ACLU Says Proposed Ad Ban on Metro-North Violates Connecticut's Constitution

A ban by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) on “non-commercial viewpoint advertisements” prompted the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Connecticut to write a letter to the MTA yesterday stating the ban would not only violate the U.S. Constitution, it would violate Connecticut's Constitution too.

The Connecticut ACLU wrote the letter (see attached PDF) in response to news reports about MTA's plan to review its advertising policy. The review was triggered by controversy over ads that were critical of Israel and of Islam. Although it's based in New York, the MTA runs the Metro-North commuter rail line through New Haven.   

“The bottom line is that the MTA, a government agency, may not reject advertisements simply because they contain an opinion,” said Andrew Schneider, executive director of the ACLU of Connecticut in a press release yesterday. “The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution limits government restrictions on free speech, and the Connecticut Constitution adds even more speech protections.”

Connecticut's state constitution prohibits any form of discrimination based on subject matter and allows all speakers access to government property if the manner of speech – in this case advertising – is permitted, the ACLU stated. The Connecticut Constitution also contains language that, based on previous court rulings on similar wording in other states' constitutions, would probably be interpreted to prohibit prior restraint, the ACLU argued.

“The same rules that can be used to stop controversial or bigoted speech will ultimately be used to prevent us from speaking out against such speech,” Schneider said. “That would be much worse than a few offensive words.”