American Freedom Defense Initiative v. Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
Petition for certiorari denied on January 11, 2016
Issue: (1) Whether the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) created a public forum by accepting for display on its property a wide array of controversial political and public-issue ads, including ads that address the same controversial subject matter as petitioners’ pro-Israel ad, and thus violated the First Amendment by rejecting petitioners’ ad based on its content; and (2) regardless of the nature of the forum, whether the MBTA’s rejection of petitioners’ advertisement based on an advertising guideline that prohibits ads considered by MBTA officials to be “demeaning and disparaging” was a viewpoint-based restriction of speech in violation of the First Amendment.
| Date | Proceedings and Orders (key to color coding) |
|---|
| Jul 27 2015 | Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due August 31, 2015) |
| Aug 5 2015 | Waiver of right of respondents Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, et al. to respond filed. |
| Aug 26 2015 | DISTRIBUTED for Conference of September 28, 2015. |
| Aug 27 2015 | Response Requested . (Due September 28, 2015) |
| Sep 28 2015 | Order extending time to file response to petition to and including October 28, 2015. |
| Oct 27 2015 | Order further extending time to file response to petition to and including November 9, 2015. |
| Nov 9 2015 | Brief of respondents Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, et al. in opposition filed. |
| Nov 19 2015 | Reply of petitioners American Freedom Defense Initiative, et al. filed. |
| Nov 23 2015 | DISTRIBUTED for Conference of December 11, 2015. |
| Dec 28 2015 | DISTRIBUTED for Conference of January 8, 2016. |
| Jan 11 2016 | Petition DENIED. |
