United States Ninth Circuit

In this case involving an alleged violation of First Amendment rights, plaintiff non-profit proposed to display an advertising opposing the government's financial support for Israel on King County Metro buses in the Seattle metropolitan area. After initially accepting the advertisement, the County revoked its approval, concluding that the ad would likely result in vandalism and violence disruptive to the bus system. Summary judgment in favor of defendant King County is affirmed, where: 1) King County created a limited public forum when it opened the sides of Metro buses to advertising from outside speakers; and 2) the County's decision to reject the ad was both reasonable and viewpoint neutral, and thus did not violate the First Amendment.

Appellate Information

• Decided 03/18/2015
• Published 03/18/2015

Judges

• Watford

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel