SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — A federal judge has ruled that the Spokane Transit Authority violated the First Amendment when it refused to allow the union that represents bus drivers to buy advertisements on buses.
U.S. District Court Judge Justin L. Quackenbush issued a written ruling late last month on the case.
The civil lawsuit was filed earlier this year after the STA refused to display ads from the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1015.
The Spokesman-Review says the ads said: “Do you drive: Uber? Lyft? Charter Bus? School Bus? You have the Right to Organize!”
Attorneys for the STA argued that the ad was rejected because it violated the bus system’s policy on a “public issue.”
But the judge disagreed.
As a result of the ruling, the union plans to run the advertisement.