Seattle Mideast Awareness Campaign v. King County

The majority and I part ways at the starting line. In my view, the district court erred by concluding that King County created only a limited public forum. The County’s policy and practice unmistakably demonstrate an intent to create a designated public forum on its Metro bus exteriors. Accordingly, the First Amendment requires that the County’s decision to restrict SeaMAC’s speech must be necessary to serve a compelling state interest and narrowly drawn; in other words, it must survive strict scrutiny. This is not to pre-judge the outcome of the case. The safety of public transit systems is…