Press Releases

Atheists Sue Little Rock’s Transit Authority for Rejecting Godless Bus Ads

CATA bus arriving at the River Cities Travel Center in downtown Little Rock displays empty ad space.

For Immediate Release

(Little Rock, Arkansas, June 1, 2011) A federal lawsuit was filed today against the Central Arkansas Transit Authority (CATA) and its advertising agent, On the Move Advertising, for declining to run $5,260.00 worth of bus ads aimed at attracting local atheists and agnostics. The queen-sized ads, to be placed on the sides of 18 buses serving Riverfest, would have said: “Are you good without God? Millions are.” A blue sky with clouds was to be the background behind the words.

The Complaint and a motion for a preliminary injunction were filed at [time] at the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas, 500 West Capitol Avenue, Little Rock, AR 72201, by the United Coalition of Reason (UnitedCoR). UnitedCoR is a national organization, headquartered in Washington DC, which focuses on organizing local atheist and agnostic groups into coalitions and funding their bus and billboard ad campaigns. Legal services were donated by the Appignani Humanist Legal Center of the American Humanist Association, also headquartered in Washington DC. The attorney of record is J.G. Schulze of Baker Schulze & Murphy of Little Rock.

The bus ads were to launch the new Central Arkansas Coalition of Reason (Central Arkansas CoR), a collection of 10 area atheist and agnostic groups. The ads would have directed inquirers to the Central Arkansas CoR website at www.CentralArkansasCoR.org , inviting them to consider joining any of the groups in the coalition. But after negotiations with On the Move Advertising and CATA failed in March and couldn’t be revived afterwards, UnitedCoR opted to pursue legal action.

Proposed bus ad rejected by CAT

UnitedCoR filed a brief in support of its motion. In the brief, UnitedCoR alleges that CATA and On the Move violated UnitedCoR’s free speech rights under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. UnitedCoR asserts that the First Amendment prohibits CATA, as a governmental entity, from using its disfavor of the nontheistic message of UnitedCoR’s ads as a reason for refusing to run them on its buses. UnitedCoR argues that CATA also may not impose burdensome requirements, such as a damage deposit, on speech it labels “controversial.” Such acts amount to unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination against UnitedCoR’s speech.

Little Rock previously encountered the issue of government discrimination against nontheists in 2009 when the Arkansas Society of Freethinkers, one of the groups now part of Central Arkansas CoR, won a lawsuit allowing its nontheistic winter holiday display to appear near a Christian crèche on state capitol grounds.

“It’s only fair that, when religious groups are allowed to advertise on Little Rock buses, atheist and agnostic groups be allowed to advertise as well,” declared LeeWood Thomas of Central Arkansas CoR. “The world needs to know that people can be decent human beings without believing in a god or gods.”

Such bus ads, as well as billboards, have been appearing all over the United States since 2008. UnitedCoR funded a billboard and bus ad campaign in Fayetteville, Arkansas, in 2010. The organization has also run campaigns in Arizona, California, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Washington, and West Virginia.

“The point of our ongoing nationwide awareness campaign is to reach out to the millions of atheists and agnostics living in the United States,” explained Fred Edwords, national director of UnitedCoR. “Such nontheists sometimes don’t realize there’s a community for them because they’re inundated with religious messages at every turn. So our efforts serve as a beacon and let them know they aren’t alone.”

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The Central Arkansas Coalition of Reason is a coalition of 10 area atheist and agnostic groups that seek to raise the public’s awareness to the fact that people can be good without belief in a god.

The United Coalition of Reason is a network of over 40 local coalitions nationwide and acts to raise the visibility and sense of unity among nontheistic groups by promoting cooperation and providing funding.

For more information contact:

LeeWood Thomas
Media Representative
Central Arkansas Coalition of Reason
501-765-4287
LeeWoodThomas@Yahoo.com
www.CentralArkansasCoR.org

J.G. “Gerry” Schulze
Attorney at Law
Baker Schulze & Murphy
501-537-1000
gschulze@b-s-m-law.com
www.bakerschulze.com

David Bentley
President
Arkansas Society of Freethinkers
501-420-2764
BentleyDW@comcast.net
www.ARfreethinkers.org

Mark Love
Board Member
Arkansas Society of Freethinkers
501-420-2703
macinlover@mac.com
www.ARfreethinkers.org

William J. Burgess, Esq.
Legal Coordinator
Appignani Humanist Legal Center
American Humanist Association
(202) 238-9088 (x102)
bburgess@americanhumanist.org
www.HumanistLegalCenter.org

Fred Edwords
National Director
United Coalition of Reason
202-550-9964
Fredwords@UnitedCoR.org
www.UnitedCoR.org