Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall led a coalition of 26 states in filing a brief before the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday, opposing the Hillsborough County Transit Authority’s no-religious-speech advertising policy. The coalition argued that the policy infringes on the First Amendment rights of Young Israel of Tampa, a Jewish synagogue, to advertise on public transportation in Tampa, Florida.
“By unlawfully denying a Jewish synagogue’s proposed holiday advertisement solely because it was religious, the transit authority brazenly targeted religious speech as the object of its discrimination. Our 26-state coalition recognizes that such discrimination is a direct attack on the First Amendment, and we look forward to continuing our support of Young Israel,” stated Attorney General Marshall.
The Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority (HART) rejected Young Israel of Tampa’s proposed advertisement for its “Chanukah on Ice” event due to its religious nature while accepting another group’s advertisement for its “Winter Village” event because it was not religious. This distinction under HART's no-religious-speech advertising policy led to the rejection of "Chanukah on Ice" and acceptance of "Winter Village."
Alabama has previously led two multistate briefs supporting Young Israel before the Eleventh Circuit. The coalition includes Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah West Virginia and Wyoming.