By: Derek Hawkins//June 28, 2016//
7th Circuit Court of Appeals
Case Name: Women’s Health Link, Inc. v. Fort Wayne Public Transportation Corp.
Case No.: 16-1195
Officials: POSNER and SYKES, Circuit Judges, and YANDLE, District Judge.
Focus: Advertising – Freedom of Expression
Summary judgment in favor of respondent that denied appellant ad from being presented was improper.
“But this is an aside. What is important is not what other advertisers are permitted to do but that Citilink’s ad censor‐ ship policy is limited to ad content, and the content of Health Link’s proposed ad lacks the faintest suggestion of a political, religious, or moral aim or agenda. The district judge missed this essential point, stating that Citilink’s “restrictions on non‐commercial, political, religious, and moral speech apply to the advertiser, not to the service providers listed on their websites.” No, the restrictions are limited to the advertisement; and the ban on non‐commercial speech in the bus ads is inapplicable to public service announcements, such as Health Link’s proposed ad.”
Reversed with instruction to enter judgment for appellant