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Philly faces First Amendment lawsuit over proposed billboard
The NAACP had plans to welcome airport arrivals with some truths about the criminal justice system - until the city nixed the proposed signage.
Philly faces First Amendment lawsuit over proposed billboard
A billboard advertising the United States' high incarceration rate that would accost new arrivals at Philadelphia International Airport seemed like a good idea to the NAACP. But it wasn't the kind of advertising Philly was looking for. The city, and Clear Channel Outdoor acting on its behalf, declined the billboard order, and now they're facing a lawsuit filed by the ACLU.
“The government cannot pick and choose which speech it deems acceptable and which it does not,” the ACLU argues. The full release follows.
PHILADELPHIA – The American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Pennsylvania and the NAACP today filed a lawsuit against the city of Philadelphia charging that its refusal to allow an advertisement promoting criminal justice reform to appear at the Philadelphia International Airport violates the First Amendment. The ad highlights America's high incarceration rate. A copy can be found here:
www.aclu.org/files/images/freespeech/naacp_rejected_ad.jpeg
The city claimed that the ad had been rejected because it does not accept “issue” or “advocacy” advertisements at the airport. However, the airport has accepted numerous other ads relating to political and social issues. The lawsuit is also against Clear Channel Outdoor, which handles advertising for Philadelphia's airport, because the company acts on behalf of the city.
“The government cannot pick and choose which speech it deems acceptable and which it does not,” said Chris Hansen, senior staff attorney for the ACLU's Speech, Privacy and Technology Project. “The fact that the airport accepted some political issue ads but not the NAACP's shows the arbitrary nature of the city's unwritten and undefined policy. It is a clear violation of the First Amendment's prohibition against the government favoring some speakers over others. ”
The NAACP's rejected advertising says, "Welcome to America, home to 5% of the world’s people & 25% of the world’s prisoners. Let's build a better America together." The ads are part of a public awareness campaign surrounding the NAACP’s “Misplaced Priorities” report, which explores the connection between high incarceration rates and poorly performing schools.
“The walls of Philadelphia International Airport are public space, and city officials do not have the right to suppress any group’s viewpoint based on their own beliefs or political considerations,” stated NAACP General Counsel Kim Keenan. “Our First Amendment right to free speech is just as strong as that of the U.S.O., the World Wildlife Federation or any other advocacy group that has graced the walls of the airport,” Keenan said, referring to ads from other organizations that the city accepted.
A copy of the complaint can be found here: http://www.aclupa.org/legal/legaldocket/naacpvcityofphiladelphiaet.htm
How is the airport governed, since it's in Tinicum County, not Philadelphia? Does the city really make these decisions?— tsarstruck- There is no such thing as Tinicum County. The majority of the airport is located in Philadelphia. A small portion including the International terminal and western runways are in Tinicum Township, DELAWARE County.
Anyway, free speech and first amendment rights are fine. But ad agencies and municipalities do have the right to refuse certain types of paid advertisements, especially outdoor ones. PETA gets billboards rejected all the time. What if I wanted to put up a billboard that said "Get back on the plane. Philly Sucks!" They'd obviously decline to carry that copy on an ad and refuse my business. But I could stand outside the airport myself and yell it at people all day and they couldn't stop me.— quadpain - Whoops, knew it was a township, but somehow wrote county. Good to know re: the majority of the airport being in Philly.— tsarstruck
- Although it is an interesting situation bearing the fact that the "owner" of the billboards is the City of Philadelphia, a governmental institution, and not a private company (Steen, Lamar, CC, etc). Clear Channel Outdoor handles the boards and as a private owner would/could unilaterally censor bills placed, but they are only acting on behalf of the city in this case. The city is bound by the constitution and does have to try to be consistent in it's policies and abide by the amen-dements even the 1st which gives a rather liberal "reasonable" exception. There have been other policy and issue boards placed at the airport before, however not as inflammatory. In this case they are arguing the facts stated in the copy as a reason for not accepting, not some bias against the NAACP which would seem ludicrous from Philly. Of course the facts are distorted and rounded and the message is meant to get a strong reaction.
Like I said before. Outdoor Billboards are a hard get for a gruesome message. An example from both sides? PETA's desiccated animal ads or for another an aborted fetus for Pro-Life causes. Those are both very visual and not very appropriate for Outdoor, but just text can also invoke such visceral reaction, effective, but not quite the image we may want people to have traveling through our city.— quadpain
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