Christ’s Bride Ministries, Inc. v. Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority

Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) (defendant) was the state instrumentality that operated the public-transportation network in and around Philadelphia. SEPTA hired Transportation Display’s Inc. (TDI) (defendant) to manage advertising in SEPTA’s stations and on SEPTA’s subways and buses. Through TDI, SEPTA accepted an almost unlimited range of advertisements, including religious advertisements and advertisements relating to sex, family planning, and associated topics. In 1995, Christ’s Bride Ministries, Inc. (CBM) (plaintiff) contracted with TDI to display 26 advertisements in SEPTA stations stating, “Women Who Choose Abortion Suffer More & Deadlier Breast Cancer.” When the advertisements were installed in January 1996, SEPTA began receiving customer complaints. Additionally, in February, the United States Department of Health and Human Services (department) contacted SEPTA to say that the CBM advertising was misleading because scientific literature did not support that abortion materially increased a woman’s risk of breast cancer. Based on the department’s letter, SEPTA removed the CBM posters and instructed TDI to return the unused portion of CBM’s advertising payment. CBM sued SEPTA and TDI. In addition to alleging breach of contract, CBM alleged that removing the posters violated CBM’s First Amendment rights, made applicable to the state and its instrumentalities by the Fourteenth Amendment. The district court held in SEPTA and TDI’s favor on the First Amendment issue on the basis that the stations were not public forums and SEPTA acted reasonably in removing the posters. CBM appealed.