It's taken 12 years, but the American Freedom Defense Initiative has won its legal battle with Detroit against the city's ban on bus ads offering aid to Muslims who fear for their lives because they want to leave Islam.
The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down the city government's ban on ADFI's ads on buses operated by the Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation, or SMART.
On ad said: "Fatwa on your head? Is your family or community threatening you? Leaving Islam? Got Questions? Get Answers!" and it then included a contact.
SMART initially argued the ads were prohibited because they were "political" and subjected a people group to "scorn or ridicule."
The court, however, rejected both standards.
"SMART's ban on 'political' ads is unreasonable for the same reason that a state's ban on 'political' apparel at polling places in unreasonable," the court said.
Further, the "scorn" ban is not viewpoint neutral, because it allows a positive message but not a negative message.
AFDI co-founder Pam Geller noted the media virtually has ignored the ruling.
"It took twelve years, but we did. We won free speech lawsuit in Detroit by unanimous decision. You would never know it," she said. "No media covered it. If we lost, there would be huge pieces on how Shariah restrictions on speech are altogether reasonable — as heads roll (literally)."
She said SMART "was refusing to run outreach ads that might help Muslims living in dangerous households." One ad urge anyone with concerns or questions about leaving Islam to contact a website called Refuge from Islam.
The appeals court previously upheld the SMART speech ban. The reversal followed a series of U.S. Supreme Court decisions on the issue.
Writing for the 6th Circuit, Judge Eric Murphy argued that in a nonpublic forum, a government restriction must be reasonable to pass constitutional muster.
SMART’s failure to precisely define political speech, he said, conflicts with precedent established in a recent Supreme Court case.
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