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Attorney General Lynn Fitch joined a coalition of 26 states that filed a brief Friday before the U.S. Supreme Court opposing the Hillsborough County transit authority’s no-religious-speech advertising policy. The coalition urged the Court to review the policy because it infringed on the First Amendment rights of a Jewish synagogue, Young Israel of Tampa, to advertise on public transportation in Tampa, Florida.
“The Transit Authority’s policy lumps religion in with alcohol, tobacco, illegal drugs, obscenity, pornography, and more. But their policy runs afoul of the First Amendment. Young Israel stood up not only for the right of Tampa families to learn about its family-friendly holiday event; they stood up for all of us and our fundamental right to religious liberty,” said Attorney General Lynn Fitch. “I am proud to join Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall and my other colleagues in defending the First Amendment in this case.”
The Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority (HART) rejected YoungIsrael of Tampa’s proposed advertisement for its “Chanukah on Ice” event because it was religious. And it accepted another group’s advertisement for its “Winter Village” event because it was not religious. Under HART’s no-religious-speech advertising policy, that singular difference—that one ad was religious and the other was not—led the government entity to reject “Chanukah on Ice” and accept “Winter Village.”In addition to Mississippi, the Alabama-led coalition included the AttorneysGeneral from Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, NorthDakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming. General Fitch joined a similar coalition supporting Young Israel of Tampa before the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, as well.
