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The Supreme Court on Monday refused to consider an appeal by anti-Islamist activist Pamela Geller about ads portraying the Prophet Muhammad, which had been rejected by D.C.'s public transport.
Geller and his organization, the American Freedom Defense Initiative, claimed that the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority violated their rights to freedom of expression by refusing to broadcast the ads in 2015. The cartoon bore a representation of the project Muhammad – forbidden by Islam – holding a sword and saying, "You can not draw me", with the words "Support freedom of expression" at the top.
Pamela Geller
(Bill Sikes / AP)
The organization blocked ads for WMATA buses and dioramas, under new advertising guidelines adopted just days after bidding, banning problem-oriented displays.
Geller's organization argued that the restrictions were based on content and views, in violation of the First Amendment guarantee of freedom of expression.
The group accused WMATA of adopting the advertising guidelines "to silence the point of view," but lost its first trial in a federal court in Washington and an appeal to the US Court of Appeals. District of Columbia circuit. The Federal Court of Appeal said that the advertising space was a non-public forum and rejected Geller's assertion that the rejection of the advertisements was discriminatory.
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