Wednesday, January 05, 2000
Bus ad suit renewed
Hyland, in new race, wants ruling changed
BY BEN L. KAUFMAN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
As she opens her second run for Hamilton County commissioner, Democrat Marilyn Hyland is renewing her battle to get issues ads on Metro buses.
Her motion for summary judgment, filed by attorney Scott Greenwood, also focuses a spotlight on contradictory decisions by federal judges in two similar suits.
In Ms. Hyland's case, the Southwest Ohio Regional Transportation Authority refused to run her issue ads in 1998. Metro said its policy was to reject controversial ads for fear of losing bus riders.
Ms. Hyland sued, but U.S. District Judge Sandra S. Beckwith said SORTA had not created a public forum on the sides of Metro buses and rejection didn't violate the candidate's First Amendment rights.
In the other case, SORTA invoked the same rationale in 1997 to reject an ad from Local 1099 of the United Food & Commercial Workers because it showed members holding signs saying “UFCW Local 1099” and “Union Shop.”
Local 1099 sued and U.S. District Judge Susan J. Dlott told SORTA to accept the ad because the company had no reasonable basis for concluding it was controversial.
SORTA appealed and lost.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit in Cincinnati went beyond Judge Dlott's decision and said SORTA policies and practices had created a public forum on the sides of Metro buses.
That sweeping victory greatly limited SORTA's freedom to pick among proposed ads based on their content.
The 6th Circuit ruling — which followed the Hyland decision by two months — created a precedent which Ms. Hyland's attorney invoked when he asked Judge Beckwith to reverse herself.
Mr. Greenwood's summary judgment motion says there are no central, unresolved arguments over the facts and Judge Beckwith need only decide which party the law favors.
Before she does that, however, SORTA will have a chance to respond to Mr. Greenwood's motion.
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