a boycott of Israel from pro-Palestinian activist Blaine Coleman of Ann Arbor.

The lawsuit filed Monday in federal court in Detroit alleges AATA violated Coleman’s First Amendment right to free speech and 14th Amendment right to due process. It argues AATA’s policy is vague and overly broad. It asks the court to order AATA to display the advertisement under the same terms offered to other advertisers and to award Coleman damages, court costs and reasonable attorney fees.

Coleman sent AATA an email in December 2010 requesting information about how much it would cost to purchase an ad on the side or back of the bus that runs along State Street, South University, and North University on and near the University of Michigan campus, the lawsuit alleges. No one responded immediately, the lawsuit said, and Coleman sent several more emails in January and included a copy of the proposed ad with the words “Boycott Israel, Boycott Apartheid,” and a cartoonish black-and-white image that depicts a skeleton-like figure holding a skull in its right hand and a bone in its left.

In February, Randy Oram, president of the company that handles advertising for AATA, emailed Coleman telling him AATA’s advertising policy prohibited Coleman’s ad. Oram and the advertising company, Transit Advertising Group AA, are also named as defendants in the case.

http://www.annarbor.com/news/aclu-sues-aata-over-refusal-of-anti-israel-bus-advertisement/