Posted on 09/15/2003 12:08:00 PM PDT by chance33_98
Focus on the Family Wins Appeal in Censorship Case; Federal Court Rules Fla. Bus Company Must Defend Its Refusal of Love Won Out Ads
9/15/03 1:47:00 PM
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To: National Desk
Contact: David Gasak of Focus on the Family, 719-548-4570, 719-649-7568 (cell), or culturalissues@family.org
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., Sept. 15 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Focus on the Family will get another day in court in its censorship case against a Florida bus company that refused to post advertisements for the ministry's Love Won Out conference, thanks to a federal appeals court ruling issued Friday.
The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals -- the same court that this summer ruled against Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore in his Ten Commandments battle -- found that a lower court judge was wrong to throw out Focus' lawsuit against the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA).
"This is a great victory -- not just for us, but for the Constitution," said Tom Minnery, Focus on the Family's vice president of public policy. "With the many examples of judicial tyranny we routinely see across the country, it is nice to be involved in a case in which a court upholds the integrity of the First Amendment."
Focus sued PSTA in 2001, after the transit company rejected ads promoting a February 2000 Love Won Out conference; the ads, designed for bus shelters, described how those who attended the event would learn truths about coming out of the homosexual lifestyle.
PSTA cited a policy of its private-sector partner, Eller Media, forbidding any advertising deemed inflammatory or likely to cause any group to feel ridicule or scorn. Because it was Eller that refused the ads, PSTA argued, there was no First Amendment issue, since private companies can reject ads for whatever reason they want -- a right not shared by government entities like public transit companies.
But the 11th Circuit didn't buy that line of reasoning the way the lower court did, noting that PSTA's contract with Eller spelled out what kinds of ads the private company was required to refuse.
"Had we lost this case it would have given the government the green light to get around the Constitution by entering into contracts with private parties and directing the private parties what to do to censor speech," explained Mat Staver, president and chief counsel for Liberty Counsel, which represents Focus on the Family.
Staver added that the ruling greatly strengthens Focus' case as the ministry heads back into district court.
"The court of appeal has, essentially, given the trial court no wiggle room for offending the Constitution."
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