Court Enjoins Military Base Rule That Bars Anti-Islamic Decals On Vehicles

In Nieto v. Flatau, (ED NC, March 31, 2010), a North Carolina federal district court enjoined officials at Camp Lejeune (NC) from enforcing a Base regulation prohibiting the display of extremist, indecent or racist messages on vehicles. Plaintiff was ordered to remove several anti-Islamic decals from his vehicle. The court concluded that the military base is a non-public forum. However it found that that the regulation was not applied in a viewpoint-neutral manner since pro-Islamic decals would be allowed. AP reported on the decision last week. (See prior related posting.) [Thanks to First Amendment Center via Charlotte E. Hunter for the lead.]