Preliminary Injunction Forces Bus System To Accept Ads From Anti-Jihad Group

In American Freedom Defense Initiative v. Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation ("SMART"), (ED MI, March 31, 2011), a Michigan federal district court granted a preliminary injunction preventing the bus system in four southeastern Michigan counties from rejecting anti-jihad ads that plaintiff sought to place on buses.  According to a press release from the Thomas More Law Center, the ads read: "Fatwa on your head? Is your family or community threatening you? Leaving Islam? Got questions? Get Answers!" SMART rejected the ads under its policy that prohibited, among others, political ads or ads that are likely to hold any group up to scorn or ridicule. The court held that while it is likely that the bus advertising space  is a non-public forum, the restriction is unconstitutional because "there is nothing in the policy that can guide a government official to distinguish between permissible and impermissible advertisements in a non-arbitrary fashion."