Attorney General Gentner Drummond and 25 other state attorneys general filed a brief Friday before the U.S. Supreme Court to oppose the Hillsborough County Transit Authority’s no-religious-speech advertising policy.
Drummond urged the Court to review the policy because it infringes on the First Amendment rights of a Jewish synagogue, Young Israel of Tampa, to advertise on public transportation in Tampa, Florida.
“Denying a Jewish synagogue’s holiday advertisement simply because it is religious is unlawful and unacceptable,” Drummond said. “I will continue fighting for religious liberty and for the rights guaranteed to all Americans by the Constitution.”
The Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority (HART) rejected Young Israel of Tampa’s proposed advertisement for its “Chanukah on Ice” event because it was religious, but it accepted another group’s advertisement for a “Winter Village” event because it was not religious. Under HART’s no-religious-speech advertising policy, that singular difference—that one ad was religious and the other was not—led the government entity to reject “Chanukah on Ice” and accept “Winter Village.”
Other states joining the Alabama-led coalition include Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming.
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