Cert. Petition Filed In Church's Anti-Gay Billboard Case

A petition for certiorari has been filed in Okwedy v. City of New York. (365Gay.com, Feb. 9). The case involves a challenge to action taken by the president of the Borough of Staten Island who wrote a billboard company urging it to taken down an anti-gay billboard advertisement posted by Keyword Ministries church. (See prior posting.) In an August 16, 2006 summary order , the 2nd Circuit affirmed a New York district court's dismissal of plaintiff's claim that officials have construed New York City's Human Rights law in an unconstitutional manner. The Court of Appeals said that no city official was enforcing the Human Rights law when the request was made, and even if they were, the city is not bound by viewpoint neutrality in its own speech.