NAACP Sues Philadelphia for Refusing Airport Ad on High US Incarceration Rate
A lawsuit claims Philadelphia violated the First Amendment when it turned down an ad at its airport that highlights the country’s high incarceration rate.
The NAACP is the plaintiff in the suit filed Wednesday in federal court, according to a press release, the Philadelphia Inquirer, Bloomberg News and the Philadelphia Daily News. The group wanted to post a billboard at Philadelphia International Airport that reads: “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 city claims it doesn’t accept issue-oriented ads at the airport, but it has done so in the past, according to the complaint (PDF). One airport ad for the World Wildlife Federation featured “two overheated polar bears,” the suit says. Another for the PTA asked parents to get to know their kids’ schools, and another for the USO asked readers to “support our troops.”
The suit was filed by the NAACP, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the ACLU of Pennsylvania. City spokespersons did not comment when contacted by the news organizations.
