Judge Rules Against Archdiocese Of Washington On Bus Ads

You may remember this story from late November. Now, an update:

The Catholic Archdiocese of Washington filed an appeal Monday of a decision that blocks its Christmas ads from being posted on the sides of Metrobuses.

The notice of appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia indicates the church will challenge a federal judge’s ruling late Friday that found Metro’s restrictions on religious ads are likely legal.

Metro has banned ads that promote or oppose any religion, religious practice or belief since 2015.

From CNS:

“We are disappointed that the federal court denied our emergency request for an injunction to run our ‘Find the Perfect Gift’ Advent campaign,” Ed McFadden, the archdiocese’s secretary for communications, said in a statement Dec. 9.

“While this preliminary ruling that there should be no room made for us on WMATA buses is disappointing, we will continue in the coming days to pursue and defend our right to share the important message of Christmas in the public square,” the statement said.

[Judge Amy] Berman found that while buses are controlled by a government agency, the authority’s rules likely are legal and reasonable because WMATA’s restrictions are not based on whether the agency opposes the advertiser’s particular views.

The archdiocese contended WMATA’s policy that “prohibits all noncommercial advertising, including any speech that purportedly promotes a religion, religious practice or belief,” is a violation of the free speech and free exercise of religion clauses of the First Amendment and a violation of the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment.

The WMATA’s prohibition, the archdiocese contends, “violates the free speech rights of the archdiocese because the prohibition creates an unreasonable and disproportionate burden on the exercise of the archdiocese’s speech without any legitimate justification.”

Judge rules against Archdiocese of Washington on bus ads