A federal appeals court has denied the Archdiocese of Washington’s bid to force the city’s public transportation agency to display its Christmas ads.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued an order Wednesday suggesting the agency could lawfully refuse to run the archdiocese’s explicitly religious holiday advertisement. The Washington Metro Area Transit Authority (WMATA), the agency which administers bus and subway service in the D.C. metro area, does not run ads that promote religious observance. The archdiocese claims the policy is unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination.
The proposed ad promotes a Catholic holiday campaign called “Find the Perfect Gift,” which encourages participation in various forms of Christmas observance.
The order, issued by a three-judge panel, explains that the archdiocese failed to show WMATA’s policy favors secular holiday views over religious ones. Though WMATA excludes religious groups promoting Christian Christmas practice, the agency has not run ads expressing secular views about the holiday, meaning no viewpoint discrimination has taken place.
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