The American Civil Liberties Union joined with the conservative legal group First Liberty Institute on Monday to challenge the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s restrictions on advertising as First Amendment violations.
The two groups filed a lawsuit on behalf of WallBuilder Presentations, an organization that raises awareness about the “moral, religious, and constitutional foundation on which America was built,” after WMATA said the ads it wanted to display on buses violated its advertising guidelines.
WMATA restricts ads “intended to influence members of the public regarding an issue on which there are varying public opinions,” along with those that “promote or oppose any religion, religious practice or belief.”
“Though WMATA never identified the specific issue of public controversy that it believed the proposed advertisements…
